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Fall 2014 - spring 2015

smart pillbox

johns hopkins university, applied physics laboratory

with support from scott almes & the asymmetric operations team

In the United States, missed medications incur $300 billion in increased healthcare costs and result in 125,000 deaths annually.  In 2014, the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory proposed a new solution for missed medication: a wearable pillbox which would alert its wearer when it is time to take medication and dispense the medication in a clear manner.  Wearable technology has quickly become a fixture of modern fashion and lifestyle, but little wearable technology caters directly toward the growing population of elderly people.

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While at APL, I met with patients, discussed their individualized needs, and participated in the brainstorming of an initial concept: a bracelet comprised of a lid, base, and sliding door.  The bracelet has ten fixed-size compartments - each holding one pill - and manual rotation of the lid locks into place with divots and snap-locks.

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As the concept progressed, it became increasingly clear that this sort of product would benefit doctors just as much as it would patients.  Doctors would better understand the drug-taking habits of their patients and adapt care accordingly.

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I designed the alert system - a buzzing motor combined with localized LEDs for each compartment.  I also implemented an adaptive system in Python which reminds users who have missed medication, and adjusts future alerts in response.  A metal contact which I embedded in each compartment breaks a circuit when opened, and I created a back-end so that doctors can view the data.  An early proof-of-concept model with integrated LEDs is shown below.

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I presented our work at the 2014 Healthcare Ignition Grant Colloquium to APL employees and executives.

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