FR3000668A1 - DISPENSER OF MEDICAMENTS TO A PATIENT - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a dispenser (100) of medicaments for a patient comprising: - a base (102) having a receiving housing (104) accessible from the outside by the patient through an inlet and a window opening from above in the receiving housing (104), - a tower (106) attached to the base (102) above the receiving housing (104), and - at least one cartridge (108) having a shoe removably mounted on the turn (106) by means of securing means, each cartridge (108) comprising a housing, a carousel delimiting several bottomless compartments and rotatably mounted about a vertical axis inside the housing, and a system drive unit fixed in the housing and intended to rotate said carousel, said or each housing having an upstream opening and a downstream opening which are arranged respectively above and below a position by which a single compartime nt will pass during the rotation of the carousel, said or each upstream opening and said or each downstream opening being aligned vertically with said window.

Description

The present invention relates to a medicament dispenser comprising at least one cartridge, as well as such a cartridge. It is known a drug dispenser that takes the form of a housing with multiple compartments and covered with a lid. Depending on the size of the case, the patient can fill the different compartments to store drugs for the day or for the week. The drugs are usually stored outside their packaging (blister). When the patient has to take a medicine, he lifts the lid and takes the medicine that is in the corresponding compartment.

Such a dispenser is not suitable when the patient is not autonomous. For example, the patient may make mistakes when filling the compartments, he may forget to take his medication at the appropriate time, and he can also be mistaken compartment when taking. An object of the present invention is to provide a drug dispenser which does not have the drawbacks of the prior art and which in particular makes it possible to secure the taking of medicaments. For this purpose, a medicament dispenser is proposed to a patient comprising: a base having a reception chamber accessible from the outside by the patient through an inlet and a window opening from above into the receiving housing; tower attached to the base above the receiving housing, and - at least one cartridge having a shoe removably mounted on the tower by means of securing means, each cartridge comprising a housing, a carousel delimiting several compartments without bottom and rotatably mounted about a vertical axis inside the housing, and a drive system fixed in the housing and intended to rotate said carousel, said or each housing having an upstream opening and a downstream opening which are respectively disposed above and below a position by which a single compartment will pass during the rotation of the carousel, said o u each upstream opening and said or each downstream opening being aligned vertically with said window. Advantageously, said or each cartridge has at least one electrical connector, and the tower has for each electrical connector, a complementary electrical connector for cooperating with said electrical connector.

Advantageously, the carousel has an inner ring gear coaxial with the axis of rotation of the carousel and the drive system comprises a motor fixed in the housing and a pinion fixed to the motor shaft and which meshes with the inner ring gear.

Advantageously, the dispenser comprises a transmitter / receiver assembly disposed in the window so that the luminous flux of the transmitter passes through the window to illuminate the receiver. Advantageously, the dispenser comprises a transmitter / receiver assembly disposed at the entrance of the receiver housing so that the luminous flux of the transmitter passes through this input to illuminate the receiver. Advantageously, the securing means comprise: - two ribs, each extending vertically on each side of the shoe, - for each rib, a lever mounted free to rotate on the tower about a vertical axis of rotation, a first end of said lever having a tooth intended to cooperate with said rib to block said shoe, a second end of said lever being accessible from outside the tower and constituting a bearing surface, and - for each lever, biasing means which constrains said lever in a position where the first ends of the two levers are tightened.

Advantageously, the dispenser comprises a locking system of the cartridge on the tower. Advantageously, the locking system comprises: - a locking shaft comprising for each cartridge two parallel flats and being rotatably mounted in the tower about a vertical axis of rotation between a free position in which the planes of the flats are parallel to the direction of insertion of the shoe into the tower and a locked position in which the planes of the flats are perpendicular to the direction of insertion, - a key for operating the locking shaft, and - a cylinder with a vertical axis and having a vertical opening that the shoe has, the vertical opening being dimensioned to allow passage of the lock shaft through said vertical opening when in the free position and to prevent passage of the lock shaft through said vertical opening when in locked position.

The invention also proposes a cartridge intended for a drug dispenser to a patient, said dispenser comprising: a base having a receiving housing accessible from the outside by the patient through an inlet and a window opening from above in the receiving housing, and - a tower fixed to the base above the receiving housing, said cartridge comprising: - a shoe intended to be removably mounted on the tower by means of securing means, - a housing, a carousel delimiting several bottomless compartments and rotatably mounted around a vertical axis inside the casing, and a drive system fixed in the casing and intended to drive said carousel in rotation, said casing having a upstream opening and a downstream opening which are respectively disposed above and below a position through which a single compartment will pass during the rotation of the carousel, said upstream opening and said downstream opening being provided to be aligned vertically with said window.

The characteristics of the invention mentioned above, as well as others, will appear more clearly on reading the following description of an exemplary embodiment, said description being made in connection with the attached drawings, among which: FIG. . 1 shows a drug dispenser according to the invention, FIG. 2 shows a section on a vertical plane of the drug dispenser of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 shows an exploded view of a drug dispenser cartridge of FIG. 1, FIG. 4 shows a section along a horizontal plane of the drug dispenser of FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 shows a locking system of a cartridge. Fig. 1 shows a drug dispenser 100 according to the invention which comprises: - a base 102 having a receiving housing 104 accessible from the outside by a patient, - a tower 106 fixed to the base 102 above the receiving housing 104 and at least one cartridge 108 removably mounted on the tower 106 by means of suitable securing means. Fig. 2 shows the dispenser 100 in section through a vertical plane. The base 102 further has a volume 202 in which are housed most of the electronic elements necessary for the proper operation of the dispenser 100 and which are not shown here. The electronic elements include among others a programmable control unit. Each cartridge 108 comprises a housing 206, a carousel 212 defining a plurality of compartments 214 and rotatably mounted about a vertical axis inside the housing 206, and a drive system 216 fixed in the housing 206 and intended to drive in rotation said carousel 212. FIG. 3 shows an exploded view of a cartridge 108. The housing 206 is here in two parts: a bottom 208 and a cover 210. The bottom 208 and the cover 210 are fixed to one another and delimit a closed volume and form a shoe 228 which attaches to the tower 106.

Each compartment 214 is delimited by two fins 218 arranged radially with respect to the axis of rotation of the carousel 212 and it has no bottom. Each compartment 214 is thus delimited by two fins 218, the bottom 208 and the cover 210. The housing 206 has an upstream opening 220 here in the cap 210 and a downstream opening 222 here in the bottom 208 vis-a-vis and in below the upstream opening 220. The openings 220 and 222 are respectively disposed above and below a position through which a single compartment 214 will pass during the rotation of the carousel 212 and thus defining between them a passage without obstacle. Thus, with each movement of the carousel 212, a new compartment 214 will be placed between the openings 220 and 222. When there are several cartridges 108 mounted on the tower 106, they are arranged one above the other. The upstream apertures 220 and downstream 222 of all the housings 206 are then aligned vertically with each other and thus define a corridor which descends to the base 102.

The base 102 has above the receiving housing 104, a window 204 which opens into the receiving housing 104 from the top thereof and which is itself aligned vertically with the upstream openings 220 and downstream 222 of all housings 206 superimposed.

Each cartridge 108 has at least one electrical connector 302, 304 making it possible to make an electrical connection between the tower 106 and the cartridge 108, in order to transmit in particular the electric current necessary for the operation of the drive system 216, and data that will be explained below. To this end, the tower 106 has for each electrical connector 302, 304, a complementary electrical connector intended to cooperate with said electrical connector 302, 304. Preferably, each compartment 214 of the same cartridge 108 contains a single type of the same drug M The dispenser 100 is programmed to deliver one or more drugs at specific times. When the moment of dispensing a drug M has arrived, the control unit sends the appropriate command to the cartridge 108 containing said medicament M. The control consists of an actuation of the drive system 216 which causes the rotation of the carousel 212 of the cartridge 108. One of the compartments 214 of said cartridge 108 is aligned with the upstream openings 220 and downstream 222 of all the housings 206, and the drug M it contains falls into the receiving housing 104 through the upstream apertures 220 and downstream 222 of the housings 206 which are under the starting housing 206 and the window 204. If several drugs M are to be dispensed, the control unit sequentially sends the appropriate command to each cartridge 108 concerned. The receiving housing 104 being dimensioned to allow the introduction of the hand of the patient, it takes drugs M therein. The dispenser 100 according to the invention has a particularly simple constitution and secure operation for the patient.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the carousel 212 has an inner ring gear 306 coaxial with the axis of rotation of the carousel 212 and on the periphery of which are fixed the fins 218.

The drive system 216 comprises a motor 308 and a pinion 310 fixed to the motor shaft 308 and which meshes with the inner ring gear 306. The axis of rotation of the pinion 310 is off-axis with respect to the axis of rotation of the carousel 212. The motor 308 is fixed in the housing 206 here by screws on the bottom 208 and is electrically connected to an electrical connector 304 to be supplied with electric current. This design is particularly simple since each cartridge 108 carries its own engine 308 and that the malfunction of one of the engines 308 does not prevent the operation of the engines 308 of the other cartridges 108.

Fig. 4 shows a section through a horizontal plane of the tower 106 and a cartridge 108. The securing means here comprise two ribs 312a and 312b, each extending vertically and being made on one side of the shoe 228. made of the separation of the housing 206 between the bottom 208 and the cover 210, each rib 312a, 312b extends partly on the bottom 208 and partly on the cover 210. The securing means also comprise, for each rib 312a, 312b, a lever 402a, 402b, each being rotatably mounted on the tower 106 about a vertical axis of rotation 404a, 404b. A first end of each lever 402a, 402b has a tooth 406a, 406b, and each tooth 406a, 406b cooperates with one of the ribs 312a, 312b, located at the rear of the rib 312a, 312b relative to the insertion direction of the shoe 228 in the tower 106, to block said shoe 228. The second end of each lever 402a, 402b is accessible from the outside of the tower 106 and constitutes a bearing surface 110.

When inserting the shoe 228 into the tower 106, the first ends move apart to pass the ribs 312a and 312b and tighten after their passage by rotation about the vertical axis of rotation 404a, 404b. When removing the shoe 228 from the tower 106, a bearing on the bearing surfaces 110 of two levers 402a and 402b causes the spacing of the first ends to pass the ribs 312a and 312b and the relaxation of the bearing surfaces 110 leads to the tightening of the first ends. The securing means also comprise, for each lever 402a, 402b, a return means, for example of the spring type, which forces said lever 402a, 402b in the position where the first ends of the two levers 402a and 402b are tightened. Fig. 5 shows a locking system 500 of the cartridge 108 on the tower 106.

The locking system 500 includes a lock shaft 502 and a removable key 504. In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 5, the key 504 and the locking shaft 502 cooperate through a square outlet. The locking shaft 502 is rotatably mounted in the tower 106 about a vertical axis of rotation and it comprises for each cartridge 108 two flats 506 parallel. Each cartridge 108, and more particularly the shoe 228, has a cylinder 508 with a vertical axis and having a vertical opening which constitutes part of the locking system 500.

The locking shaft 502 is introduced into the cylinder 508 through the vertical opening, when the shoe 228 is introduced into the tower 106. The locking shaft 502 has a free position in which the planes of the flats 506 are parallel to the insertion direction of the shoe 228 in the tower 106 and a locked position in which the planes of the flats 506 are perpendicular to the insertion direction. The transition from the free position to the locked position and vice versa is performed using the key 504. The vertical opening is dimensioned to allow the passage of the locking shaft 502 through said vertical opening when is in free position and to prevent the passage of the locking shaft 502 through said vertical opening when in the locked position. The insertion of the cartridge 108 is carried out as follows: the locking shaft 502 is placed in the free position, the shoe 228 is introduced into the tower 106 and the locking shaft 502 is introduced into At the same time in the cylinder 508, the locking shaft 502 is placed in the locked position, which locks the position of the cartridge 108 on the tower 106. The removal of the cartridge is performed in the opposite manner. To ensure that each drug M has actually reached the receiving housing 104, a transmitter / receiver assembly 224 is disposed in the window 204 so that the light flux of the transmitter passes through the window 204 to illuminate the receiver. 224. Thus, when a medicament M passes through the window 204, it cuts off the luminous flux thus attesting to its good passage. The emitter is for example a light emitting diode and the receiver 224 is for example a phototransistor. To ensure that each medication M has actually been taken by the patient, a transmitter / receiver assembly 226 is disposed at the entrance of the receiving housing 104 so that the light flux of the transmitter passes through this entrance to illuminate the receiver 226. Thus, when the patient introduces his hand in the receiving housing 104, it cuts the luminous flux thus attesting to the good introduction of the hand. The emitter is for example a light emitting diode and the receiver 226 is for example a phototransistor. To enable timely delivery of M drugs, the control unit must be programmed appropriately. This programming can be done by any appropriate means. For example, the programming can be done directly on the distributor 100 or remotely by the authorized medical personnel providing programming such as a doctor, a pharmacist or a nurse. According to a preferred embodiment, the control unit of the dispenser 100 is remotely linked to a server containing the information relating to the patient and the dispenser 100 assigned to the patient. In order for the control unit to know what type of medicine M is contained in a cartridge 108, each cartridge 108 has a memory, which contains a unique identifier which is read by the authorized personnel at the time of filling the cartridge 108 and a code is also assigned to each medication.

The unique identifier and the drug code are stored in the server database. When connecting the control unit to the server, the server transmits to the control unit a request to retrieve the unique identifier and the medication code from the memory of each cartridge 108 to verify that these elements are according to the patient's file. The filling is carried out by authorized personnel and each housing 206 is then sealed by sealing the bottom 208 on the hood 210.

In operation, the control unit which has been so programmed, activates, at the appropriate time, the drive system 216 of each cartridge 108 containing a drug M to be delivered. The control unit verifies that each drug M actually arrives in the reception housing 104 by virtue of the transmitter / receiver assembly 224. When the drugs M are ready to be recovered in the reception housing 104, a flashing light signal as well as a suitable audio message warn the patient. The control unit verifies that the patient has actually taken his medication M through the transmitter / receiver assembly 226. When a malfunction of the dispenser 100 is detected by the control unit, it generates an alert signal which may consist for example in sending a message (email, SMS, ...) to a person providing surveillance such as a doctor, a nurse, a technician, ...

When the patient has not recovered his drugs M in the time allotted, the control unit restarts the latter according to an appropriate and programmable procedure, such as for example the transmission of a more intense audio message, etc. If after this recovery phase, the drugs M have still not been recovered, the control unit alerts the person (s) providing the surveillance.

To reinforce the safety of the interventions carried out on the distributor 100 beyond the mechanical securing 500, the distributor 100 has an identification means 116 and thus, when a person wishes to intervene on the distributor 100, it must identify itself to the distributor. identification means 116, without which the distributor 100 switches to an "Out of service" state and an alert procedure is then implemented by the control unit which sends an alert signal to the person or persons providing the monitoring. The identification means 116 is for example a contactless detection means and the person wishing to intervene has, for example, a badge recognized by the contactless detection means.

The memory card 112 contains the information specific to each patient and necessary for the start-up of the dispenser 100. When the dispenser 100 is put into operation, the memory card 112 ensures the retention of all the operating information (logs) as long as these were not transmitted and stored in the server database. The memory card 112 then serves as a backup memory in the event of a problem. Of course, the present invention is not limited to the examples and embodiments described and shown, but it is capable of numerous variants accessible to those skilled in the art.

Claims (9)

CLAIMS1) Dispenser (100) for medication (M) to a patient comprising: - a base (102) having a receiving housing (104) accessible from the outside by the patient through an inlet and a window (204) opening through the top in the receiving housing (104), - a tower (106) attached to the base (102) above the receiving housing (104), and - at least one cartridge (108) having a shoe (228) removably mounted on the tower (106) by means of securing means, each cartridge (108) having a housing (206), a carousel (212) defining a plurality of compartments (214) bottomless and rotatably mounted around a vertical axis inside the housing (206), and a drive system (216) fixed in the housing (206) and for rotating said carousel (212), said or each housing (206). having an upstream opening (220) and a downstream opening (222) which are disposed respectively at above and below a position by which a single compartment (214) will pass during rotation of the carousel (212), said or each upstream opening (220) and said or each downstream opening (222) being aligned vertically with said window (204). 2) Dispenser (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that said or each cartridge (108) has at least one electrical connector (302, 304), and in that the tower (106) has for each electrical connector (302 304), a complementary electrical connector for cooperating with said electrical connector (302, 304). 3) Dispenser (100) according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the carousel (212) has an inner ring gear (306) coaxial with the axis of rotation of the carousel (212) and in that the driving system (216) includes a motor (308) fixed in the housing (206) and a pinion (310) fixed to the motor shaft (308) and meshing with the inner ring gear (306). 4) Dispenser (100) according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it comprises a transmitter / receiver assembly (224) disposed in the window (204) so that the luminous flux of the transmitter crosses the window (204) to illuminate the receiver (224). 5) Dispenser (100) according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it comprises a transmitter / receiver assembly (226) disposed at the inlet of the receiving housing (104) so that the flow The illuminated transmitter passes through this input to illuminate the receiver (226). 6) Dispenser (100) according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the securing means comprise: - two ribs (312a, 312b), each extending vertically on each side of the shoe (228), - for each rib (312a, 312b), a lever (402a, 402b) rotatably mounted on the tower (106) about a vertical axis of rotation (404a, 404b), a first end of said lever (402a, 402b) having a tooth (406a, 406b) for cooperating with said rib (312a, 312b) for locking said shoe (228), a second end of said lever (402a, 402b) being accessible from outside the tower (106) and constituting a bearing surface (110), and - for each lever (402a, 402b), a biasing means which forces said lever (402a, 402b) in a position where the first ends of the two levers (402a, 402b) are tightened. 7) Dispenser (100) according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that it comprises a locking system (500) of the cartridge (108) on the tower (106). 8) A distributor (100) according to claim 7, characterized in that the locking system (500) comprises: - a locking shaft (502) comprising for each cartridge (108) two flats (506) parallel and being movably mounted in rotation in the tower (106) about a vertical axis of rotation between a free position in which the planes of the flats (506) are parallel to the insertion direction of the shoe (228) into the tower (106) and a position locked in which the planes of the flats (506) are perpendicular to the direction of insertion, - a key (504) for operating the locking shaft (502), and - a cylinder (508) having a vertical axis and having a vertical opening that the shoe (228) has, the vertical opening being dimensioned to allow passage of the locking shaft (502) through said vertical opening when in free position and to prevent passage of the shaft locking (502) through said vertical opening when in the locked position. 9) A cartridge (108) for a dispenser (100) of medicaments (M) to a patient, said dispenser (100) comprising: - a base (102) having a receiving housing (104) accessible from the outside by the patient through an inlet and a window (204) opening from above into the receiving housing (104), and - a tower (106) attached to the base (102) above the receiving housing (104), said cartridge (108) comprising: - a shoe (228) intended to be removably mounted on the tower (106) by means of securing means, - a housing (206), - a carousel (212) delimiting several compartments (214) bottomless and rotatably mounted about a vertical axis within the housing (206), and - a drive system (216) fixed in the housing (206) and for rotating said carousel (212), said housing (206) having an upstream opening (220) and a downstream opening (222) which are arranged s respectively above and below a position by which a single compartment (214) will pass during rotation of the carousel (212), said upstream opening (220) and said downstream opening (222) being intended to be vertically aligned with said window (204).