AU2016100803A4

AU2016100803A4 - A vending machine for dispensing pharmaceutical medicines to patients and a dispensing machine for dispensing pharmaceutical medicines to medical officers

Info

Publication number: AU2016100803A4
Application number: AU2016100803A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Shane Foster
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2016-05-18
Filing date: 2016-05-18
Publication date: 2016-08-25
Anticipated expiration: 2024-05-18

Abstract

Vending Machine for dispensing Pharmaceutical medicine. This vending machine has every option available, i.e., optical scanner, finger scanner, credit card reader, storage reader and Biometric. The Pharmaceutical Medicine vending machine will dispense medicine to people that can't get to a pharmacy. It will control Dr Shopping as it will ask for identification or barcode that the Dr has provided and it will only dispense the right amount that is needed. The Pharmaceutical vending machine will have a temperature control to keep the medicine at the right temp. This invention is aimed at everyone from a baby to an elderly person, it will save people a lot of time instead of waiting to pick their medicine up. They can scan their prescription and have their medicine in a matter of seconds.

Description

A vending machine for dispensing pharmaceutical medicines to patients and a dispensing machine for dispensing pharmaceutical medicines to medical officers

Field of the Invention 1. The present invention relates to a vending machine for dispensing pharmaceutical medicines.

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Background 2. Certain pharmaceutical medicines are restricted by law so as to prevent overdosage, drug abuse and the like. In this manner, prescribed medicines are usually dispensed by authorised pharmacies wherein having visited a treatment doctor and having been prescribed various medicines, a patient then attends the pharmacy to receive the prescribed medicine. 3. It would be advantageous to allow for the dispensing of pharmacy medicines without the patient having to attend a pharmacy, such as by utilising a vending machine. 4. However, existing vending machines are not suited for dispensing pharmaceutical medicines. 5. For example, existing vending machines would suffer from several disadvantages were they employed for the purposes of dispensing pharmaceutical medicines. Specifically, the first disadvantage relates to the unauthorised dispensing of medicine which could lead to drug abuse or overdosage. For example, unauthorised persons may receive medicines in lieu of those for which the medicine was originally prescribed. Alternatively, unauthorised medicines may be provided in lieu of those prescribed. 6. A further disadvantage relates to existing vending machines not been suited for dispensing medicines, such as those in liquid or blister pack form. 7. Yet further disadvantage relates to existing vending machines not been conditioned for long-term storage of medicines including in taking into account storage temperature regimes, shelf life and the like. 8. As such, the present invention seeks to provide a vending machine for dispensing pharmaceutical medicines, which will overcome or substantially ameliorate at least some of the deficiencies of the prior art, or to at least provide an alternative. 9. It is to be understood that, if any prior art information is referred to herein, such reference does not constitute an admission that the information forms part of the common general knowledge in the art, in Australia or any other country.

I

Summary of the Disclosure 10. According to one aspect, there is provided a vending machine for dispensing a pharmaceutical medicine, the vending machine comprising a processor for processing digital data, a memory device for storing digital data including computer program code, the memory device being operably coupled to the processor, and a dispensing mechanism adapted to dispense the medicine, the dispensing mechanism being operably coupled to the processor, wherein, in use, the processor is controlled by the computer program code to authorise an authorised medicine recipient; and dispense the medicine using the dispensing mechanism accordingly. 11. The dispensing mechanism may be adapted to dispense a plurality of medicine types. 12. In use, the processor may be further controlled by the computer program code to receive medicine prescription data representing a medicine prescription; and dispense the medicine in accordance with the medicine prescription data. 13. The processor may be further controlled by the computer program code to select a medicine type in accordance with the prescription data. 14. The vending machine may further comprise a network interface for sending and receiving data across a data network, the network interface being operably coupled to the processor, and wherein, in use, the processor is further controlled by the computer program code to receive the prescription data via the network interface. 15. The vending machine may further comprise an optical scanning device adapted to capture optical scan data, the optical scanning device being operably coupled to the processor and wherein in use, the processor is further controlled by the computer program code to receive the prescription data via the optical scanning device. 16. The optical scan data may comprise barcode scan data. 17. The processor may be further controlled by the computer program code to implement and optical character recognition algorithm. 18. The vending machine may further comprise a user interface adapted to receive user input data, the user interface being operably coupled to the processor and wherein, in use, the processor is further controlled by the computer program code to receive the prescription data via the user interface. 19. The prescription data may comprise a code. 20. The vending machine may further comprise a user interface adapted to receive user input data, the user interface being operably coupled to the processor, and a database connection for selecting data from a diagnosis database, the diagnosis database comprising symptom data stored in relation to medicine type data and wherein, in use, the processor is further controlled by the computer program code to receive symptom data representing at least one symptom input by a user; and select, using the diagnosis database, a selected medicine type. 21. The dispensing mechanism may be adapted to dispense the medicine from a blister pack. 22. The dispensing mechanism may comprise a blister pack reloading mechanism. 23. The dispensing mechanism is adapted to dispense a measured volume of the medicine from a medicine bottle. 24. The vending machine may further comprise a temperature regulator adapted to regulate the temperature of the medicine. 25. The vending machine may further comprise a plurality of temperature regulators adapted to regulate temperatures of differing medicine types. 26. In authorising the authorised medicine recipient, the processor may be further controlled by the computer program code to verify the identity of the medicine recipient. 27. The processor may be further controlled by the computer program code to dispense the medicine in accordance with a dosage regime and the identity of the recipient. 28. In use, the processor may be further controlled by the computer program code to receive identification data representing an identification of the recipient and verify the identity of the recipient in accordance with the identification data. 29. The vending machine may comprise an optical scanner adapted to receive optical scan data and wherein, in use, the processor is further controlled by the computer program code to receive the identification data from the optical scanner. 30. The optical scan data may represent a scan of an identification document. 31. The processor may be further controlled by the computer program code to employ optical character recognition on the optical scan data. 32. The vending machine may further comprise a credit card reader and wherein, in use, the processor is further controlled by the computer program code to receive the identification data from the credit card reader. 33. The vending machine may further comprise a biometric scanner adapted to receive biometric data and wherein, in use, the processor is further controlled by the computer program code to receive the identification data from the biometric scanner. 34. The processor may be further controlled by the computer program code to calculate a storage period for the medicine. 35. The processor may be further controlled by the computer program code to calculate when the storage period exceeds the shelflife for the medicine. 36. Other aspects of the invention are also disclosed.

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Brief Description of the Drawings 37. Notwithstanding any other forms which may fall within the scope of the present invention, a preferred embodiments of the disclosure will now be described, byway of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 shows a vending machine for dispensing pharmaceutical medicines in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

Description of Embodiments 38. For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles in accordance with the disclosure, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the disclosure is thereby intended. Any alterations and further modifications of the inventive features illustrated herein, and any additional applications of the principles of the disclosure as illustrated herein, which would normally occur to one skilled in the relevant art and having possession of this disclosure, are to be considered within the scope of the disclosure. 39. Before the structures, systems and associated methods relating to the vending machine for dispensing pharmaceutical medicines are disclosed and described, it is to be understood that this disclosure is not limited to the particular configurations, process steps, and materials disclosed herein as such configurations, process steps, and materials may vary somewhat. It is also to be understood that the terminology employed herein is used for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting since the scope of the disclosure will be limited only by the claims and equivalents thereof. 40. In describing and claiming the subject matter of the disclosure, the following terminology will be used in accordance with the definitions set out below. 41. It must be noted that, as used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. 42. As used herein, the terms "comprising," "including," "containing," "characterised by," and grammatical equivalents thereof are inclusive or open-ended terms that do not exclude additional, unrecited elements or method steps. 43. It should be noted in the following description that like or the same reference numerals in different embodiments denote the same or similar features. 44. In the embodiments that follow, there will be described a vending machine for dispensing pharmaceutical medicines. Specifically, in these embodiments, there will be described the vending machine being adapted to dispense medicines which may be controlled or restricted. 45. In this manner, as opposed to traditional vending machines, the vending machine according to the present embodiments is adapted to authorise the dispensing of medicines only to authorised medicine recipients. 46. In this manner, the vending machine is adapted to offer alternatives to having to visit a pharmacy or the like to receive pharmaceutical medicines. 47. As such, turning now to figure 1, there is shown the vending machine 100 in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. 48. The vending machine 100 comprises a computing device 175. 49. The computing device 175 comprises a processor 120 for processing digital data. Furthermore, the computing device 175 comprises a memory device 110 for storing digital data including computer program code, the memory device 110 being operably coupled to the processor 120 via a bus 125. 50. In embodiments, the memory device 110 comprises RAM memory. In other embodiments, the memory device 110 comprises firmware, such as is embodied in ROM memory. 51. In embodiments, the computing device 175 may comprise a storage device 130, such as a platter or solid state hard drive. In embodiments, the storage device 130 may comprise a diagnosis database as will be described in further detail below for the purposes of diagnosing ailments in accordance with user input symptom data so as to recommend an appropriate medicine type. 52. The computing device 175 further comprises an AV interface 115 for interfacing with a display device 105 for displaying digital data. 53. The computing device 175 further comprises a network interface 140 for sending and receiving digital data across a data network 170. 54. Furthermore, the computing device comprises I/O interface 135 for interfacing with various peripherals as will be described in further detail below. Specifically, the I/O interface may be adapted for interfacing with the storage medium reader 160, the storage medium reader 160 adapted to read digital data from storage media 165. The storage media 165 may take the form of a CD, DVD, USB memory stick or the like. In this manner, the computing device 175 may load computer software from the storage media 165 using the storage medium reader 160, the software being adapted for being executed by the processor 120 and implement in functions described herein. 55. Now, in use, the vending machine 100 may be stocked with various items including pharmaceutical medicines which may be restricted or controlled. The vending machine 100 may be deployed at an appropriate public location for use by members of the public. In embodiments, the vending machine 100 is secured to prevent unauthorised access to the medicines, including by way of physical reinforcement, securement, alarm systems, surveillance systems and the like. 56. Now, in use, the vending machine 100 is adapted to authorise an authorised medicine recipient and dispense the pharmaceutical medicine accordingly. 57. As such, the vending machine 100 may comprise an authorisation module 185 comprising various manners in which to authorise the recipient, as will be described in further detail below. 58. The vending machine 100 comprises a dispensing mechanism 180 adapted to dispense the medicine. In embodiments, the dispensing mechanism 180 may take the form of the traditional dispensing mechanism, such as a rotating coil adapted to push the selected medicine so as to fall off a shelf towards an access aperture. 59. However, in other embodiment, the dispensing mechanism 180 may be specifically adapted for medicine. In one embodiment, the dispensing mechanism 180 may be adapted to dispense individual pills from a blister pack so as to allow the vending of pills without having to sell an entire package. In this regard, the dispensing mechanism 180 may further comprise a blister pack reloading mechanism to replace used blister packs. 60. In another embodiment, the dispensing mechanism 180 may be adapted to dispense a measured amount of medicine fluid from a medicine bottle. For example, the dispensing mechanism 180 may be adapted to dispense a measured amount of cough syrup such as wherein the recipient is directed to place a receptacle, such as a cup or the like beneath the dispensing mechanism 180 so as to receive the measured amount. 61. Now, in one embodiment, the vending machine 100 is adapted to automate the dispensing of medicine prescribed from a prescription. In this manner, subsequent to a doctor’s consultation, as opposed to visiting a pharmacy or the like, a patient may utilise the vending machine 100 to receive the medicine prescribed by the prescription. 62. Specifically, in use, the processor 120 is further controlled by the computer program code to receive medicine prescription data representing a medicine prescription and dispense the medicine in accordance with the medicine prescription data. In this manner, upon receipt of the medicine prescription data, the processor 120 is adapted to select the type of medicine for dispensing. 63. Now, there are a number of manners by which the vending machine 100 may receive the prescription data. In one embodiment, the vending machine 100 is adapted to receive the prescription data via the network interface 140 from the network 170. In this manner, the doctor may utilise a computing system adapted to receive the prescribed medicine. In this manner, the vending machine 100 may subsequently communicate, via the network interface 140 to the computing system to retrieve the prescription data. 64. In embodiments, the prescription may be provided by the doctor with a code or the like. In this manner, to receive the medicine from the vending machine 100, the recipient may be required to input the code into a user interface, such as a keypad, touchscreen device or the like. In this manner, upon receipt of the code, the vending machine 100 is adapted to query the computing system to not only authorise the dispensing of the medicine, but to determine which medicine is to be dispensed. 65. Another embodiment, the vending machine 100 may be adapted to scan a physical prescription. For example, a prescription may be provided with a barcode or the like. In this manner, the vendor machine 100 may comprise an optical scanner 190, such as optical scanner comprising a barcode reason. As such, using the optical scanner 190, the user may scan the prescription to receive the prescribed medicine. 66. In one embodiment, the barcode may comprise encoded data, such as by utilising a 2-D barcode. In this manner, the vending machine 100 may be adapted to ascertain the medicine for dispensing from the actual barcode scan data. In other embodiments, the barcode may simply comprise a reference number, such as by utilising a 1D barcode such that, utilising the reference number, the vending machine 100 may retrieve the prescribed medicine associated with the reference number from the network 170. 67. In other embodiments, the vending machine 100, as opposed to scanning a barcode or the like, may employ optical character recognition to read characters from the prescription. In this manner, the description may comprise a computer printout listing the prescribed medicines, the dosages and the dosage regimes. As such, the vending machine 100 may utilise optical character recognition to ascertain the medicine for dispensing, the dosages and the dosage regimes. 68. In other embodiments, the user may simply input the required prescription data using a user interface. For example, the user may input their identification number, driver’s license number or the like and the requested medicine. In this manner, the vending machine 100 may record the dispensing of the medicine to the user and dispense the medicine accordingly. In doing so, the vending machine 100 may report of the medicine dispensed to the user, the quantity and the date and time to the network 170 so as to prevent overdosage or abuse of certain medicines. 69. In a further embodiment, as opposed to utilising a prescription for the purposes of dispensing mechanism, the vending machine 100 may be adapted to diagnose common ailments in accordance with symptoms input by users, so as to ascertain the type of medicine to dispense, the dosage and the dosage regime of the medicine. 70. In this manner, the vending machine 100 may comprise a database connection for selecting data from a diagnosis database. The diagnosis database may be stored within the storage database 130 or located remotely, such as via the network 170. The diagnosis database comprise a symptom data stored in relation to medicine type data. 71. In this manner, in use, the user may input a symptom such that the vending machine 100 is adapted to ascertain the most appropriate medicine utilising the data from the database. 72. For example, the user may input that the user is suffering from a headache such that the vending machine 100 may recommend Panadol or the like. In embodiments, the vending machine 100 may be adapted to utilise clarification or eligibility criteria for the purposes of ascertaining the suitability of medicine types. For example, when prescribing Panadol, the vending machine 100 may be adapted to query the age of the user and whether the user is pregnant. 73. In this manner, should the user be underage, or in fact be pregnant, the vending machine 100 may recommend an alternative more suitable medicine type. It should be noted that certain of the eligibility criteria may be ascertained directly from the user, such as where the vending machine 100 queries whether the user is pregnant or not. However, other of the eligibility criteria may be ascertained in an automated manner, such as by ascertaining the age of the user from identification data, such as drivers licence data or the like. 74. In embodiments, the vending machine 100 is adapted to regulate the medicine to an appropriate temperature. For example, certain medicines may be kept at room temperature whereas others must be kept at refrigerator temperatures. In this regard, in certain embodiments of the vending machine 100 may comprise a plurality of temperature regulators adapted to regulate temperatures of differing zones within the vending machine 100. In this manner, those medicines that may be stored at room temperature may be stored within a first room temperature zone of the vending machine 100 whereas those medicines requiring refrigerator temperatures may be stored within a further refrigerator temperature zone within the vending machine 100. 75. Yet further, in embodiments, the vending machine 100 may be adapted to calculate a storage period for the medicine. In this manner, the vending machine 100 may avoid situations of dispensing expired medicine. Specifically, during the stocking of the vending machine 100, the vending machine 100 may be adapted to store the stockage date of each medicine, such as by reading a barcode located on each medicine packaging, reading the expiry date from the packaging (such as by utilising optical character recognition) receiving user input data or the like. 76. In this manner, the vending machine 100 may be adapted to calculate whether each individual medicine has exceeded the recommended shelf life or not. In embodiments where the vending machine 100 determines that a particular item of medicine has exceeded a shelf life, the vending machine 100 may be adapted to dispense the medicine into a disposal storage device or alternatively simply not allow the dispensing of the identified expired medicine. 77. In embodiments, the vending machine 100 may be adapted to calculate a shelf life in accordance with storage temperature wherein, for example, the vending machine 100 may allocate a shorter shelf life where the medicine is stored at higher temperatures. 78. In embodiments, in authorising the authorised medicine recipient, the processor 120 is further controlled by the computer program code to verify the identity of the medicine recipient. In this manner, the vending machine 100 is adapted to authorise the dispensing of medicine only to authorised persons who have been actively identified by the vending machine 100. 79. Furthermore, having identified a recipient, the vending machine 100 is adapted to dispense the medicine in accordance with a dosage regime so as to prevent overdosage or abuse. In this manner, an addicted person may not receive an amount of medicine over and above the amount prescribed, including from multiple vending machines 100 at differing locations. 80. Now, in identifying the recipient, the vending machine 100 is adapted to receive identification data representing an identification of the recipient and verify the identity of the recipient in accordance with the identification data. For example, when prescribing medicine, the treating doctor or the like may enter, into a computing system, the prescribed medicine and the identification of the authorised recipient, such as the drivers license number, credit card number or the like of the recipient. In this manner, when authorising the recipient, the vending machine 100 may cross-reference the identification data received from the recipient and that input by the treatment doctor to determine whether the identified recipient is authorised. 81. In one embodiment, the vending machine 100 may utilise the optical scanner 190 for this purpose. For example, the vending machine 100 may direct the user to scan the user’s drivers licence, passport, or the like. The vending machine 100 may read various computer readable storage mediums from such scanned documentation such as barcodes or the like or alternatively employ optical character recognition to ascertain various information from the scanned identification documentation. 82. In other embodiments, the vending machine 100 may utilise a credit card number or the like for the purposes of identifying the user. For example, the vending machine 100 may be adapted to authorise the same credit card number as was used for payment at the treatment doctor. In this manner, the vending machine 100 may comprise a credit card reader adapted to receive payment wherein, in authorising the dispensing of the medicine, the vending machine 100 may utilise the credit card number read from the credit card reader. 83. In other embodiments, the vending machine 100 comprises a biometric scanner 195 adapted to receive biometric data from the user. In this manner, the vending machine 100 may be adapted to receive finger print data, iris scan data, voice recognition data and the like from the user for the purposes of verifying the user. In this manner, the vending machine 195 may be adapted to provide a greater level of security as opposed to the mere reliance upon identification documentation which may be stolen identification documentation for example. 84. In an embodiment, the vending machine 100 may be adapted to employ differing authorisation levels for differing medicine types depending on the restriction of the medicine type. For example, for generally unrestricted medicine, such as aspirin or the like the vending machine 100 may simply rely upon identification documentation for the purposes of identifying the user. However, for more restricted medicines, the vending machine 100 may be adapted to employ a heightened authorisation procedure, such as by utilising biometric scan data or the like. 85. In this manner, when stocking the vending machine 100, the vending machine 100 may be programmed with the various restriction levels of the differing stocked medicine types such that the vending machine 100 is adapted to ascertain the appropriate identification procedure to utilise. 86. In an embodiment, the vending machine 100 may be adapted to store information for evidentiary purposes. For example, upon dispensing medicine to a user, the vending machine 100 may be adapted to capture image data of the user’s face or the like for subsequent evidentiary purposes if needs be. A dispensing machine for dispensing pharmaceutical medicines to medical officers 87. Whereas in the above embodiments there was described the vending machine for dispensing pharmaceutical medicines to patients, there will now be described further embodiment comprising a dispensing machine for dispensing pharmaceutical medicines to medical officers. 88. Specifically, the dispensing machine as will be described in the following exemplary embodiments is generally suited for in-hospital use, aged care facilities and the like where medical officers are authorised to dispense pharmaceutical medicines to patients within such institutions. 89. According to existing arrangements, cabinets comprising a plurality of pharmaceutical medicines may be prone to theft. Existing lock and key systems are similarly ill suited for preventing the theft of pharmaceutical medicines as such, there will now be described a dispensing machine for dispensing pharmaceutical medicines to medical officers at overcome or at least substantially ameliorate such problems. 90. The dispensing machine may take on differing physical embodiments depending on the application but generally takes the form of a secured cabinet, such as one bolted to the wall with appropriate lock release mechanism to allow access to the cabinet, dispense medicine, or at least record the removal of medicine therefrom. Furthermore, the dispensing machine comprises various identification capabilities, so as to be able to identify medical officers in accordance with the various factors, such as secret pin, ID badge, biometrics and the like. 91. In a first embodiment, the dispensing machine may be adapted to dispensing medicines only to authorise medical officers. However, in other embodiments, the dispensing machine may be adapted to create an audit log of pharmaceutical medicines removed by medical officers for forensic purposes. The latter embodiment may be suited for emergency ward environments where pharmaceutical medicines may be required without delay in an emergency. 92. However, the first embodiment will be described wherein the dispensing machine is adapted to dispense medicines only to authorised medical officers. For example, in a hospital environment, various doctors, nursing staff and other medical officers may be authorised to dispense differing pharmaceutical medicines depending on the various drug schedules of the pharmaceutical medicines. For example, a junior nurse may not be allowed to dispense morphine, and an intermediate nurse may only be allowed to dispense a certain amount of morphine, for example. 93. As such, the medical officers may be divided into a dispensing hierarchy wherein differing layers of the hierarchy may be adapted to dispense differing pharmaceutical medicines and associated amounts. As such, the dispensing machine, or the attendant computing system may be configured with the dispensing hierarchy so as to be able to ascertain which medical officers are authorised to dispense which pharmaceutical medicines. 94. One such a hierarchy has been established, the dispensing machine is adapted to identify the appropriate medical officer. As alluded to above, there are different manners in which the medical officer may be identified. In a first embodiment, the medical officer may simply be provided with a password, such as a five digit secret pin or the like for the purposes of accessing the dispensing machine. In embodiments, the dispensing machine may comprise differing compartments comprising different schedules of drugs. As such, upon receipt of the pin from the medical officer, the dispensing machine may ascertain which compartments may be unlocked so as to be accessed by the medical officer. 95. In other embodiments, other identification techniques may be utilised. For example, the medical officer may swipe their ID card or the like across a scanning device so as to allow the scanning device to read a barcode, NFC chip or the like. In embodiments, so as to prevent unauthorised use of a stolen ID card, a combination of pin and ID card may be required. 96. In a further embodiment is, additionally, or alternatively, biometric variables may be utilised, such as an iris scan, fingerprint reader and the like. 97. In embodiments, differing levels of authentication may be required for differing schedules of drugs. For example, for non-dangerous drugs such as aspirin and the like, a pin may be required, whereas potentially addictive drugs such as morphine and the like may require a combination of a pin and an ID card prior to dispensing. 98. In embodiments, as opposed to utilising discrete compartments comprising different schedules of drugs, the dispensing machine may be adapted to retrieve the appropriate pharmaceutical medicine, such as by utilising a carousel device or the like so as to dispense the chosen pharmaceutical medicine via an access aperture. Other dispensing mechanisms may be utilised also. For example, for blister packaging, the dispensing mechanism may be adapted to apply pressure to differing regions of the blister packaging so as to eject capsules therefrom. In a further exemplary embodiment, the dispense mechanism may be adapted to measure a certain amount of pharmaceutical medicine, such as either by weight, volume or the like prior to dispensing. 99. As alluded to above, in embodiments, the dispensing machine may be adapted to create an audit log for auditing purposes. As such, upon each dispensing event, the dispensing machine may record, within a database, the date, time, type of drug dispensed, quantity of drug dispensed and medical officer ID. 100. As alluded to above, such audit log creation may be used additionally, or alternatively, to access control. 101. In embodiments, the dispensing machine may be adapted to generate alerts for the dispensing of pharmaceutical medicines exceeding certain threshold. For example, the dispensing machine may be configured such that should more than 200 ml of morphine be dispensed to a single medical officer within a 24-hour period, a notification such as by way of email, SMS, paging method or the like is sent to the medical officers supervisor for investigation. 102. In a preferred embodiment, the audit log is tamperproof such as by comprising offsite data storage. 103. In further embodiment, the dispensing machine may be adapted to request supervisory permission for the dispensing of certain pharmaceutical medicines or the dispensing of pharmaceutical medicines exceeding a certain quantity or volume. For example, should a medical officer require more than 200 ml of morphine, as opposed to disallowing the dispensing of such morphine, the dispensing machine may be adapted to request permission from the medical officers supervisor. In this manner, should the supervisor authorise the dispensing of the pharmaceutical medicine, the supervisor may input the supervisors pin code or other identification into the dispensing machine to allow the dispensing of the requested pharmaceutical medicine. In alternative embodiments, the dispensing machine may request permission byway of conventional communication, such as by sending an email, text message or the like to the supervisor. For example, upon receipt of the SMS message, the supervisor may reply with the text “yes” or “no” to provide permission. 104. In embodiments, when creating the audit log, the dispensing machine maybe adapted to scan a computer readable medium of the dispensed pharmaceutical medicine as the pharmaceutical medicine is dispensed. In one embodiment, the medical officer may be adapted to scan a barcode or the like on the pharmaceutical medicine packaging such that the dispensing mechanism may uniquely identify the dispensed pharmaceutical medicine, or the type of pharmaceutical medicine. In other embodiments, other identification means may be utilised, such as by way of RFID tags and the like adhered to the pharmaceutical medicine packaging. 105. In one embodiment, computer readable medium may identify the type of medicine, such that when, for example, one or more vials of morphine are dispensed by the dispensing machine, the dispensing machine is adapted to identify morphine as the type of pharmaceutical medicine that has been dispensed. 106. However, in other embodiments, each pharmaceutical medicine within the dispensing machine may comprise a computer readable medium uniquely identifying each pharmaceutical item. For example, the dispensing machine may comprise 20 vials of morphine wherein, each vial comprises a computer readable medium uniquely identifying the particular vial. 107. In this manner, should unauthorised usage of morphine be found, the medical officer to which the particular vial of morphine was dispensed may be ascertained. 108. In embodiment, a plurality of dispensing machines may be provided. However, so as to reduce the potential for the exceeding of the dispensing threshold for a particular medical officer by making multiple withdrawals from several dispensing machines, the dispensing machines may be in operable communication across a data network, or at least to a centralised database so as to tally the medicines dispensed, and the respective amounts via various dispensing machines. 109. In further embodiment, where a data communication network is not practical, the medical officer may be required to utilise a readable computer readable medium, such as a readable NFC, RFID tag or the like for the purposes of dispensing medicines. As such, upon each dispensing event, the dispensing machine would write, in encrypted form, to the computer readable medium of the medical officer, the amount dispensed, date and time and the like. As such, should the medical officers subsequently attempt to dispense pharmaceutical medicine, the dispensing machine may be adapted to retrieve the historical dispense amounts for the particular medical officer.

Interpretation

Wireless: 110. The invention may be embodied using devices conforming to other network standards and for other applications, including, for example other WLAN standards and other wireless standards. Applications that can be accommodated include IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs and links, and wireless Ethernet. 111. In the context of this document, the term "wireless" and its derivatives may be used to describe circuits, devices, systems, methods, techniques, communications channels, etc., that may communicate data through the use of modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. The term does not imply that the associated devices do not contain any wires, although in some embodiments they might not. In the context of this document, the term "wired" and its derivatives may be used to describe circuits, devices, systems, methods, techniques, communications channels, etc., that may communicate data through the use of modulated electromagnetic radiation through a solid medium. The term does not imply that the associated devices are coupled by electrically conductive wires.

Processes: 112. Unless specifically stated otherwise, as apparent from the following discussions, it is appreciated that throughout the specification discussions utilizing terms such as "processing ", "computing ", "calculating ", "determining ", "analysing" or the like, refer to the action and/or processes of a computer or computing system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulate and/or transform data represented as physical, such as electronic, quantities into other data similarly represented as physical quantities.

Processor: 113. In a similar manner, the term "processor" may refer to any device or portion of a device that processes electronic data, e.g., from registers and/or memory to transform that electronic data into other electronic data that, e.g., may be stored in registers and/or memory. A "computer" or a "computing device" or a "computing machine" or a "computing platform" may include one or more processors. 114. The methodologies described herein are, in one embodiment, performable by one or more processors that accept computer-readable (also called machine-readable) code containing a set of instructions that when executed by one or more of the processors carry out at least one of the methods described herein. Any processor capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken are included. Thus, one example is a typical processing system that includes one or more processors. The processing system further may include a memory subsystem including main RAM and/or a static RAM, and/or ROM.

Computer-Readable Medium: 115. Furthermore, a computer-readable carrier medium may form, or be included in a computer program product. A computer program product can be stored on a computer usable carrier medium, the computer program product comprising a computer readable program means for causing a processor to perform a method as described herein.

Networked or Multiple Processors: 116. In alternative embodiments, the one or more processors operate as a standalone device or may be connected, e.g., networked to other processor(s), in a networked deployment, the one or more processors may operate in the capacity of a server or a client machine in server-client network environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer or distributed network environment. The one or more processors may form a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. 117. Note that while some diagram(s) only show(s) a single processor and a single memory that carries the computer-readable code, those in the art will understand that many of the components described above are included, but not explicitly shown or described in order not to obscure the inventive aspect. For example, while only a single machine is illustrated, the term "machine" shall also be taken to include any collection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

Additional Embodiments: 118. Thus, one embodiment of each of the methods described herein is in the form of a computer-readable carrier medium carrying a set of instructions, e.g., a computer program that are for execution on one or more processors. Thus, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, embodiments of the present invention may be embodied as a method, an apparatus such as a special purpose apparatus, an apparatus such as a data processing system, or a computer-readable carrier medium. The computer-readable carrier medium carries computer readable code including a set of instructions that when executed on one or more processors cause a processor or processors to implement a method. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a method, an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of carrier medium (e.g., a computer program product on a computer-readable storage medium) carrying computer-readable program code embodied in the medium.

Carrier Medium: 119. The software may further be transmitted or received over a network via a network interface device. While the carrier medium is shown in an example embodiment to be a single medium, the term "carrier medium" should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term "carrier medium" shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by one or more of the processors and that cause the one or more processors to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the present invention. A carrier medium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media.

Implementation: 120. It will be understood that the steps of methods discussed are performed in one embodiment by an appropriate processor (or processors) of a processing (i.e., computer) system executing instructions (computer-readable code) stored in storage. It will also be understood that the invention is not limited to any particular implementation or programming technique and that the invention may be implemented using any appropriate techniques for implementing the functionality described herein. The invention is not limited to any particular programming language or operating system.

Means For Carrying out a Method or Function 121. Furthermore, some of the embodiments are described herein as a method or combination of elements of a method that can be implemented by a processor of a processor device, computer system, or by other means of carrying out the function. Thus, a processor with the necessary instructions for carrying out such a method or element of a method forms a means for carrying out the method or element of a method. Furthermore, an element described herein of an apparatus embodiment is an example of a means for carrying out the function performed by the element for the purpose of carrying out the invention.

Connected 122. Similarly, it is to be noticed that the term connected, when used in the claims, should not be interpreted as being limitative to direct connections only. Thus, the scope of the expression a device A connected to a device B should not be limited to devices or systems wherein an output of device A is directly connected to an input of device B. It means that there exists a path between an output of A and an input of B which may be a path including other devices or means. "Connected" may mean that two or more elements are either in direct physical or electrical contact, or that two or more elements are not in direct contact with each other but yet still cooperate or interact with each other.

I

Embodiments: 123. Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, but may. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from this disclosure, in one or more embodiments. 124. Similarly it should be appreciated that in the above description of example embodiments of the invention, various features of the invention are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various inventive aspects. This method of disclosure, however, is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed invention requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment. Thus, the claims following the Detailed Description of Specific Embodiments are hereby expressly incorporated into this Detailed Description of Specific Embodiments, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment of this invention. 125. Furthermore, while some embodiments described herein include some but not other features included in other embodiments, combinations of features of different embodiments are meant to be within the scope of the invention, and form different embodiments, as would be understood by those in the art. For example, in the following claims, any of the claimed embodiments can be used in any combination.

Different Instances of Objects 126. As used herein, unless otherwise specified the use of the ordinal adjectives "first", "second", "third", etc., to describe a common object, merely indicate that different instances of like objects are being referred to, and are not intended to imply that the objects so described must be in a given sequence, either temporally, spatially, in ranking, or in any other manner.

Specific Details 127. In the description provided herein, numerous specific details are set forth. However, it is understood that embodiments of the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure an understanding of this description.

Terminology 128. In describing the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, specific terminology will be resorted to for the sake of clarity. However, the invention is not intended to be limited to the specific terms so selected, and it is to be understood that each specific term includes all technical equivalents which operate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar technical purpose. Terms such as "forward", "rearward", "radially", "peripherally", "upwardly", "downwardly", and the like are used as words of convenience to provide reference points and are not to be construed as limiting terms.

Comprising and Including 129. In the claims which follow and in the preceding description of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the word "comprise" or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising" are used in an inclusive sense, i.e. to specify the presence of the stated features but not to preclude the presence or addition of further features in various embodiments of the invention. 130. Any one of the terms: including or which includes or that includes as used herein is also an open term that also means including at least the elements/features that follow the term, but not excluding others. Thus, including is synonymous with and means comprising.

Scope of Invention 131. Thus, while there has been described what are believed to be the preferred embodiments of the invention, those skilled in the art will recognize that other and further modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is intended to claim all such changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the invention. For example, any formulas given above are merely representative of procedures that may be used. Functionality may be added or deleted from the block diagrams and operations may be interchanged among functional blocks. Steps may be added or deleted to methods described within the scope of the present invention. 132. Although the invention has been described with reference to specific examples, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention may be embodied in many other forms.

Claims

Claims 1. A vending machine for dispensing a pharmaceutical medicine, the vending machine comprising: a processor for processing digital data, a memory device for storing digital data including computer program code, the memory device being operably coupled to the processor, and a dispensing mechanism adapted to dispense the medicine, the dispensing mechanism being operably coupled to the processor, wherein, in use, the processor is controlled by the computer program code to: authorise an authorised medicine recipient; and dispense the medicine using the dispensing mechanism accordingly.
2. A vending machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the dispensing mechanism is adapted to dispense a plurality of medicine types.
3. A vending machine as claimed in claim 2, wherein, in use, the processor is further controlled by the computer program code to: receive medicine prescription data representing a medicine prescription; and dispense the medicine in accordance with the medicine prescription data.
4. A vending machine as claimed in claim 3, wherein the processor is further controlled by the computer program code to select a medicine type in accordance with the prescription data.
5. A vending machine as claimed in claim 4, wherein the vending machine further comprises a network interface for sending and receiving data across a data network, the network interface being operably coupled to the processor, and wherein, in use, the processor is further controlled by the computer program code to receive the prescription data via the network interface.
6. A vending machine as claimed in claim 4, wherein the vending machine further comprises an optical scanning device adapted to capture optical scan data, the optical scanning device being operably coupled to the processor and wherein in use, the processor is further controlled by the computer program code to receive the prescription data via the optical scanning device.
7. A vending machine as claimed in claim 6, wherein the optical scan data comprises barcode scan data.
8. A vending machine as claimed in claim 6, wherein the processor is further controlled by the computer program code to implement and optical character recognition algorithm.
9. A vending machine as claimed in claim 4, wherein the vending machine further comprises a user interface adapted to receive user input data, the user interface being operably coupled to the processor and wherein, in use, the processor is further controlled by the computer program code to receive the prescription data via the user interface.
10. A vending machine as claimed in claim 9, wherein the prescription data comprises a code.
11. A vending machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the vending machine further comprises: a user interface adapted to receive user input data, the user interface being operably coupled to the processor, and a database connection for selecting data from a diagnosis database, the diagnosis database comprising symptom data stored in relation to medicine type data and wherein, in use, the processor is further controlled by the computer program code to: receive symptom data representing at least one symptom input by a user; and select, using the diagnosis database, a selected medicine type.
12. A vending machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the dispensing mechanism is adapted to dispense the medicine from a blister pack.
13. A vending machine as claimed in claim 12, wherein the dispensing mechanism comprises a blister pack reloading mechanism. I • Page t of t 23 25
14. A vending machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the dispensing mechanism is adapted to dispense a measured volume of the medicine from a medicine bottle.
15. A vending machine as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a temperature regulator adapted to regulate the temperature of the medicine.
16. A vending machine as claimed in claim 15, further comprising a plurality of temperature regulator is adapted to regulate temperatures of differing medicine types.
17. A vending machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein, in authorising the authorised medicine recipient, the processor is further controlled by the computer program code to verify the identity of the medicine recipient.
18. A vending machine as claimed in claim 17, wherein the processor is further controlled by the computer program code to dispense the medicine in accordance with a dosage regime and the identity of the recipient.
19. A vending machine as claimed in claim 17, wherein, in use, the processor is further controlled by the computer program code to receive identification data representing an identification of the recipient and verify the identity of the recipient in accordance with the identification data.
20. A vending machine as claimed in claim 19, wherein the vending machine comprises an optical scanner adapted to receive optical scan data and wherein, in use, the processor is further controlled by the computer program code to receive the identification data from the optical scanner.
21. A vending machine as claimed in claim 20, wherein the optical scan data represents a scan of an identification document.
22. A vending machine as claimed in claim 21, wherein the processor is further controlled by the computer program code to employ optical character recognition on the optical scan data.
23. A vending machine as claimed in claim 19, wherein the vending machine further comprises a credit card reader and wherein, in use, the processor is further controlled by the computer program code to receive the identification data from the credit card reader.
24. A vending machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the vending machine further comprises a biometric scanner adapted to receive biometric data and wherein, in use, the processor is further controlled by the computer program code to receive the identification data from the biometric scanner
25. A vending machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processor is further controlled by the computer program code to calculate a storage period for the medicine.
26. A vending machine as claimed in claim 25, wherein the processor is further controlled by the computer program code to calculate when the storage period exceeds the shelflife for the medicine.