JP2019170865A - Medication supporting system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a medication supporting system whose structure is simple, power consumption is small, and cost is low.SOLUTION: A medication supporting system comprises: a lid part; a medicine cassette storage part communicating with the lid part and capable of storing one or a plurality of medicine cassettes; a take-out part capable of holding the medicine cassettes; a medicine cassette moving mechanism configured to move the medicine cassette present in the lowest position among the medicine cassettes stored in the medicine cassette storage part to the take-out part, the medicine cassette moving mechanism having a lever whose one end is brought into contact with or adjacent to the medicine cassette in the lowest position, and a pressing part for pressing the other end of the lever; and a control part for controlling the actuation of the medication supporting system.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a medication support system.

  It is difficult for patients undergoing home care, particularly elderly patients, to take medicine at a fixed time every day. Therefore, the patient who is taking care at home can know the time of medication by warning and can take out the prescribed dose (number of medications). A medication management device that automatically communicates information is known. By using this medication management device, the caregiver can prompt the patient to take medication via the telephone or the like when the patient is not taking the medication.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a medicine container that contains a medicine drum or a medicine tray, a rotation mechanism that operates the medicine container, a medicine outlet opening / closing mechanism, and a medicine removal that detects that the medicine has been removed. Sensor, timing mechanism for measuring time, setting unit for inputting medication time, alarm duration and contact phone number, display unit for displaying time and setting contents, alarm output unit for reporting medication time, and going out A medication management device composed of an outing switch that sometimes takes out a predetermined medicine, a communication control unit that sends information about taking, not taking, and going out of the medicine to the outside, and a storage unit that stores the above settings and information It is disclosed.

  In the medication management apparatus of Patent Document 1, a pharmacist such as a pharmacy stores the drug in a drug drum or a drug tray of the drug storage unit.

JP 2011-030934 A

  In the medication management device described in Patent Document 1, the medicine drum of the medicine container is rotated by the medicine container rotating mechanism when the predetermined medication time is reached, and the medicine is taken out by the medicine outlet opening / closing mechanism. It has become. For this reason, there are problems that the structure is complicated and that power consumption required for driving is large and expensive.

  The present invention solves the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide an inexpensive medication support system having a simple structure, low power consumption, and low cost.

  A medication support system according to one aspect of the present invention is configured to have a lid, a medicine cassette housing portion that communicates with the lid, and can accommodate one or more medicine cassettes, and can hold the medicine cassette. And a medicine cassette moving mechanism configured to move the medicine cassette located at the lowest position among the medicine cassettes housed in the medicine cassette housing section to the withdrawal section, Control that controls the operation of the medication support system, and a medicine cassette moving mechanism having an insulator that contacts or approaches the medicine cassette at the lowest position and a pressing portion that presses the other end of the insulator. Part.

  According to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide an inexpensive medication support system with a simple structure, low power consumption, and low cost.

1 is an external view of a medication support system according to an embodiment. It is a schematic structure figure of a medicine cassette of a medication support system concerning one embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating isolation | separation with the main body and lid | cover of the chemical | medical agent cassette of the medication assistance system which concerns on one Embodiment. It is sectional drawing along the XX line of FIG. It is a partial cross section figure showing the internal structure of the storage part of the medication support system concerning one embodiment. It is a partial cross section figure which shows the drive structure of the chemical | medical agent cassette of the medication assistance system which concerns on one Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating accommodation and taking-out of the chemical | medical agent cassette of the medication assistance system which concerns on one Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the system configuration | structure of the control part of the medication assistance system which concerns on one Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the control processing of the medication assistance method which concerns on one Embodiment. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the internal structure of the medication assistance system which concerns on other embodiment.

  Hereinafter, a medication support system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. The medication support system according to the present embodiment is a system that effectively provides a medication support service to a patient being treated at home, particularly an elderly patient.

  FIG. 1 shows an external view of a medication support system according to an embodiment. In FIG. 2, the schematic block diagram of the chemical | medical agent cassette of the medication assistance system which concerns on one Embodiment is shown. The figure for demonstrating isolation | separation with the main body and lid | cover of the chemical | medical agent cassette of the medication assistance system which concerns on FIG. 3 at one Embodiment is shown. The figure for demonstrating isolation | separation with the main body and lid | cover of the chemical | medical agent cassette of the medication assistance system which concerns on FIG. 4 at one Embodiment is shown.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the medication support system 10 according to the present embodiment has a control unit 1 that controls the operation of the entire medication support system 10. An example of the control of the medication support system 10 via the control unit 1 will be described later.

  The medication support system 10 according to the present embodiment is provided on the upper surface of the medicine cassette housing portion 2 and the medicine cassette housing portion 2 and can be opened and closed to house a later-described medicine cassette 4 (see FIGS. 2 to 4). The lid 3 configured as described above, the drug cassette moving mechanism 12 for moving the drug cassette 4 (see FIGS. 6 and 7), and the takeout configured to hold the drug cassette 4 for taking out the drug cassette 5 Part.

  First, an example of the structure of the medicine cassette housing part 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the internal structure of the container of the medication support system according to one embodiment. The medicine cassette housing part 2 of the medication support system 10 according to the present embodiment is provided with a first housing chamber 21 for housing the medicine cassette 4 before use. The pre-use drug cassette 4 referred to here means a drug cassette 4 containing a predetermined dose (number of doses) of a drug prescribed in advance by a doctor or the like.

  As an example shown in FIG. 5, the first storage chamber 21 is partitioned into a plurality of protrusions 22 protruding obliquely downward from the wall surface 23, and a predetermined number, for example, 1 to 2 is set for each partition. The medicine cassette 4 is configured to be accommodated. More specifically, in the first accommodating chamber 21, one or a plurality of protrusions 22 protruding obliquely downward are alternately arranged in the vertical direction on the inner walls 23a and 23b facing each other. By configuring the first storage chamber 21 in this way, one medicine cassette 4 is applied with the cumulative weight of all the medicine cassettes above it distributed. For this reason, the medicine cassette moving mechanism section described later can move the medicine cassette with less energy. Note that the configuration of the first storage chamber 21 described above is an example, and even if the first cassette chamber 21 is not partitioned by the protrusions 22 as described above, the drug cassette moving mechanism section described later can move the drug cassette. However, it is preferable to have the above configuration from the viewpoint of the energy efficiency of the movement of the drug cassette as described above and prevention of clogging of the drug cassette due to interference between the drug cassettes.

  The first storage chamber 21 has an opening 20a that communicates with the lid 3. The medical staff delivers the drug cassette 4 to the patient's home at regular intervals, and the medication support system 10 The lid 3 is opened, and the medicine cassette 4 for that period is stored in the first storage chamber 21 from the opening 20a. The number of drug cassettes 4 that can be stored in the first storage chamber 21 is not particularly limited, but is preferably 17 or more, for example. Thus, for example, a medical staff visits the patient's home on Friday, and stores the drug cassette 4 for 17 days from Saturday to the next Monday in the first storage chamber 21 of the medication support system 10. Then, it becomes possible to deliver the new medicine cassette 4 to the patient's home again on the following Monday.

  In addition, in the conventional medication management apparatus as described in Patent Document 1, when the number of stored medicine cassettes 4 increases, each medicine cassette 4 is individually managed, and thus the structure becomes more complicated. There is a problem that power consumption required for driving increases. However, as will be described later, the medication support system 10 according to the present embodiment includes a lever whose one end is in contact with or close to the lowermost drug cassette and a pressing portion that presses the other end of the lever. The drug cassette is moved by the part. For this reason, even when the number of medicine cassettes to be stored is increased, the structure is simple as long as the medicine cassette housing portion is enlarged, and the power consumption required for driving is small.

  The size of the opening 20a is preferably set to be slightly larger than the size of the medicine cassette 4 in the direction corresponding to the size of the medicine cassette 4 in a predetermined direction. Thereby, since it becomes possible to insert the medicine cassette 4 only in a predetermined direction, it is possible to prevent the medicine cassettes 4 from interfering with each other in the first storage chamber 21.

  In addition, the cover part 3 may be provided with a lock part (not shown) so that only a medical staff or a caregiver can open and close the cover part 3.

  The medicine cassette housing portion 2 is provided with a second housing chamber 24 for housing the used medicine cassette 4. The caregiver or the patient opens the lid 3 of the medication support system 10 and stores the medicine cassette 4 emptied by taking the medicine into the second accommodation chamber 24 through the opening 20b.

  The size of the opening 20b is preferably set to be slightly larger than the size of the medicine cassette 4 in the direction corresponding to the size of the medicine cassette 4 in a predetermined direction. Thereby, since it becomes possible to put the medicine cassette 4 only in a predetermined direction, it is possible to prevent the medicine cassettes 4 from interfering with each other in the second storage chamber 24.

  In addition, an opening 25 and a lid 26 that covers the opening 25 are provided in the lower part of the second storage chamber 24, and medical personnel can use the lid when delivering the medicine cassette 4 to the patient's home. 26 is opened and the empty medicine cassette 4 is taken out from the opening 25.

  Further, the second storage chamber 24 may be provided with an orientation portion 2 or the like for orienting the drug cassette 4 in a predetermined direction so that the drug cassettes 4 do not interfere with each other in the second storage chamber 24. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the directing portion 27 can be a protrusion 22 protruding obliquely downward from the wall surface of the second storage chamber 24.

  The second storage chamber 24 may be configured to be removable from the medication support system 10. In this case, the removed storage chamber 24 itself can be used as a return box for the medicine cassette 4.

  Next, the configuration of the drug cassette moving mechanism unit 12 of the medication support system 10 according to an embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a drug cassette drive structure of the medication support system according to the embodiment. In FIG. 7, the figure for demonstrating accommodation and taking-out of the chemical | medical agent cassette of the medication assistance system which concerns on one Embodiment is shown.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, in the medication support system 10 according to the present embodiment, the drug cassette moving mechanism unit 12 includes an insulator 14 and a pressing unit 15. The lowermost position 13 of the first storage chamber 21 is constituted by a recess that matches the shape of the medicine cassette 4. Further, in the vicinity of the lowest position 13, a take-out portion 16 configured with a concave portion that conforms to the shape of the medicine cassette 4 is arranged.

  When the medicine cassette 4 (b) is at the lowest position 13 and the pressing force f of the pressing portion 15 acts on the insulator 14, the insulator 14 jumps up the medicine cassette 4 (b) from the lowest position 13. Thereby, the medicine cassette 4 (b) moves from the lowest position 13 to the take-out part 16.

  As described above, in the first accommodating chamber 21, one or a plurality of protrusions 22 protruding obliquely downward are alternately arranged in the vertical direction on the inner walls 23a and 23b facing each other. Therefore, one medicine cassette 4 is applied with the cumulative weight of all the medicine cassettes above it distributed. As a result, the medicine cassette moving mechanism unit can move the medicine cassette 4 (b) at the lowest position 13 to the take-out part 16 with less energy.

  Although it does not specifically limit as a specific example of the press part 15, A solenoid, a plunger, etc. are mentioned suitably.

  Further, a sensor (not shown) that detects the presence or absence of the medicine cassette 4 may be provided at the lowest position 13.

  The patient can take out the medicine cassette 4 (c) of the taking-out portion 16 and take the medicine in the cassette at the time of medication. However, there may be a case where the patient does not notice that the medication time has come, or a case where there is no patient near the medication support system 10. For this reason, when the medication time comes, the medicine cassette 4 is not automatically moved from the lowest position 13 to the take-out unit 16, but it is necessary to establish a preset condition.

  The set conditions will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the system configuration of the control unit of the medication support system according to one embodiment. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the control process of the medication support method according to the embodiment.

  The control unit 1 of the medication support system 10 according to the present embodiment includes, for example, a CPU 101, a ROM 102, a RAM 103, a timing unit 104, an information reading unit 105, a driving unit 106, a communication unit 107, a lamp 108, a switch 109, a speaker 110, and a display. Part 111 and setting part 112.

  The CPU 101 controls the entire medication support system 10 according to the control program. The ROM 102 stores a control program, initial data, and the like. The RAM 103 is a non-volatile memory that stores prescription information and other information, and is configured by an SRAM or the like.

  Prescription information includes, for example, patient name and ID, disease name, drug name, dose, medication time, medication information including precautions, name and ID of the doctor in charge, contact information (for example, email address), etc. Contains information. The medication time is not absolute, and can be set as appropriate according to the patient's life pattern by the patient or the medical staff who delivered the drug cassette 4.

  The time measuring unit 104 measures the exact date and time and notifies the CPU 101 of it at a fixed time interval (for example, every 5 minutes). The information reading unit 105 reads prescription information stored therein when a USB memory or other external memory is connected. The CPU 101 stores the prescription information read by the information reading unit 105 in the RAM 103.

  The driving unit 106 drives the medicine cassette moving mechanism unit 12 including the above-described lever 14 and the pressing unit 15 according to a command from the CPU 101. Specifically, a driving voltage is applied to the pressing unit 15, and the medicine cassette 4 (b) at the lowest position 13 is moved to the take-out unit 16.

  The communication unit 107 performs wireless communication with a medical institution, a family, a mobile phone of the patient himself, and the other party responsible for the patient.

  The lamp 108 notifies the patient by lighting or blinking when the medication time comes, and is provided on the front surface of the control unit 1 as shown in FIG. The switch 109 is operated when the patient takes medicine, and is provided on the front surface of the control unit 1 as shown in FIG. The speaker 110 also notifies the patient by voice when the medication time comes, and is provided on the front surface of the control unit 1 as shown in FIG. The display unit 111 also notifies the patient by text or an image when the medication time comes, and is provided on the front surface of the control unit 1 as shown in FIG.

  The setting unit 112 is, for example, a touch panel provided on the screen of the display unit 111. The medical person who delivered the patient or the medicine cassette 4 sets the medication time according to the patient's life pattern, and the speaker 110 It is possible to set the volume, set the addition or deletion of a partner for wireless communication, and make other settings.

  Next, control processing executed by the CPU 101 will be described. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a control process executed by the CPU 101 of FIG. First, prescription information is read from the RAM 103 (step S101), and it is determined whether or not an interrupt has occurred (step S101).

  Actually, the interrupt is an interrupt that is generated regardless of the control processing routine of the CPU 101. Therefore, the CPU 101 does not determine the presence or absence of the interrupt in the flowchart of FIG. 9, but easily understands the present invention. Therefore, it is incorporated in this flowchart.

  Examples of the interrupt include notifying the CPU 101 that the medication time has been reached, the case where the lid 3 of the medication support system 10 is opened, and the case where the communication unit 107 receives an incoming call from an external communication device.

  If an interrupt has occurred (step S102: YES), it is determined whether or not the interrupt is a medication instruction (step S103). If it is a medication instruction (step S103: YES), the lamp 108, the speaker 109, and the display unit 111 are used to notify the patient that it is time to take the medicine (step S104).

  Next, it is determined whether or not the switch 109 is turned on (step S105). That is, it is determined whether or not the patient has operated the switch 109 in response to the medication notification. If the switch 109 is not turned on (step S105: NO), it is determined whether or not a certain time (for example, 15 minutes) has elapsed (step S106). This certain time can be changed by operating the setting unit 112.

  When the switch 109 is turned on (step S105: YES), the pressing unit 15 is driven via the driving unit 106. As a result, as shown in FIG. 7, when the pressing portion 15 is driven, the insulator 14 raises the medicine cassette 4 (b) at the lowest position 13 and moves it to the take-out portion 16.

  In FIG. 9, if the switch is not turned on (step S105: NO) and if a certain time has not passed (step S106: NO), it is determined whether or not the switch 109 is turned on in step S105. However, in practice, the CPU 101 performs other processing during this fixed time, but since it is not directly related to the present invention, the description thereof is omitted.

  After the pressing unit 15 is driven in step S107, or after a predetermined time has passed in step S106, the medication notification process by the lamp 108, the speaker 109, and the display unit 111 is stopped (step S108).

  Next, medication result information is recorded in the RAM 103 (step S109). For example, when the patient takes medicine, specifically when the switch 109 is turned on, the flag in the prescription information related to the medication notification is set. On the other hand, when the patient does not take the medicine, that is, when the switch 109 is not turned on even after a predetermined time has passed, the flag remains in the initial reset state.

  After the medication result information is recorded, it is determined whether or not the end time of the day (for example, 12:00 pm) is reached (step S110). When the end time is reached (step S110: YES), the recorded medication is recorded. The result information is transmitted to the medical institution or other necessary communication partner by the communication unit 107 (step S111).

  If there is no interrupt in step S102, for example, other processing such as power supply check and cassette sensor check is performed (step S112). Further, even when an interrupt occurs, if it is not a medication instruction (step S103: NO), for example, if the lid 3 is opened, if there is an incoming call to the communication unit 107, a USB memory or other external memory is connected. If this happens, other processing is performed to deal with the situation (step S112).

  After the medication information is transmitted in step S111 or after other processing is performed in step S112, it is determined whether or not the prescription information has been updated (step S113). When prescription information is not updated (step S113: NO), or when it is not an end time in step S11, it transfers to step S102 and a process is continued.

  When the prescription information is changed by the operation of the setting unit 112, the USB memory or other external memory, or the incoming call to the communication unit 107 (step S113: YES), the process proceeds to step S101 and is updated. The prescription information is read and stored in the RAM 103, and the process proceeds to step S102.

  In addition, it is preferable that the chemical | medical agent cassette accommodating part 2 is comprised by multiple rows. For example, when the medicine cassette housing part 2 is configured in four rows, individual control can be performed in each row. As an example, for example, 3 out of 4 rows are respectively set to the morning prescription type, the drug cassette corresponding to the prescription amount, the day prescription type, the drug cassette corresponding to the prescription amount, the night prescription type, and the prescription amount. Can be sorted with the corresponding drug cassette. Thereby, even when the kind of prescription and / or the prescription amount differ from morning, noon, and evening, the single medication support system 10 can cope with it. As another example, for example, three of the four rows may be divided into drug cassettes corresponding to morning, noon, and evening, respectively, and the remaining one row may be allocated to a drug cassette corresponding to pain relief or medication. Is possible.

  Further, one of the four rows (or a plurality of rows) is driven by, for example, a predetermined operation (for example, long pressing) the switch 109 to drive the pressing portion 15 via the driving portion 106, and the lever 14 is The medicine cassette 4 (b) at the lowest position 13 can be controlled to be lifted and moved to the take-out portion 16. Thus, when the patient goes out, for example, the medicine cassette 4 can be taken out in advance and the medicine cassette 4 can be taken to the outside.

  As described above, the medication support system 10 according to the present embodiment applies the pressing force f of the pressing portion 15 to the insulator 14, and the insulator 14 jumps up the medicine cassette 4 from the lowest position 13 to move the medicine cassette 4. Take out. Therefore, the medicine cassette 4 can be easily taken out only by changing the conditions for applying the pressing force f. For example, it may be set so that the medicine cassette 4 can be taken out simply by pressing the switch 109. In addition, for example, even when the power of the medication support system 10 is turned off due to a power failure or the like, the medicine cassette 4 can be taken out by applying the pressing force f with a dedicated jig (not shown).

(Composition of drug cassette)
Next, with reference to FIG. 2 thru | or FIG. 4, the structure of the chemical | medical agent cassette which concerns on this embodiment is demonstrated. In FIG. 2, the schematic block diagram of the chemical | medical agent cassette of the medication assistance system which concerns on one Embodiment is shown. More specifically, FIG. 2 (A) is a plan view of the drug cassette, and FIG. 2 (B) is a side view of the drug cassette. FIG. 3 is a view for explaining separation of the main body and the lid of the medicine cassette of the medication support system according to the embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line XX in FIG. Show.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the medicine cassette 4 includes a main body 41 that contains the medicine, and two lids 42 and 43 that are coupled to one end and the other end of the main body 41 to seal the inside of the main body. Have.

  The main body 41 has a cylindrical shape, while the two lids 42 and 43 have a polygonal cross-sectional outer shape (octagon in the example shown in FIG. 2) and are cylindrical. It is comprised so that the main body 41 may be engaged. Therefore, when the medicine cassette 4 is rolled in a state where the medicine is accommodated in the medicine cassette 4, since the medicine gathers in the vicinity of the polygonal corners of the lids 42 and 43, the medicine cassette 4 is difficult to roll.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the medicine is stored in a state where the lid 43 is removed from the main body 41 at a medical institution or the like, and then the lid 43 seals the main body 41 again and is delivered to the patient's home. The lid 42 is fixed to the main body 41, but the lid 43 can be easily removed by the patient pushing up the lid 43 with a finger of one hand.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Control part 2 Drug cassette accommodating part 3 Lid part 4 Drug cassette 13 Bottom position 14 Insulator 15 Pressing part 16 Extraction part 20a Opening part 20b Opening part 21 1st accommodating chamber 22 Protrusion 23 Accommodating chamber wall surface 24 Second accommodating chamber 25 Opening 26 Lid 27 Orientation 41 Drug Cassette Body 42 Drug Cassette Lid 43 Drug Cassette Lid 101 CPU
104 Time-lapse unit 107 Communication unit 108 Lamp 109 Switch 110 Speaker 111 Display unit

Claims (7)

A medication support system,
A lid,
A medicine cassette housing portion that communicates with the lid and is configured to be capable of housing one or more medicine cassettes;
A take-out part configured to hold the medicine cassette;
A medicine cassette moving mechanism configured to move the medicine cassette at the lowest position among the medicine cassettes contained in the medicine cassette housing part to the take-out section, one end of which is the lowest position A medicine cassette moving mechanism having an insulator that contacts or approaches the medicine cassette and a pressing portion that presses the other end of the insulator;
And a control unit that controls the operation of the medication support system. The medicine cassette housing portion has a first housing chamber for housing the medicine cassette before medication and a second housing chamber for housing the medication cassette after medication.
The medication support system according to claim 1. In the first storage chamber, on the inner wall facing each other, one or a plurality of protrusions protruding obliquely downward are alternately arranged in the vertical direction.
The medication support system according to claim 2. The first storage chamber has an inner wall meandering in a lateral direction with respect to a vertical direction.
The medication support system according to claim 2. The medication support system further includes a timing unit,
A notification unit for notifying a user of the medication support system of medication notification information when the timing unit reaches a predetermined time;
The medication support system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: The medicine cassette housing part is composed of a plurality of rows.
The medication support system according to any one of claims 1 to 5. The first storage chamber is configured to be capable of storing at least 17 drug cassettes,
The medication support system according to claim 2.

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