SMART PILL DISPENSER

Patients, who have hard time following their prescriptions, will soon find a relief. The “Smart Pill Dispenser” project, developed by students of Izmir University of Economics (IUE), will put an end to the worries of patients who wonder if they took their pill, if they took it on time, or if they took it more than one time. The system, intended for patients who need to take multiple pills regularly, classify the pills based on times and their types. When it is time to take the pill, it drops down to the box, and warns the patient via sound and vibration.

Thanks to the project developed under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Yaşar Güneri Şahin, Acting Dean of IUE Faculty of Engineering and Computer Sciences, by Yiğit Yüksel, İpek Parmak, Ahmet Ildırım, and Ertuğrul Şen, students of IUE Department of Computer Engineering and Software Engineering, there will not be any setbacks experienced during the treatment of diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiac diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, dementia, etc. which require use of pills continuously.

Yiğit Yüksel, student from IUE Department of Computer Engineering, said, “We designed this smart pill dispenser for patients who fail to follow their prescriptions. Especially, people with Alzheimer’s forget that they take the pill, and end up overdosing which would be very dangerous. The system we developed prevents such scenarios. It classifies the pills based on times and types. When it is time to take the pill, it drops down to the box, and warns the patient via sound and vibration”.

‘Smart pill box in our pockets’

Yüksel reminded that the box has a lock in system which allows the appropriate dosage, and that the patient does not have access to the other compartments. “The lock system prevents overdose and taking the wrong medication. The patients have access to the medicine at the times allowed by their doctor. Therefore, the patient cannot take the medicine before its time. The system records all information about the times, dosages and patient information thus making it convenient for doctors, pharmacists, and caretakers to monitor the treatment. The system also allows use of more than one smart dispenser at a time. Since it is small, it can easily fit in the pockets,” said Yüksel.