EP-4246477-B1 - A PRECISION DISPENSER FOR LIQUIDS, COMPRISING A DEVICE FOR REMOTE CONTROL AND MONITORING

Inventors

• ANGELI, ROBERTO

Dates

Publication Date

20260506

Application Date

20170303

Claims (4)

1. A precision dispenser device for liquid medicaments, comprising: - a pharmacological substance dispenser (1) containing a liquid medicament to be administered to a plurality of patients, said dispenser being a precision dispenser equipped with a hydraulic and electronic control system for performing its function of dispensing the dose of medicament required to the patient; - communication means for connecting to the Internet network; - means for a first-level identification of the patient comprising a card reader (5) adapted to read contact or contactless cards or tags; - means for a second-level patient identification selected from a biometric recognition reader (7); - an SBC (2), Single Board Computer, unit capable of interfacing the above devices and of connecting to a central management system (8); - a touchscreen monitor (10) which allows the dialogue between the patient and the device, and displays the output and receives the inputs from APPs running on the SBC (2) for acquiring the identity data and checking them after the check with the Internet network; wherein an external processor (9) controls the function of the pharmacological substance dispenser (1) and the external processor (9) contains the identification profiles of all patients, the amounts of medication to be administered, their therapeutic protocol established for him/her; wherein said communication means for connecting to the Internet network are adapted to exchange information concerning the medication dispensing events with a cloud-based web application (8) in order to ensure that there are not attempts to make double dispensing requests by the same patient in a different medication dispensing center within a given period of time.
2. The device according to claim 1 wherein the recognition reader is selected in the group consisting of fingerprint reader, an iris reader, a facial reader.
3. The device according to any one of the preceding claims characterized in that said device is mobile and comprises a GPS position detection system adapted to detect the device position in real time.
4. A system comprising the device according to any one of claims 1-3 interfaced with a tablet (3) which allows to analyze data and remotely monitor the device.

Description

Field of the invention The present invention relates to the field of precision dispensers for liquids, in particular liquid pharmaceutical compositions. Background art As is known, certain pharmaceutical compositions in liquid form are administered through dispensers that dispense the amount required as indicated by the general practitioner. The problems associated with dispensing precision have already been studied since long and overcome by means of various devices such as for example the automatic liquid dispenser patented by the same Applicant (see EP 1 165 010). The documents US2013068790A1 and WO2005043469A1 disclose generic drug dispensers. However, when the pharmaceutical compositions, due to their nature, may cause wrongful behavior by the user or third parties (e.g. in case of methadone or other medicaments for treating drug addiction), absolute control not only on the amount but on the general conditions of delivery become essential. Currently, devices for dispensing liquids, and more specifically medicaments in liquid form requiring increased and monitored dispensing precisions, are for the most part apparatuses monitored locally by a PC which is given the bureaucratic task of recording the data according to the local laws and of controlling the system by taking the information from its memory and dispensing the amount prescribed. It is therefore evident the importance of an apparatus which not only allows to monitor and dispense the liquid with extreme precision, but also prevents improper use of the medicament administered without the mandatory presence of operators at the medicament distribution site, which would obviously be unfeasible for practical reasons. Summary of the invention The scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims. It is describe a precision dispenser for liquids, in particular medicament, that allows the remote control of all the operations associated with dispensing the medicament to the patient so as to avoid abuses. Brief description of the drawing The accompanying Figure 1 shows schematically a device according to the invention. Detailed description of the invention The present invention allows to overcome the aforesaid problems by means of a precision dispenser for liquids, comprising means capable of interfacing with a remote data server which provides the information required to manage the controlled dispensing of the medicament through a preliminary identification of the user, verifying that the user does not attempt to take more than his/her prescribed dose by going to other dispensing centers in a short time. On the other hand, the system also allows the patient to access the dose of medicament required at any center equipped with a device according to the invention, with significant advantages not only for the patient but also for the whole national care service, since it would no longer be necessary to deliver the medicament at patient's home. The device according to the invention also allows to have all the users' data at the dispensing centers in a particular country to be arranged in a centralized manner and under secure computer technology, this allowing to use this information for assessments and statistical reports on the user population, understanding better the regional needs and distribution thereof, and managing samples of population in order to improve and/or expand the care service. In particular, in accordance with the present invention, the above said precision dispenser comprises: contact or contactless (c-less) card/tag/chip readers;any security keyboards for the patient to introduce his/her PIN;recognition readers;any GPS position detection systems;an SBC (Single Board Computer) unit capable of interfacing the above devices and of connecting to the central management system in wired, wireless (Wi-Fi) mode or through the telephone network. As seen in the accompanying Figure, the device according to the invention comprises a pharmacological substance dispenser 1 of known type, equipped with a hydraulic and electronic control system for performing its function. Said function is controlled by an external processor 9 which contains the using profiles of all patients, the amounts of medication to be administered, their therapeutic protocol, etc. Dispenser 1 is then interfaced with a device 2 (SBC) capable of operating autonomously and equipped with RAM and EEPROM memory, and also with an SSD disc, standard interfaces capable of accommodating expansions of various nature, including for example Wi-Fi. Dispenser 1 is equipped with a card reader 5, possibly a secure keyboard 6, a recognition reader 7 and a monitor 10 (possibly touch-screen). The card reader 5 is a device of known type capable of reading (contact or contactless) cards or tags, which allow the registration of the users, and therefore their first-level identification. The secure keyboard 6 allows a PIN (Personal Identification Number) to be entered, thus allowing the second-level