MedSignals Alerts You to Take Your Pills

As technology evolves, even the simplest of tasks become high-tech. Apparently, prescriptions are a huge problem in the US.

"Nearly half of the 3.3 billion prescriptions dispensed annually in North America are estimated to be incorrectly consumed. This is sufficient to mitigate the pharmaceuticals' benefits and possibly even result in harm to the user. Medication noncompliance is a clinical phenomenon that crosses all age groups with huge economic impact to society," manufacturer LIFETECHniques says.

The solution? The new MedSignals, which tells you when to take your next dose and records previous intakes.

MedSignals holds up to four medications separately, programmable, FDA-approved plastic compartments, each with its own associated signals.

The surface of the unit contains a 2-line x 14-character LCD (liquid crystal display) in 14 pt. font. Programming buttons and a LED (light emitting diode) are associated with each compartment. Internally, components include a Piezo sound beeper, a microprocessor with onboard memory, circuit boards, a rechargeable battery, and sensors attached to each lid. A backlight automatically illuminates the screen during lid openings.

Each compartment has an associated recessed button that serves two purposes: displaying that pill's relevant information on the LCD and programming the compartment. A press of the button sequentially displays three screens of information for that compartment: the number of lid openings in the last 24 hours, when the last dose was taken (in hours and minutes) and when the next dose is due (e.g. NEXT: 11 hr 55 min).

Opening a compartment records one lid opening, time-stamping a dose taken. This action silences the audible alert, as does pressing its button (which records no lid opening) which generates a "snooze" function.

Compartments operate independently of one another. If beeps are silenced but the compartment lid goes unopened at signaling times, the LED continues to flash until the lid is opened. Otherwise, if beeping is not silenced, both audible and visual signaling will continue intermittently until the lid is opened.

This device might be useful, but I can tell you for sure that human negligence is incurable and even the smartest gadgets cannot fix that.

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