Devon Pawley (Pre-Med) Daniel Rosenberg (Mechanical) Scott Wiebel (Mechanical) Department of Biomedical Engineering University of Miami College of Engineering Supervisor: Dr. Nelson Salas BME Week 5 Presentation February 24 th, 2014 INSERT TITLE HERE MedVault A Physical Drug Dispensing System to Regulate Polypharmacy

Department of Biomedical Engineering University of Miami College of Engineering Purpose Overall Purpose: To develop a device that simplifies, regulates, and improves upon household pill dispensing. To develop a device that helps the elderly and those individuals taking large quantities of medication on a regular basis. Observation: Consuming medication (drugs in pill-form) is tedious and requires a difficult schedule. Remembering to consume pills on a regular basis becomes more difficult as a person ages. Concurrently, as a person ages, consumption of medication increases. Remembering to take five or more medications (Polypharmacy) per day at a particular time leads to forgetfulness, which can lead to stress, injury, or death in extreme cases, as well as drug overdoses. Problem: Polypharmacy requires elderly patients who often suffer from memory loss to remember to take at least five pills per day, at various times throughout the day. Need(s): To combat this forgetfulness, a system needs to be put in place to properly dispense drugs at the correct time period and in the correct quantity.

Department of Biomedical Engineering University of Miami College of Engineering Societal Benefits: –Prevents drug overdoses Only dispenses correct number of pills Minimizes patient interaction –Combats polypharmacy Supports loading of 5 medications for sorting –Helps remind patients when to take medication Keeps all medication in one location Design Significance

Department of Biomedical Engineering University of Miami College of Engineering Design Development Brookstone Snackman (~$50, Amazon)

Department of Biomedical Engineering University of Miami College of Engineering Design Development  

Department of Biomedical Engineering University of Miami College of Engineering Design Development The image on the left is the current auger inside of the Brookstone Snackman that we purchased (model built on Solidworks). The image to the right is a template for an improved auger, with a similar outer and inner diameter, but smaller pitch. Improving this distance will encourage fewer pills to fall in between each blade, which allows us to better quantify how many pills will fall in one revolution. Goal: to use the same motor provided in the Brookstone Snackman (which revolves 1 and ¼ times on the lowest setting), and dispense one pill at a time.

Department of Biomedical Engineering University of Miami College of Engineering Proof of Concept Review Conceptual Design

Department of Biomedical Engineering University of Miami College of Engineering Proof of Concept Review Testing Plans and Experiments –Stabilty –Sorting –Carousel functionality –Pill functionality Carousel malfunction in 60% of our tests led us to look for new designs. The instability issue was a concern as well, but the improper sorting reined chief next to carousel malfunction, considering we are trying to prevent overdoses and improper consumption of the medication. We elected to follow the auger design to avoid using the carousel, the latter of which was dependent upon the motor stopping the spokes exactly below the dispensing pipe while having to revolve at a high velocity to avoid gravitational effects from the pills falling prematurely into their compartments.

Department of Biomedical Engineering University of Miami College of Engineering The new design involves an auger, which rotates along a sloped path to push the pills towards an opening where they will dispense to the user. New Design GOAL 

Department of Biomedical Engineering University of Miami College of Engineering New Design Conceptual DesignNew Design Method of DispensingCarouselAuger Method of LoadingVertical PipeTank ConstructionK’NexThermoplastic Diameter10 cm1.65 cm Pill SizeSmall only (Tic-Tac)Small and Large (so far) MotorK’Nex (45rpm, 6V)Brookstone (~50 rpm, 6V) ProgrammabilityNoYes Mobile App FunctionalityNoYes

Department of Biomedical Engineering University of Miami College of Engineering Implementation Progress We are working to create a 3-D printed model of the new auger using Thermoplastic avialable in the IE prototyping lab. We are having difficulty gaining approval to do this because the machine shop in the engineering school has refused to assist, and Dr. Asfour has not responded to our , nor has he been in his office (We will be camping out starting Wednesday). Our plan is to have the model of the current auger 3-D printed, compare it to Snackman auger and assess functionality, alter (if necessary) the design to our concept auger with the tighter pitch, 3-D print the new auger, and resume testing. We are hoping to complete this process in 2 weeks. Following the auger tests, we will be focusing on the electronics of the device: a kit has been purchased to enable mobile functionality, which can be used as the interface of the device.

Department of Biomedical Engineering University of Miami College of Engineering We will test our new device by loading the device and ensuring that the correct number of pills is dispensed consistently. Consistency is more important than quantity, but the overarching goal would be a single pill dispensed percent of the time. We will continue to test for consistency as we did in our conceptual design. Design Validation

Department of Biomedical Engineering University of Miami College of Engineering Thank you Questions? Thank you for your attention!