Medication Dispensing Arrangement without Scanning

Abstract

A pharmacy tray for medications and medical items for patient treatment is placed onto a shelf that carries a grid of optical presence sensors. The location and identification of each item in the tray is recorded on a digital inventory for that tray. At the patient treatment site each item taken is recorded and the remaining inventory is updated without scanning the items.

Claims

1. Medication dispensing arrangement for dispensing medications at a patient treatment site and automatically recording dispensing of a medication or medical item therefrom and automatically updating an inventory of the medications and medical items in said medical dispensing arrangement upon removal of any of said medications or medical items from the medical dispensing arrangement at the patient treatment site, comprising: at least one tray, said tray including a floor and walls forming a plurality of compartments in said tray in a predetermined pattern; said compartments being configured to accept and hold a medication or medical item, said floor having respective transparent windows therein at locations of said compartments; at least one shelf on which said at least one tray is removably mountable, said shelf including a plurality of optical presence sensors positioned at respective locations of said windows when said at least one tray is positioned on said at least one shelf; said at least one tray and said at least one shelf including respective complementary alignment structure to ensure that said at least one tray can be positioned at only one position and only one orientation on said at least one shelf.

2. The medication dispensing arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said complementary alignment structure includes a plurality of tabs positioned on the floor of said at least one tray and complementary mating recesses formed on said at least one shelf.

3. The medication dispensing arrangement according to claim 2, wherein said tabs include projections of respective different geometry positioned at opposite ends or sides of said tray, and projecting downward therefrom.

4. The medication dispensing arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the floor of said at least one tray is formed of a material that is, in at least selected places, transparent to infrared radiation.

5. The medication dispensing arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said optical presence sensors include surface-mount IR presence sensors.

6. The medication dispensing arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said at least one tray is one of a plurality of such trays, and is labeled with an optical coded symbol containing data uniquely identifying each of said trays.

7. The medication dispensing arrangement according to claim 1, further comprising data processing electronics having inputs coupled to said optical presence sensors, and a memory capability storing an inventory of said at least one tray including the identity of each of the medications and medical articles stored in the respective compartments thereof.

8. The medication dispensing arrangement according to claim 1, wherein each said at least one tray is a shallow tray with said compartments each configured to hold only a single unit of medication or medical item.

9. The medication dispensing arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the optical presence sensors on said at least one shelf are arranged in a regular uniform array.

10. The medication dispensing arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the optical presence sensors on said at least one shelf are distributed on said at least on shelf in different densities in different regions thereon.

11. A method of dispensing medications and medical items from a medications cart or cabinet at a patient treatment site wherein the medications and medical items are identified automatically without scanning when selected and removed, and wherein an inventory of the contents of the medication cart of cabinet is automatically updated when the medication or medical item is taken, comprising placing a tray onto a shelf at a loading station, the tray having a floor and dividing walls forming a plurality of compartments in said tray in a predetermined pattern; said compartments each being configured to accept and hold a medication or medical item, said floor having respective transparent windows therein at locations of said compartments and said tray having a unique identifying code thereon, and said shelf including a plurality of optical presence sensors positioned at respective locations of said windows when said at least one tray is positioned on said at least one shelf; recording a unique identifying code for said tray; and loading selected medications and medical items into said tray, including the steps of: selecting medications and medical items to be placed into respective compartments in the tray, and for each said medication and medical item, entering an identity of the selected medication or medical item into a digitally stored inventory for said tray, and placing the medication or medical item into a respective one of said compartments of the tray, whereupon the presence detector associated with the respective compartment produces a signal to associate the location of said compartment in said tray with such medication or medical item in said inventory; and repeating the above-recited steps of selecting, entering, and placing for remaining medications and medical items to be placed into said tray.

12. The method of dispensing medications and medical items according to claim 11, further comprising placing said tray, after the step of loading, into a medications cart or cabinet to be used at said patient dispensing location, and entering said unique identifying code for said tray into a digital processing system associated with said medications cart or cabinet.

13. The method of dispensing medications and medical items according to claim 12, further comprising transmitting said digitally stored inventory, including the identity of each medication and medical item and the location of the compartment in which it has been placed, to the digital processing system associated with said cart or cabinet.

14. The method of dispensing medications and medical items according to claim 11 further comprising placing said tray onto a shelf at said cart or cabinet, said shelf including a plurality of optical presence sensors positioned at respective locations of said windows when said at least one tray is positioned on said at least one shelf, and scanning said unique identifying code for said tray to enter said code into a digital processing system for said cart or cabinet.

15. The method of dispensing medications and medical items according to claim 14 further comprising displaying an identity of the tray on a display device at the cart or cabinet, and as each medication or medical item is selected and removed from the tray, displaying an identity of the selected medication or medical item.

16. The method of dispensing medications and medical items according to claim 15 further comprising automatically transmitting to a pharmacy location the digital inventory of the contents of said tray as each said medication or medical item is removed from said tray.

17. A tray for carrying medication and medical items, comprising a floor composed as a rectangular sheet of a material that is at least in part transparent; a plurality of walls rising from said floor and dividing the tray into a plurality of compartments in a predetermined matrix pattern; said compartments being configured to accept and hold a medication or medical item; and said floor having respective transparent windows therein at locations of said compartments.

18. The tray according to claim 17 wherein said tray has alignment projections thereon projecting vertically and of respective different geometry from one another at opposite ends of said tray.

19. The tray according to claim 17 wherein said floor is transparent to infrared radiation at least at selected places.

20. The tray according to claim 17, comprising a machine-readable unique identifying code placed on a wall of said tray.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0028] FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of medications cart for use in a hospital environment, here a crash cart for use in emergency medicine, in which the medications tray of this invention can be employed to advantage.

[0029] FIG. 2 is a perspective view from above of a medications tray according to an embodiment of this invention.

[0030] FIG. 3 is a perspective view from above of a shelf or loading/dispensing platform adapted to mate with the tray of FIG. 2.

[0031] FIGS. 4 and 5 are a top plan view and a side elevation, respectively, of the tray according to one embodiment of this invention. cut away at line 4-4 of FIG. 3 showing the shade or cover in the full open position.

[0032] FIG. 6 is a perspective view from below showing transparent windows in the tray bottom and positioning tabs adapted to mate with recesses in the shelf or platform of FIG. 3

[0033] FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the tray positioned on the shelf or loading/dispensing platform.

[0034] FIG. 8 shows a screen appearing at the pharmacy loading station while medications and/or medical items are placed in the tray to fill a kit order.

[0035] FIG. 9 shows the screen displayed for each item as it is loaded into the tray.

[0036] FIG. 10 is a screen display of the kit inventory of contents of the tray, as stored in the system server memory.

[0037] FIG. 11 shows a screen appearing on the medications cart at the place of administration to the patient.

[0038] FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a possible shelf or loading/dispensing platform embodying this invention.

[0039] FIG. 13 is a perspective view of another possible shelf or loading/dispensing platform having different densities of sensors in different areas, also embodying this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0040] With reference to the Drawing, the medications tray of this invention may be used in any of several types of medical carts or cabinets, for example in an emergency medicine crash cart 10, as shown here in FIG. 1. The crash cart 10 is a portable cabinet with casters or wheels, and can be pushed quickly into a patient treatment site in a hospital facility. Here the cart 10 has a number of pull-out drawers, including shallow drawers 12 for holding the emergency medications and which may contain a medications tray, with medications, dressings, syringes for quick and convenient access, and an associated platform or shelf, as will be described later. There are also one or two deeper drawers 14 for dressings, bandages, liquids such as Ringer's solution, and other large items. In this example, the cart 10 also can have a hospital computer with keyboard, and an associated video screen. Also shown here are a bar code scanner 16 and a monitor 20 for displaying patient vital information, cardiology activity, pulse rate and blood pressure, and other patient information.

[0041] The perspectives of FIGS. 2 and 3 show a tray 22 of the type that may be contained within any or each of the drawers 12, and an associated shelf or platform 32 on which the tray 22 is carried within the drawer 12. A similar shelf or platform would also be present in the hospital pharmacy where the trays are prepared and filled with the required medical items.

[0042] As shown in FIG. 2, the tray 22 is relatively shallow, designed to hold one item per compartment, and here having compartments arranged in a matrix to facilitate detection of which items are present and which are absent. The tray 22 in this embodiment is generally rectangular, with exterior walls 24, i.e., end and side walls, as well as internal divider walls 26 that rise from a floor 28. The floor is made either entirely of transparent plastic material or at least transparent at locations of the compartment locations as defined between the divider walls 26 or between divider wall and one or another of the exterior walls 26. One side wall 24 bears a bar coded symbol 30 that carries a numerical code to identify the specific one of the trays 22. This is scanned in when the tray 22 is filled at the pharmacy station and again when the filled tray is installed in the crash cart 10 or in another cart or cabinet.

[0043] FIG. 3 shows a shelf 32 or platform on which the tray 22 is held when it is filled at pharmacy and when it is placed into the appropriate drawer 12 in the cart 10. The shelf 32 is of the same geometry as the bottom or base of the tray 22, and there is corresponding structure on the tray and on the shelf to ensure that the tray fits in only one orientation on the shelf. On the surface of the shelf 32 there is a regular array or matrix of surface-mounted optical presence sensors 34, e.g., infrared sensitive, each being positioned to view through the transparent window 28 of a given compartment in the tray. Depending on the geometry of the matrix of the particular tray, some of the sensors 34 may be turned off and the remainder used, or all may be used.

[0044] The array of sensors 34 actually used (automatically determined by scanning in the identity of the tray 22) then corresponds to the matrix of compartments in the tray 22.

[0045] As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and also with reference to the bottom and side views of FIGS. 4 and 5, the tray 22 has tab a downward extending tab 38 (see also FIGS. 4 to 6) at one end that seats into a mating slot, notch or recess 36 in the corresponding end of the tray, and a pair of tabs 42, 42 at the opposite end of the tray 22 that mate with corresponding slots or gaps 40 in the shelf 32. These tabs (and corresponding slots or gaps) are asymmetrically arranged and are of different sizes so that the tray aligns with the shelf in only one possible orientation. This is evident in the bottom and side view of FIGS. 4 and 5. Note that the bottom wall or floor of the tray 22 can be of clear transparent plastic, either entirely or at least at the locations of the windows.

[0046] FIG. 6 is a perspective view featuring the underside of the tray showing the geometry of the tabs 38, 42 in this embodiment and illustrating the transparency of the windows 28. FIG. 7 illustrates the alignment of the tray 22 and shelf 32 such that the matrix of the surface-mounted sensors 34 aligns with the windows for the various compartments in the tray.

[0047] As aforesaid, the same type of shelf or platform is preferably used both at the pharmacy location where the tray is filled, and in the cart 10 at the patient treatment location, with the digital inventory of the tray being created upon loading the tray in pharmacy, and that being digitally sent to the crash cart 10 for identifying the medical items when removed from the tray.

[0048] FIG. 8 illustrates a typical screen 50 of the computer monitor at the pharmacy location. There, a new, empty tray has been placed on the pharmacy station for a pharmacy technician to fill the tray according to a prescribed plan or kit. First the technician scans the bar code 30 on the side of the tray, and the system automatically identifies the tray and places the tray identifier (here, “54320”) in a tray ID box 52. The technician begins loading the medications and other items as listed in the kit into the appropriate compartments in the tray. For each element, the technician scans a bar code on the item, and then places the item into the tray, whereupon a presence detector 34 for that compartment logs the item in for that specific compartment. At that point the identity of the item appears at the position 54 on the screen. In this example, the item is a medication, Amiodarone, 150 mg injectable (syringe), with its lot number and expiration date (here, Aug. 17, 2022). The tray location in tray 54320 also appears at screen location 54, namely, row 2, item no. 6. This simple procedure is followed for each medication or other item for the particular kit that is being filled into the tray.

[0049] FIG. 9 is a screen 56 that appears when the technician need to manually enter the tray identifying number and/or the medication information when the medication is selected to place into the tray.

[0050] When filling of the tray 22 is complete, the inventory of the medications kit in the tray is stored in the server memory, as is the tray identity (here, tray no. 54320). This can appear on screen 60 (FIG. 10) as a chart listing the medication, lot number, whether it is controlled material, and its expiration date. The tray compartment location for each is also stored in memory, and this is transmitted to the computer on the cart 10 when the tray is installed there and its coded optical symbol is scanned in at the crash cart. Then, in the emergency room or other patient treatment site, as each medication is removed from the tray, the optical presence detector 34 associated with its location in the tray signals the cart computer 16 that this medication has been taken, and the tray's inventory record is automatically updated to reflect this. No further action is required on the part of the medical practitioner beyond picking the item up from the cart. No scanning of the item or manual data entry is required. The changes in the content of the tray are relayed automatically to the hospital pharmacy system, accompanied with patient information. As other items are removed from the tray 22, a signal from the grid of presence sensors 34 is received. Based on the recorded inventory of the tray, a record is kept of what items have been taken from the tray, and the time when each one has been taken, as well as a record of what items remain in the tray. All this information is developed without having to scan bar codes or RFID tags at the patient treatment site.

[0051] FIG. 11 shows the screen at the crash cart 10 when the emergency medicine practitioner removes a medication from the tray 22 at the emergency room. This is similar to the loading screen (FIG. 8), displaying the same tray with ID 54320, as well as the medication, the medication lot number, expiration date, and tray location, all appearing at field 54 on the screen. This appears each time a medication is taken from the tray. Another screen (not shown) is available to the practitioner to display the tray contents including what items have been taken and which remain.

[0052] In this system as described, the sensor grid of the presence sensors 34 on the shelf or platform 32 is a fixed grid, and is employed with any of a multitude of trays. The compartment arrangement and configuration for each tray is known and kept in computer memory, and the individual sensors 34 in the grid are used or not used depending on the compartment configuration of the tray. Thus the trays can vary in their arrangement and use, but still be compatible with the same grid configuration of sensors 34. As shown in FIG. 12, the grid of sensors 134 on the shelf or platform 132 can be a grid of sensors evenly distributed on the platform 132. In this case, there is a rectangular grid of twenty-four columns by sixteen rows, although more or fewer sensors 134 can be present. In this case, different arrangements of tray divider walls can be used in the various trays, and the presence or absence of an object will be detected by one or more of the sensors where the items are stored, Different densities of sensors may then be needed with fewer sensors in areas where there are larger compartments. The software for the system would recognize for each tray, based on its identification read at the scan of the bar code symbol 30, and the software would then control which of the sensors 134 from the grid would be needed for that given tray, and which can be left off or ignored.

[0053] Another possible shelf or sensor plate 232 is shown in FIG. 13, there are different densities of sensors 234 in different areas, to match locations of the compartments on a medications tray (not shown here). In this example, the compartments for small vials would go at the bottom left corner where there is a high density of sensors 134, and other areas where the sensors 234 are spaced further apart to correspond to compartments where larger medication items would be stored in the tray. Here there is another region where there is a higher density of sensors along the right side, where other smaller items might be stored.

[0054] While the invention has been described in terms of selected preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the invention is not limited only to those embodiments, but rather the scope of this invention is to be measured by the appended claims.