Cup-shaped Medication Recording Device for Taking Intraoral Pictures

Abstract

To improve the reliability of medication record keeping, we have developed a cup-shaped medication recording device and system for taking intraoral pictures of pills. This device has a camera, a memory card with a wireless transmitter, a capacitance sensor, a processing unit, and a rechargeable battery in the cup. When the capacitance sensor used as the trigger switch detects water level change, the camera starts shooting and takes some intraoral pictures. Waterproofing is achieved by the use of wireless data transmission and wireless battery recharging to enable washability of the cup. In the first experiment, ten trials in one subject were conducted. There were 2.6±0.7 pictures per an action of taking pill. The pill was successfully photographed in all trials. Thirteen subjects participated in a second experiment. Intraoral pictures of pills were taken and sent to a PC or a server wirelessly in all subjects. These results show that this device can be expected to reliably record medication, to improve patient adherence, and reduction of medical labor.