Smart Dispensing Mechanism for the Dementia Patients
Dementia is a syndrome in which there is deterioration in memory, thinking, behaviour and the ability to perform everyday activities. Worldwide, around 50 million people have dementia, and there are nearly 10 million new cases every year. Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia and m
2025-06-28 16:35:18 - Adil Khan
Smart Dispensing Mechanism for the Dementia Patients
Project Area of Specialization Information & Communication TechnologyProject SummaryDementia is a syndrome in which there is deterioration in memory, thinking, behaviour and the ability to perform everyday activities. Worldwide, around 50 million people have dementia, and there are nearly 10 million new cases every year. Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia and may contribute to 60–70% of cases.
Dementia patients with chronic diseases may face various medication issues due to the fact that these patients need a large number of doses (medicine or pills) several times a day. Thus, older people with dementia and other chronic disease are in need of a regular helper or attendant for their medications.
Our project provides an effective solution for such patients by designing and creating a prototype of a smart dispensing tool.
This project enables patients to take their medicine without any assistance.
This device/tool can be used in hospitals, homes or dispensaries with minimal human interaction. Our smart dispensing tool comprises three separate boxes to store three different kinds of medicines/pills with various amount of medicine.
Accordingly, the patient is reminded when the time for medicine is due through beep and light. Thumb impression of the patient and removal or decrement of the medicine from the box will enable the system in sending a message (intake of medicine) to the caretaker. In case of avoiding or ignoring the medicine, an alert will be sent to the caretaker in order to inform him accordingly.
Project ObjectivesMain objectives of this project are:
- To take care of older people especially dementia patients with chronic disease
- To minimize the chances of avoiding or forgetting timely medicine by these patients
- To provide a sellable idea with inexpensive and user-friendly hardware/devices
- To make use of internet technology instead of GSM technology to minimize the propagation delay
- To send alerts/messages to the caretaker about the recent status of his/her patient
The Smart Dispensing Mechanism for the Dementia Patients is a system that delivers pre-loaded medications at the prescribed/scheduled time and notifies the caretaker via text message if the patient fails to take the medication. This system uses a real-time clock (RTC) for setting the medication timing multiple times a day. At first, the medication timing will be set by the caretaker. When the RTC time turns similar to the set time, a specified medicine or pill(s) will get available to the patient. As people get older, complications increase with hearing and vision impairments. Thus taking their medicine on right turns a difficult task for such people. An audio signal in the form of a buzzer is used for indication of medicine due time and successful intake of medicine in time. This audio signal is very helpful for patients with weak visual abilities. Along with the audio signal, there is a bright LED light indicator that is useful for deaf people who cannot hear the audio signal. An LCD display showing real-time throughout a day is also used. It shows the current due time, the upcoming time and a message with a text "Please, take your medicine". The feedback system is a special feature of this system. Whenever the patient fails to take the medicine in due time, an IR sensor detects the medicine and sends a text message to the caretaker informing him/her about the failure in taking the medicine. So that he/she i.e. caretaker pay a visit to the patient and find out the reason for the failure in taking of medicine. This feedback system is useful because it ensures that the patient takes the medicine on time regularly. Designing and preparing this system requires several components to work in harmony with each other. An important component is a microcontroller. A microcontroller is a digital device with 8051 CPUs that contain program and data memory. This device forms the "brain" of our project. Other modules such as RTC, GSM, LCD and stepper motor will have to interface with this microcontroller.
Benefits of the ProjectThe smart dispensing mechanism for dementia patients provides a large set of benefits such as:
- It minimizes the involvement of human attendant with patients
- Thus saving time, money and other related resources
- It uses smart devices for record-keeping thus avoiding the use of paperwork.
- This system ensures patient safety by reducing the failure rate of medicine intake.
- This system is safe and protected. Here, a fingerprint authentication tool is used.
- etc.
At the completion of the project "Smart Dispensing Mechanism for the Dementia Patients," we will have a system that delivers pre-loaded medications at the prescribed/scheduled time and notifies the caretaker via text message (using the internet technologies) if the patient fails to take the medication. This project will result in a simple, inexpensive and sellable idea in the field of health and IT.
Final Deliverable of the Project HW/SW integrated systemCore Industry HealthOther Industries IT , Telecommunication Core Technology Artificial Intelligence(AI)Other Technologies Internet of Things (IoT)Sustainable Development Goals Good Health and Well-Being for People, Industry, Innovation and InfrastructureRequired Resources| Item Name | Type | No. of Units | Per Unit Cost (in Rs) | Total (in Rs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total in (Rs) | 41500 | |||
| Arduino UNO basic starter kit) | Equipment | 2 | 2370 | 4740 |
| LCD display | Equipment | 2 | 550 | 1100 |
| Optical Finger Print Sensor Module | Equipment | 1 | 3790 | 3790 |
| Serve Motor for Arduino | Equipment | 4 | 400 | 1600 |
| Real Time Clock | Equipment | 2 | 280 | 560 |
| Node MSC | Equipment | 2 | 950 | 1900 |
| Buzzer | Equipment | 2 | 80 | 160 |
| RFID Keypad | Equipment | 1 | 1200 | 1200 |
| Glass casing | Miscellaneous | 1 | 1500 | 1500 |
| Soldering iron, remover and related material | Miscellaneous | 1 | 1200 | 1200 |
| Connecting, PCB, Finishing etc. | Miscellaneous | 1 | 3000 | 3000 |
| Arduino UNO basic starter kit) | Equipment | 2 | 2370 | 4740 |
| LCD display | Equipment | 2 | 550 | 1100 |
| Optical Finger Print Sensor Module | Equipment | 1 | 3790 | 3790 |
| Serve Motor for Arduino | Equipment | 4 | 400 | 1600 |
| Real Time Clock | Equipment | 2 | 280 | 560 |
| Node MSC | Equipment | 2 | 950 | 1900 |
| Buzzer | Equipment | 2 | 80 | 160 |
| RFID Keypad | Equipment | 1 | 1200 | 1200 |
| Glass casing | Miscellaneous | 1 | 1500 | 1500 |
| Soldering iron, remover and related material | Miscellaneous | 1 | 1200 | 1200 |
| Connecting, PCB, Finishing etc. | Miscellaneous | 1 | 3000 | 3000 |