Patent Publication Number: US-2010126052-A1

Title: Medication tracker unit

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present invention claims priority under 35 United States Code, Section 119, on the U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/117,978, filed on Nov. 26, 2008. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention generally relates to home appliances for purposes of a patient care, and more particularly, to a medication tracker unit for tracking medications and a method thereof. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     With increasing responsibilities in various areas of work, a person may tend to forget to take or provide medicines at all or may not adhere strictly to his or her medication as per the prescription. Further, a person that is a caregiver for a child or an elderly or infirm person may lose track of the medicinal regime for such a child or elderly or infirm person. 
     Generally, a child is not very prompt in taking medicines and may throw a tantrum when asked to take a dosage of medicine. Further, there is no incentive for the child to swallow the medicine, so he/she will not show much interest in taking the medicine. Similarly, a geriatric patient, who may have amnesia or reduced memory capability, may forget to take medicine or may not wish to have it. In such cases, a caregiver, who cares for a patient, may need to spend more time in making the patient ready for taking the medicine. Nonetheless, the caregiver may find it hard to remember when and which medicine needs to be given to the patient. 
     Many common children&#39;s medications may need to be given several times per day over the course of several days. Further, it is dangerous to give a double dose or no dose at all. It may be the case that parents are not available to keep track of the supply of proper medication at the right time. It may therefore become confusing trying to figure out an accurate dosage at a particular time. Furthermore, babysitters and caregivers often do not remember to give medication as per the prescription, resulting in improper dosages and, hence, poor health of the child. In another case, the babysitters and caregivers may forget to tell the parents that the medication has already been given to the child, resulting in a double dose. 
     Again, due to the risk of forgetting to intake medication or administering the wrong medication, the caregiver or the patient himself/herself may need to spend more time in remembering the different medications at different times. Further, the caregiver may need to think of several ways to make the patient, especially the pediatric patients, ready to ingest the medication. This may include spending money or otherwise providing incentives to the pediatric patients each time to effect the taking of the medication. Due to this, the caregiver may need to spend a considerable amount of time and money in order to appease the patient before the patient takes the medication. Such efforts on the part of the caregivers to make the patient take the medication may increase the frustration level of the caregiver. 
     Based on the foregoing disadvantages, there is a need for providing ease in handling patients, and particularly, for making them ready to take medicine and, as a result to avoid wastage of time and money in connection therewith. Thus, there is a need of providing a means to keep track of the medication regime to insure a proper medication and intake thereof. Furthermore, the means should be useful in avoiding any wastage in terms of time to remember a medication intake regime each time for intake or administration of a dosage of medication. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the prior art, the general purpose of the present invention is to provide an ease in tracking medications that are configured to include all advantages of the prior art, and to overcome the shortcomings inherent therein. 
     It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a medication tracker unit and a method for tracking the medications without expending considerable time and money. 
     To achieve the above objective, in one aspect, the present invention provides a medication tracker unit. The medication tracker unit includes a freestanding body including a picture frame disposed on a front portion of the freestanding body, a pocket folder on a rear portion of the freestanding body, and a timer coupled to the freestanding body. The picture frame is configured to hold and display a sheet of the plurality of sheets. The pocket folder stores a plurality of objects. The plurality of objects includes a plurality of sheets and a plurality of marking objects. The timer is capable of reminding a user to take medication. Further, the displayed sheet may be marked by the user, through a marking object of the plurality of marking objects, in order to track the medications. 
     In another aspect, the present invention provides a method for tracking medications. The method includes setting one or more reminders for taking at least one medication. The method further includes taking the at least one medication based on the one or more reminders. Furthermore, the method includes marking on a sheet of a plurality of sheets by a marking device to confirm an intake of the at least one medication. The plurality of sheets is displayed in a picture frame disposed on a front portion of a freestanding body. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The advantages and features of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following detailed description and claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like elements are identified with like symbols, and in which: 
         FIGS. 1A and 1B  illustrate exemplary views of a medication tracker unit, according to one embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIGS. 2A and 2B  illustrate exemplary exploded views of the medication tracker unit, according to another embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a flow diagram of a method for tracking medications, according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     The medication tracker unit and a corresponding method for tracking the medications have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent for understanding the embodiments of the present invention. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Before describing in detail, embodiments that are in accordance with the present invention, it should be observed that the embodiments reside primarily in combinations of components of the medication tracker unit and method steps related to tracking the medication. 
     In this document, relational terms such as first and second, and the like may be used solely to distinguish one module or action or component from another module or action or component without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such modules or actions or component. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” or any other variation thereof, if used, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element proceeded by “comprises . . . a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element. 
     The subject matter described herein is directed towards a medication tracker unit that may be used effectively to track medications. The medication tracker unit may include a freestanding body comprising a picture frame, a pocket folder, and a timer. The freestanding body may be a trapezoidal solid frame including the picture frame attached to a front portion of the freestanding body and the pocket folder attached to a rear portion of the freestanding body. The medication tracker unit may include a base of approximately 6″. The pocket folder of the freestanding body may be used to store a plurality of objects corresponding to tracking of the medication. 
     The picture frame of the medication tracker unit is present on the front portion of the freestanding body and thus represents the front portion of the medication tracker unit. The picture frame is used to hold a sheet in such a manner that a major area of the sheet is open and accessible to parents and caregivers so that they can fill information corresponding to the medications thereon. The information may be filled in an object that may be held by the picture frame. Further, in an embodiment, the picture frame may be coupled to the freestanding body on the opposite side of the pocket folder of the freestanding body. The timer may be coupled to the freestanding body and may be present below the pocket folder of the freestanding body. 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 1A and 1B , exemplary perspective views of a medication tracker unit  100  are shown, according to one embodiment of the present invention. The medication tracker unit  100  includes a freestanding body  102 , a picture frame  104  and a pocket folder  106 . The freestanding body  102  may be of any shape including, but not limited to, trapezoidal, cube or cuboidal. The picture frame  104 , as shown in  FIG. 1A , may be disposed on a front portion  108  of the freestanding body  102 . The picture frame  104  may either be coupled to the freestanding body  102  as a separate element or be manufactured alongwith the freestanding body  102 . 
     The picture frame  104  comprises a slot (not shown), which may hold a sheet, such as a sheet  110   a.  The sheet  110   a  may be any card, a thin material or anything on which a user may write or mark. As used herein, the “user” refers to a patient or a caregiver of the patient. The sheet  110   a  may slide into the slot of the picture frame  104 . A major area of the sheet  110   a  is displayed to the user when the sheet  110   a  is placed inside the slot of the picture frame  104 . It would be apparent to a person skilled in the art that the displayed sheet  110   a  is accessible to the user so that the user may fill information thereon. In another embodiment, the user may fill the information on an open area of the picture frame  104  instead of filling the information into the sheet  110   a  (by placing the sheet  110   a  into the slot of the picture frame  104 ). In such cases, the open area may be made up of wood, plastic, or any other appropriate material, such that the user may mark or write into the open area to fill in the information. In one embodiment, the sheet  110   a  may be of a size of about 5″×7″ and may be of any color. Further, the picture frame  104  may be about 6″ wide and about 8″ tall. 
     The pocket folder  106  is disposed on a rear portion  112  of the medication tracker unit  100  as depicted in  FIG. 1B . The pocket folder  106  may be used to store a plurality of objects. The plurality of objects may include a plurality of sheets  110   b  and a plurality of marking objects (not shown). It would be apparent to those ordinary skilled in that a sheet, such as the sheet  110   a  of the plurality of sheets  110   b  may be placed in the picture frame  104 . Further, the sheet  110   a  may be filled with the information by marking on the sheet  110   a  to track the medications. The sheet  110   a  may be marked by using a marking object from the plurality of the marking objects stored in the pocket folder  106  of the medication tracker unit  100 . 
     The sheet  110   a  may include a grid with free (available) spaces available between grid lines. The grid may include various square boxes to fill in the information. These free spaces may be filled by the marking objects to fill the information. 
     The marking objects may be a plurality of colorful and attractive stickers. The marking objects may be placed onto the sheet  110   a  to fill in the information. More specifically, the marking objects are placed onto the free spaces between the gridlines of the sheet  110   a.  Further, the marking objects may also represent a reward. For example, in case of a child patient, caregivers or parents may give a marking object as a reward for taking the medication. The child patient may himself/herself place the marking object on the sheet  110   a  after taking the medication. The child may get encouraged to take medication in an urge of having the marking object for placing onto the sheet  110   a.  The child may place the marking object to fill the information related to a medication regime. For example, the child may place the marking object on the sheet  110   a  for representing a day of a week and a time of the day when the child has taken the medication. 
     Further,  FIG. 1B  shows a timer  114  that may be coupled to the freestanding body  102 . The timer may be placed below the pocket folder  106  of the freestanding body  102  and on an opposite side to the picture frame  104  of the medication tracker unit  100 . The timer  114  allows the user to set a time as a reminder for taking the medication. The user may need to take or dispense more than one medication in a day. For this, the user may set more than one reminder for each medication. 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 2A and 2B , exemplary exploded views  200  of the medication tracker unit  100  are shown, in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 2A  represents an exploded view of the picture frame  104  and the sheet  110   a  of the medication tracker unit  100 . As shown in  FIG. 2A , the picture frame  104  of the medication tracker unit may include a slot  202  to hold the sheet  110   a.  The picture frame  104  shows an area  204  where the sheet  110   a  may be placed and a portion of the sheet  110   a  is displayed to the user. The sheet  110   a  may slide into the slot  202  to cover the area  204  of the picture frame  104 . The portion of the sheet  110   a  over the area  204  is displayed to the user and the user may fill the information onto the sheet  110   a.    
     The sheet  110   a  is shown with the grid having free spaces  206  to fill in the information. The grid may include, but is not restricted to, square boxes. In an embodiment, the user may fill the information in the area  204  of the picture frame  104 . In such cases, the area  204  may be of wood or of the material that may be marked. The information may include, but is not restricted to, a day of a week and a time of the day of taking the medication. This information may be useful for the user to track the medication, i.e., which type of medication the user has taken and at what time the medication has been taken. By this, the user may keep the track of the medication regime. 
       FIG. 2B  represents an exploded view of the rear side of the medication tracker unit  100 .  FIG. 2B  shows a pocket folder  106  placed on the rear portion  112  of the freestanding body  102 . The pocket folder  106  is used to store the plurality of sheets  110   b  may be placed in the pocket folder  106 . The pocket folder  106  may contain a plurality of marking objects (not shown) along with the plurality of sheets  110   b.  The timer  114  may be fitted into a portion  208  of the freestanding body  102 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 3 , an exemplary flowchart of method  300  for tracking medications is shown, according to one embodiment of the present invention. The method  300  may be carried out in a medication tracker unit such as the medication tracker unit  100 . The order in which the method  300  is described is not intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described method blocks may be combined in any order to implement the method, or an alternative method. 
     The method  300  commences at  302 . At  304 , a user may set one or more reminders for taking at least one medication. The reminder may be set for reminding the user for the medications. For example, a caregiver or parents may set a reminder for a medication in order to dispense proper medication at the correct time. The user may require dispensing the medication more than one time in a day or may need to take different medications at various times. Due to this, the user may set one or more reminders using a timer such as the timer  114  of the medication tracker unit so as to get an alert, related to each reminder, for taking the at least one medication. Further, in one embodiment, the user may set the reminder for a specific type of medication by setting a particular tone for the specific type of medication. 
     At  306 , the user may take the at least one medication based on the one or more reminders. Further, a caregiver of a patient may dispense medication to the patient whenever the reminder reminds the caregiver for the medication. The reminder may ring a bell or produce a sound to alert the user for the medication. After getting the alert through the reminder, the user may become aware about the medication. Due to this, the user may take the correct medication at the correct time. 
     At  308 , the user may mark on a sheet, such as the sheet  110   a,  of a plurality of sheets (such as the plurality of sheets  110   b ), to confirm an intake of the medication. The sheet may be placed inside the picture frame  104  of the medication tracker unit for marking. The user may put mark on the sheet by using a marking object from a plurality of marking objects, such as the plurality of marking objects placed inside the pocket folder  106 . As described in conjunction with  FIGS. 1A and 1B , the sheet may be displayed to the user for filing in information regarding the intake of the medication. The information may confirm the user or a caregiver regarding an intake of the medication. 
     The plurality of marking objects may include a plurality of colorful stickers that may be placed inside the sheet to fill in the information. For example; the sheet may include the grid with free spaces between gridlines. Further, the grid may include various square boxes that may represent free spaces for different days of a week and times of the day. The user may place the sheet inside the picture frame  104  and may fill the sheet each time after taking the medication. 
     Further, the marking objects, that may be colorful stickers, may be used as a reward to encourage a patient for taking the medication, especially when the patient is a child. The child may be asked to take the medication and in return the child may get the marking object to place inside the sheet for filling the information corresponding to the medication (such as the day and time of taking the medication). By this way, the caregivers and parents may attract the child by offering the reward for taking the medication. Due to this, the information related to the medication regime may be marked inside the sheet. The marked sheet may be used to track the medication taken by the patient and may further be used to compare the information marked on the sheet with progress in the child&#39;s health. 
     The sheet of the plurality of sheets may include the information related to the medication of about one month. After filling the sheet fully with the information regarding the medication, the user may take a new sheet from the plurality of sheets stored inside the pocket folder  106 . Thereafter, the new sheet may be used to track an intake of further medications. At  310 , the method  300  is terminated. 
     As described above, the present invention describes the medication tracker unit and the method for tracking medications in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention. The various embodiments of the present invention may be utilized for providing assistance to parents, babysitters, and anyone caring for a patient in dispensing medications. Further, the patients may also use the medication tracker unit for themselves in order to get assistance in getting the correct medication at correct time. Furthermore, the present invention may be utilized when caring for pets. The present invention provides an easy way to track medication by providing a sheet, a chart or any other object to log information like when the medication is administered or dispensed. Further, the present invention gives a privilege of reward system for the child or patient and to encourage the child or patient to take the medication. The present invention may not only provide a way to track the medication and to prepare the child to take the medication but also to provide more than one reminder associated with the medication. The reminder may remind the caregivers at a correct time for dispensing a next dosage. The present invention accordingly may lessen the chances of dispensing a wrong medication and also may minimize the chances of dispensing a medication at an incorrect time. 
     The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present disclosure have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present disclosure to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the present disclosure and its practical application, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the present disclosure and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is understood that various omissions and substitutions of equivalents are contemplated as circumstance may suggest or render expedient, but such are intended to cover the application or implementation without departing from the spirit or scope of the claims of the present disclosure.