Biomedical engineers from the University of Cape Town (UCT) and Osmania University in India partnered to develop a device that allows doctors to remotely administer medication to hospital patients.
Dr Sudesh Sivarasu, associate professor in biomedical engineering at UCT, teamed up with Dr K Eshwar Chandra Vidya Sagar from the department of biomedical engineering at Osmania University in Hyderabad, India, to develop an Internet of things (IOT) connected device that automates and streamlines the drug administration process, through activation via mobile messaging.
The mobile-connected device, according to UCT, can access the hospital's database of treatment plans for various patients assigned to a particular clinician.
The tool is programmed to send a mobile message to the clinician every time their patient has run out of medication and requires drugs. By responding with an activation code, the clinician can instruct the direct administration of drugs, which have been pre-loaded and kept at a specific temperature.
Sivarasu explains that despite being one of the most commonplace therapies in hospitals around the world, intravenous administration of drugs remains one of the most admin-intensive due to its laborious and time-consuming nature.
"The device helps to prevent patients from experiencing unnecessary pain and discomfort while waiting for a clinician to come in to authorise and switch on the button," explains Sivarasu.
"It is also far less time-consuming and expensive if you look at how much a clinician charges per hour."
Currently, a clinician or nurse must be present at a patient's bedside to administer intravenous medication manually. This can be especially challenging if they have various patients with different needs and medication schedules under their care, he points out.
The IOT device is linked to the hospital's electronic medication management system.
Multi-drug delivery system
According to UCT, initially, Sivarasu and Sagar set out to create a system that delivers only one major drug per patient. However, as it became clear there were many cases, especially in intensive care, where patients required a combination of drugs at various times, they realised there was a need to develop a multi-drug delivery system too.
Both systems can be used separately, depending on how many drugs will be administered.
The multi-drug delivery system sends the clinician a text reminder of a patient's medication schedule and he will respond with an activation code that sets off the relevant injections in the correct dosages and frequencies.
In addition to facilitating the automated delivery of intravenous medication, the device can be adapted for data-driven medical homecare, especially for elderly and geriatric people, according to Sivarasu.
Both systems were awarded patents by the Indian Patent Office in 2018, drawing interest and engagement, especially from IOT companies interested in adapting the technology for different applications.
"I think we can still do a lot of other things with this technology," says Sivarasu. "But to begin with, it is a very basic drug administration system, and that alone holds a whole lot of opportunity."
He adds that together with his research team, he plans to look into a simple potential application, like dosing insulin for diabetics.
The researchers are investigating various routes to market and intend to license the technology and do pre-clinical trials, notes UCT.
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