You know how your grandparents call you all the time for help with those complicated technology questions like “How do I print something” or “Where is my phone?” With French company Medissimo’s Imedipac – a “smart pill box” – you can give those calls a little more gravity when your grandparents can’t figure out how to take their medication.
The Imedipac, on display at CES 2014, is fitted with all sorts of technology that the elderly will never fully understand. Using “tamper-proof NFC” to dispense the pills, the 7-day, 28 compartment pill container only delivers the dosage that is prescribed to the user, eliminating the over-consumption of medications that plagues the older set. When it’s time to take a pill, the compartment lights up with an LED indicator and a text message or call is made to alert the patient – or totally confuse them with flashing lights and loud alarms.
To add an extra layer of insurance that the right dose is being taken, a third party – be it a doctor or a heath care network provider – can monitor the usage in real time, though you should definitely not tell that to your paranoid grandfather who still calls Russia the Soviet Union. Updates to treatment plans are provided via mobile application, which means doctors and pharmacists are sure to get a slew of phone calls from people wondering why their medication changed, and who I am talking to exactly? How did you get this number?
The Imedipac will tested with 1000 patients in 2014 by Medissimo to test its effectiveness and efficiency. Retail availability and price is unknown at this time, though Medissimo says it will be “marketed and distributed worldwide from 2014.”
