Invented by Mercolino; Thomas J.
Let’s dive into a new patent about a smart device that helps people and their caregivers manage medicines at home. This patent covers a lockbox that holds medicine vials, keeps track of their use, and makes sure only the right person gets the right medicine at the right time. It even checks if the person is feeling okay before letting any medicine out. We’re going to walk through why this invention matters, how it builds on what came before, and what makes it stand out. By the end, you’ll see why this device could be a game-changer for medicine safety and patient health.
Background and Market Context
Medicine safety is a huge challenge. Every day, people need to take their medicine at home. Some medicines can be dangerous if taken the wrong way or by the wrong person. That’s why doctors, clinics, and the government have many rules about how these drugs are given out. This is especially true for drugs that can be abused or are part of special treatment programs, like medicines for pain, addiction, or mental health.
For patients, getting their medicine isn’t always easy. Some have to go to a clinic every day just to get a dose. Others are trusted to take medicine at home, but this can be risky. What if someone forgets a dose? What if a child in the house gets into the medicine? What if someone tries to steal it? And what if the patient is not feeling well, is drunk, or is thinking about hurting themselves? These are very real problems. Clinics and doctors worry about these risks so much that sometimes they won’t let people take their medicine home at all, even if it would help the patient live a normal life.
The rules are even tighter for drugs that can cause addiction or harm if used wrong. The law says these drugs must be locked up, logged, and only given by the right person. Some drugs can’t even be refilled without a new doctor’s note. All this is to keep people safe, but it also makes care harder and less flexible. Many patients do not live close to a clinic, or their lives do not fit the clinic’s schedule. Some clinics are overwhelmed and can’t see more people in person. At the same time, new types of care, like medicine-assisted treatment for addiction, need new ways to safely give medicine outside the clinic.
There’s one more problem: even if someone is trusted to take medicine at home, they might not be safe all the time. For example, if a patient is very upset, thinking about suicide, or has been drinking, it might not be safe for them to have their medicine. But how can a doctor know what’s happening at home, far away from the clinic? Until now, there was no good way to check in real time and stop someone from taking medicine if something was wrong.
This is where the new device in the patent steps in. It’s a smart lockbox that holds doses of medicine, only gives them out at the right time, and checks if the patient is okay. If something is off, the box will not give out the medicine and can send a message to a doctor or family member. This mix of safety, checking, and remote control is new and fits a big need in healthcare today.
Scientific Rationale and Prior Art
Before this invention, there were already some ways to control and track medicine at home. For example, simple lockboxes with keys or codes helped keep drugs away from children or thieves. Some pill dispensers could give out pills at set times, and some even had alarms to remind people to take their medicine. In some cases, systems could send a message if a dose was missed. These tools were a step forward, but they had weak spots.
First, most old systems could not tell if the right person was taking the medicine. If someone stole the key or guessed the code, they could get the drugs. Second, they didn’t check how the patient was feeling. They couldn’t tell if a patient was drunk, had a high heart rate, or was in trouble. Third, if something strange happened—like someone trying to break into the box, or the box was moved to a new place—older systems might not notice or might not send a message in time. Finally, most earlier systems were not connected to the internet or a remote caregiver, so if there was a problem, help might not come quickly enough.
There were also medical devices that worked with sensors, like heart rate monitors or breathalyzers, but these were not built into medicine dispensers. Some hospital systems had high-security drug cabinets, but these were big, expensive, and meant for use by nurses in a hospital, not for patients at home.
In the last few years, as more care happens at home and more people use smartphones and smart devices, there has been a push for better at-home medicine safety. Companies have tried to use Bluetooth, GPS, and Wi-Fi to track medicine boxes, but most couldn’t check if the patient was in distress right before taking their medicine. Some tried to use smartwatches to check if the patient was nearby or to track steps, but not to lock or unlock a medicine box based on real-time health readings.
The new patent builds on all this earlier work and brings in new ideas. It combines a physical lockbox, a medicine inventory system, sensors for both the box and the patient, and a way to send alerts if something goes wrong. It even lets a doctor or caregiver lock or unlock the box from far away. This mix of features has not been put together like this before, and it solves problems that older systems could not handle.
Invention Description and Key Innovations
Let’s look closely at what this device does and what makes it special. Imagine a box that holds many vials of medicine. Each vial has a unique code, so the system knows which vial is which. Inside the box is a moving part (like a carousel or conveyor) that lines up the right vial with a small door. Only one vial can be taken out at a time, only at the right moment.
The box has a small computer inside, with memory and instructions. It keeps a list of which vials are loaded, which have been taken, which have been put back, and which are still waiting. This tracking is very detailed—it knows the state of every vial at all times. This helps make sure no medicine goes missing or is taken by mistake.
But the magic is in how the device decides when to give out medicine. The box is always listening to signals from sensors. These sensors can be built into the box or worn by the patient, like a smartwatch or a small health monitor. These sensors look for things like:
- Where the box is (using GPS)
- The temperature and humidity (to keep medicine safe)
- If the box is shaken or dropped
- If someone tries to open the box at the wrong time
- The patient’s blood alcohol level (using a breathalyzer)
- The patient’s heart rate, blood pressure, and blood oxygen
- Other signs from the patient, like if they answer they are feeling sad or thinking of self-harm
When it is time for a dose, the box checks all these signals. If everything is normal, it unlocks the right vial and lets the patient take it. If something is wrong—like the person is drunk, their heart rate is too high, or they say they feel unsafe—the box will not open. It also sends a message to a caregiver, a doctor, or even a crisis hotline. This can help stop overdoses, suicide, or medicine theft before it happens.
The box can even be controlled from far away. If a doctor gets an alert that something is wrong, they can send a command to the box to keep it locked, or to open it if needed. This makes the system very flexible and safe. If the patient is okay again, the doctor can unlock the box and let care continue.
The device also helps with keeping track of all medicine at all times. Clinics can see which doses have been taken, when, and if any were skipped, lost, or returned. This helps with reporting to the government, billing, and making sure patients are following their treatment plans.
Another clever feature is that the box uses strong locks and gears that cannot be opened by hand or by turning the box upside down. This keeps the medicine safe even if someone tries to break in. The inside parts can be made with 3D printing, so the box can be customized for different users or types of medicine.
The user experience is also simple. The patient gets reminders on a screen or with a light or sound. They press a button to get their dose, and the box guides them step by step. If they open the box at the wrong time, nothing happens and the medicine stays safe.
For setup, the clinic or pharmacy loads the box with the right medicines, programs the schedule, and links the box to the patient’s health monitor or phone. The clinic can watch the data from a dashboard and get alerts if anything is wrong. The box can also work even if the internet connection is lost, following saved rules until it connects again.
This patent covers many ways to set up the box, from how the vials are loaded and tracked, to how the locks work, to how the sensors talk to each other. It is written to cover both physical and software parts, so the idea is protected from all angles.
Conclusion
This new smart lockbox for medicine stands out because it brings together many safety features that work together. It tracks each medicine vial, checks if the patient is safe, stops medicine from being taken when things are wrong, and lets caregivers help from far away. It is easy for patients to use, but very hard for anyone else to break into.
For clinics, this kind of system can help more people get safe care at home, lower the risk of overdose or theft, and make it easier to follow rules for strong medicines. For patients, it brings peace of mind and more freedom, while keeping them safe. For families and caregivers, it means quicker help if something goes wrong. This invention is an important step toward safer, smarter medicine use at home.
Click here https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/ and search 20250360055.