Industrial - Bachelors
MediTrack is a device that tracks and records how a person with Parkinson's takes their medication. This allows the user to have complete control over their own medication, while ensuring it is taken correctly. Data recorded from MediTrack is sent to family, carers and specialists, to monitor their activity and provide information for effective prescriptions.
Parkinson’s is a disease that robs you of your independence, slowly stealing the ability to do the things you used to do, losing the ability to function for yourself. Parkinson’s is as much mental as it is physical, and the feeling of not being in control of your own situation can cause you severe mental health issues, which can then often cause physical symptoms to increase, creating a downward spiral.
MediTrack aims to give control back to people with Parkinson’s, even if only a small amount. Having the ability to control and administer their own medication could give them that one boost to allow them to feel human again.
When patients visit specialists for medication revaluation, traditionally there is never any real data available to the specialist on how accurately the patient has been taking their medication, only the word of the patient and carer. Without quantitative data to aid the prescription from the specialist, medication is often prescribed less that optimally. This can potentially be dangerous, if a patient knowingly or unknowingly gives an incorrect account, a dangerous dosage could be prescribed.
Levodopa is the most common drug used to treat Parkinson’s and it is an incredibly powerful, mind altering drug. The time of which the drug is taken and the dose are critical in treating Parkinson’s effectively and it is precisely prescribed by the specialist.
Additionally, Levodopa changes in effectiveness, due to a change in the patient’s condition, drug tolerances or other factors. For specialists to accurately make new prescriptions, they need accurate data on current and past prescriptions.
MediTrack logs all of this, so specialists have access to all the data needed to reevaluate and re-prescribe new medication.
MediTrack has weight sensors at the base of each bottle hole that accurately measures the weight of the bottle and its contents. When medication is taken, the device measures the new weight, ensuring the correct dose is taken. This data is transmitted to the cloud, where family and carers can monitor the user’s medication activity. The data is also logged, for the use of specialists.
When it is time for medication to be taken, the device will emit an alarm, notifying the user with audio and visual queues.
At any time, the user can press and hold the front bar to record a voice message that is timestamped and logged to the cloud. Messages could be to notify the carer that a tablet has accidentally been dropped, to let the carer know of a change in routine or just to talk to them.
The talk button is the only technological user interaction in the device. The push-to-talk action is easy to use and familiar to all, even people with limited experience with technology
Having the user know that there is someone who cares on the other side of the device could encourage product use and adoption.
Shows how many pills are currently in each bottle and how long until the next scheduled administer.
Orange means an action needs to be taken.
Clearly shows which bottle needs to be addressed and how many pills to take.
Green means all is well.
This screen shows briefly after a bottle of the correct weight (Correct Dose), confirming and validating the action.
Red means something isn’t right.
This screen will show if the bottle is replaced with too many or too little pills, also if the bottle is not removed after 5 minutes.
While all data is logged to the cloud, this state immediately notifies a carer of the error and it conditions, eg. Underdose, Overdose etc.
Tells user when device is recording, the length or recording and how to end
Jared is an Industrial Design student passionate about usability and accessibility, providing equal opportunities for all using hands-on approaches. He enjoys problem solving, prototyping, user centred design and developing creative solutions to wicked problems.