

Show HN: Memory Pill - nickbild
https://www.hackster.io/nickbild/memory-pill-9f6b2e
Memory Pill passively records the last time a medication bottle was opened to prevent over- and underdosing of medications when you cannot remember if you have already taken a scheduled dose.<p>https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.hackster.io&#x2F;nickbild&#x2F;memory-pill-9f6b2e
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t0mbstone
For what it's worth, I think this is a great idea! The execution could use
some polish, though.

If I was going to buy/kickstart a project like this, I would want something
that had a very long battery life (and that had a visible battery level
indicator). The bottle form factor isn't particularly important to me, as long
as it's an air-tight container that is fairly lightweight, and as long as it
has a child-safe cap.

I would want the batteries to be easily replaceable (none of these little
watch batteries that cost a small fortune and are hard to find).

I would want it to work anywhere in my house, but also still track things
whenever if I'm taking the bottles with me on a trip or something. The most
obvious solution for this is to have it log locally, but then report the log
via bluetooth or WiFi whenever a connection (such as my phone) is within
range.

I would want it to be relatively cheap (so I could buy a different bottle for
each set of pills).

I would want to be able to set up medicine schedules on my iPhone or Android,
and then receive notifications whenever I need to take a particular medicine
(and escalating alerts if I continually fail to take them).

It would also be nice to have some sort of mechanism for tracking the number
of pills put inside the bottle (and then subtracted per the schedule every
time the bottle is opened), so I would know when I was getting low and needed
to order more medicine/vitamins.

For added bonus: Implement a weight sensor that can detect when the contents
of the bottle have changed.

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oakmad
For added bonus: Implement a weight sensor that can detect when the contents
of the bottle have changed.

I've got a patent on that - Lol. I actually cofounded a company that is in
this space, Medication Adherence. Its a very curious field. Everyone says they
really really care about it but its really hard to build a business around.
Theres been a lot of different attempts at solving the problem but very few
have gained any kind of real traction. This one is a bit like the Pillsy
bottle [https://www.pillsy.com](https://www.pillsy.com), but theres plenty
more of dosette like solutions
([https://www.pilldrill.com](https://www.pilldrill.com)) through to dispensers
([https://www.lifeline.philips.com/business/medicationdispensi...](https://www.lifeline.philips.com/business/medicationdispensing)).
We went for a weight based solution but have largely shelved it to focus on
other area.

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lilboiluvr69
Wow, I was just thinking I couldn't remember if I took my ADHD meds today.
Strange how I can remember exactly how long I ended up meditating yesterday
but I can't remember something I did five minutes ago.

~~~
lathiat
For me it’s basically a question of whether it was something on “autopilot” or
intentional. Same with meds I always struggle with whether I locked the front
door. I always do but never can remember.

As a side note you can buy “pill timer” bottles on amazon with a clock counter
since they were last opened if you want a quick solution to this instead of
the hacking fun. But beware most of the brands and models aren’t child safe.

~~~
nickbild
RE: the timers -- The information isn't always for the person taking the med
(think assisted living or an elderly relative), so I think getting the data
off the top of the bottle is an improvement.

Thanks for the comment!

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rrauenza
Good timing! -- I hate filling a pill keeper but keep forgetting to take my
dose, or forget if I DID already take my dose. So I made a gadget.

I took a 1"x1"x6" piece of wood, put S M T W R F S on the side, drilled 7
holes on top, and I use a thumb screw that I move when I've taken my pills
today. A golf tee or nail would also work.

~~~
cmpb
That sounds like a pretty easy/fun daily routine!

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joshmn
I made something like this for my mom who had large B-cell lymphoma, amongst
other disheartening diseases. At one point she was on 17 different medications
— and no, you don't need to get me started on that.

I wanted to know that she was not only taking her medication but also the
correct dosage, when she was opening the bottles, and when she was taking
them. A minibar but for meds, basically. I did this not because I'm a control
freak but because managing her care was difficult. I also wanted to be able to
coordinate the issues she raised with her doctors with more precision than
"well she took x last week." I also did it because I was irritated with how
frequently she was taking her oxy. Yeah, I guess I was a little of a control
freak. :)

From the day she was diagnosed up until the day before she died, I'd like to
think being a hacker really benefited her. Two days after her diagnosis,
between bouts of cries, I scraped for every article I could find about her
disease, parsed out the authors, ran their names through a bunch of
residential proxies with headless Chrome, searching for their name and if they
were involved in any clinical trials ("+trials"). If they were, I sent them a
blanket email asking for a second opinion.

Ultimately, she received very precise care from a resource that wasn't
originally available. I like to think benefited her for the long haul, but I
suppose we'll never know.

My mom doesn't have cancer anymore. She passed away late October of last year.
I named a Ruby framework after her, as writing it was my mental vacation from
being her full-time caretaker for the last 75 days of her life.

On second thought, she really hated when I would talk to strangers on the
internet. Oh well!

ps. hi mom!

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codingdave
I really do like this project, but have concerns if it were to scale out to
regular use:

1) I don't want my medication habits online at all, even if it intended to
help me. I'd be more open to a way to run this locally. I expect assisted
living centers would, as well.

2) This puts technical points of failure into a process that is already
reasonably solved by daily pill containers.

~~~
lemonlizzie
yeah i wouldn't want them saving my data about my medical history

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CharlesW
This looks like an interesting and fun project!

For anybody looking for lower-tech (no web service), pre-made solution,
TimerCaps work well.
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HJCYGX4/](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HJCYGX4/)

~~~
IvyMike
Another similar product:
[https://www.epill.com/timecap.html](https://www.epill.com/timecap.html)

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_mkef
Amazon pill pack has packets with the date on them. A nice low tech solution .

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kristofferR
Cool project, but the issue is rather that the US has pill bottles at all.
Pretty scary, especially for overdoseable drugs. Other places have moved on
blister packs a long time ago.

~~~
igorstellar
What are the benefits for blister packs except overdose protection? Are they
recyclable like pill bottles? One of the reasons US uses pill bottles is
pharmacies, where pharmacists fill in any amount of pills needed in a bottle,
e.g. if you need just 3 pills of really strong pain killer, you get a bottle
with three pills. As far as I remember blister packs packaged in a factory and
not customizable.

Personally, I use habit tracking app to check in every night to mark I took my
pills.

~~~
monalisauzi
Maybe I'm missing something, but I'm not even sure how blister packs help
protect against accidental overdose beyond the protection you'd get from just
counting the pills in the bottle. In either case, you could accidentally skip
a day and double dose later on based on the number of pills remaining,
especially if you aren't sure what day you started taking the medication. I
can definitely see the benefit of a product that doesn't rely on user
reporting to track doses.

~~~
OJFord
The point as I understand/was taught it in school is that the time it would
take you to pop out enough* e.g. paracetamol to do really serious lasting harm
(vs. 'just' being quite sick or needing stomach pumped) gives a sort of 'cool-
down' or re-evaluation period, or requires significant planning, whereas a
bottle can be downed impulsively.

(* and that if you're taking them as you go, you'll probably be physically
incapable/less inclined to continue far enough after a certain point)

~~~
monalisauzi
Ah, I hadn't even thought of that, but it makes sense. It certainly can't
hurt!

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blang
There was a company called pillsy[1] that used to make something similar,
though it appears that they pivoted to do other connected medical devices[2].

[1] [https://www.pillsy.com/](https://www.pillsy.com/) [2]
[https://www.optimize.health/](https://www.optimize.health/)

~~~
brian_herman__
Shame, this would be very useful! I am not that handy with stuff, it would be
cool to buy a complete solution.

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harshaw
There was an effort called GlowCaps that attempted to productize this years
ago. Have no context in this space but not sure if this is a better mechanism
or pillpack style drug delivery (self contained packets of medicine)

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rantwasp
that’s interesting but it’s pretty rare that you only need to take one
medication. (it’s also interesting how this behaves if you can’t remember
and/or open the bottle multiple times)

what most people end up doing is using a pill organizer (per days or per
days+ampm). this way you can by visually inspecting the organizer (most are
transparent) if you took your pills.

i think this could be coupled with a smart pill organizer to send you
reminders if time for a specific slot has passed and you didn’t take your
pills.

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yumaikas
This is a problem that can also be solved with a pill container, at least for
longer term meds taken at regular intervals.

I could see this being handy for as-needed meds, however

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amelius
Or use a webcam which only records if there is movement (a lot of free
software exists to do this).

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keenmaster
I'm surprised that pharmaceutical companies don't hawk IoT pill bottles.
People would consume more medicine.

~~~
homero
They're trying, especially for opioids

[https://adheretech.com/](https://adheretech.com/)
[https://www.pillsy.com/](https://www.pillsy.com/) [https://www.elucid-
mhealth.com/index.html](https://www.elucid-mhealth.com/index.html)

~~~
keenmaster
Time to take your opioids! You're on a 20 day streak. Keep living your best
life :^) Your next bottle is on its way.

Remember, talk to your doctor if you're still in pain and they can discuss if
a higher dose is right for you.

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gus_massa
Post with text instead of an URL have a penalty here so it is more difficult
that they reach the front page. It is better to submit the URL and add a
comment in case you have to make an important remark.

In this case, I think it is not necessary to make a comment if you add the
subtitle in the title. Something like " _Memory Pill: passively records the
last time a medication bottle was opened_ "

The guidelines ask to use the original title, but you can use the subtitle in
these kind of cases where the title is not very descriptive. I just cut it so
it has less than 80 characters.

~~~
nickbild
Thanks. I appreciate the advice--makes good sense.

