For those who need to take a daily pill or want to consume a daily multivitamin, keeping track of their medication is not a big deal. But as they age, many people have to deal with multiple prescriptions of drugs taken on many different schedules. That can be particularly challenging for seniors who experience memory lapses.
One of the most ambitious and flexible consumer products to tackle the problem of medication management, Lumma is designed to sit on a counter top. It can sort and dispense a month’s worth of up to 12 different kinds of pills and its dispensing chute has been designed to accommodate a pill box for trips. Using its touchscreen, companion app, e-mail or text, it can remind users to take their medications at the appropriate times and set off alerts when they miss a dosage.
Lumma can also notify friends or family when a dosage is missed and even alert of potential drug interactions; it claims its cloud architecture is HIPPA-compliant. Lumma hopes to raise $100,000 by September 18th. A version that can accommodate up to six pills is available for $199 while the one that can handle up to 12 pills is $299 Both are expected to be delivered by March 2016.
At least until pills come with sensors that can communicate from within the body, it’s hard to conceive of a pill compliance system that’s foolproof. Lumma, for instance, can only verify that pills have been dispensed, not that they’ve actually been taken. It’s also unclear if Lumma can handle pill-taking schedules such as those that revolve around mealtimes. Still, the designers have clearly put a lot of thought into designing a practical aid to help with compliance in what can be a daunting array of medications.