Thailand unveils latest auto medicine dispenser

The Nation PHOTO

The dispensing of medicines will become faster and more effective thanks to B-Hive1 – Thailand’s first locally developed automatic medicine dispenser, which is ready for commercial use and costs half as much as similar imported machines, Dr. Thichakorn Wongphiromsarn said.

He is the project manager for the Thailand Center of Excellence for Life Sciences (TCELS).

Declining to reveal the names of the hospitals that are in the process of purchasing the machine, Thichakorn said it would generally cost 15 million baht (US$420,000), based on its functions. He added that hospitals should start using the machine by late this year or early next year.

B-Hive1 – which was created under collaboration with the Institute of Field Robotics (FIBO) at King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT), the TCELS and Supreme Hitera Co Ltd – was recently unveiled by Science and Technology Minister Phichet Durongkaveroj.

The machine was created under the “Talent Mobility” project, which allows Thai researchers to get hands-on experience at real workplaces.

Thichakorn said the machine can take as many as 150 prescriptions per hour from doctors directly and dispense medication accordingly. The machine can also be linked to a checking and label-printing system, and can monitor the stock to allow for better management of medical supplies, he explained.

The filled prescriptions will then be passed on via a belt system, so pharmacists can check the accuracy and interact directly with patients.

He added that this would help ease the workload of pharmacists, and help with the current shortage of pharmacists at many hospitals.

Thichakorn said the idea was inspired by Supreme Hitera Co’s demand for a suitable medicine dispenser for hospitals Thailand, where drugs are packaged in different ways. Most general dispensers in the market cannot properly cater to the local demand and are not fast enough to support the large number of patients at hospitals, he said.

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