Drug identification and interaction checking using the Internet of Things

Providing effective and appropriate health care is one of the most important functions of information and communication technologies (ICTs). The Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the most recent advances in ICT, providing global connectivity and management of sensors, devices, users, and information. This chapter examines drug-related problems based on IoT technologies, for example, smartphones and the Web to support ubiquitous access, Internet with IPv6 connectivity over low-power area networks technology to support ubiquitous data collection for patients, sensors, and hospitals, and radio frequency identification/near-field communication to support global identification. These technologies offer a wide range of applications in health care, which can improve the quality of services, reduce mistakes, and even detect health anomalies from vital signs. Drug compliance and adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are two of the most important issues regarding patient safety throughout the global healthcare sector. ADR prevalence is 6.7% throughout hospitals worldwide, with a global death rate of 0.32% of patients. This rate is even higher in ambient assisted living environments, where 15% of patients suffer clinically significant interactions due to patient noncompliance with drug dosages and schedules, in addition to suffering from polypharmacy. These instances increase with age and cause risks of drug interactions, adverse effects, and toxicity. However, with tight follow-up of drug treatment, complications of incorrect drug use can be reduced. For that purpose, we propose an innovative system based on the IoT for drug identification and monitoring of medication. The IoT is applied to examine drugs in order to fulfill treatment, and to detect harmful side effects of pharmaceutical excipients, allergies, liver/renal contradictions, and harmful side effects during pregnancy.