Medicament inventory system and method

Abstract

A medicament dispensing system includes a dispensing apparatus configured to receive a plurality of medicament containers, each container containing a plurality of medicament units for dispensing, and wherein each container includes: a housing; a rotatable disk within the housing and defining a radial groove configured to hold at least one unit, the rotatable disk positioned between a storage chamber and an outlet whereby when the rotatable disk rotates, the radial groove carries the at least one unit from the chamber to the outlet; and a drive mechanism located within the housing for rotating the rotatable disk, wherein when each container is inserted into the dispensing apparatus, a respective engagement mechanism of the dispensing apparatus engages the drive mechanism to actuate the mechanism to dispense units from each respective container, and wherein the dispensing mechanism includes a biometric sensor for authenticating authorized personnel before dispensing medicaments from one or more containers.

1 . A system for dispensing medicament units, comprising:
 a dispensing apparatus having a plurality of slots;   a plurality of medicament containers received within a respective one of the plurality of slots, each medicament container containing a plurality of medicament units for dispensing by the dispensing apparatus, and wherein each medicament container comprises:   a housing;   a chamber within the housing to store the medicament units;   an outlet defined in the housing to dispense the medicament units;   a rotatable structure within the housing comprising at least one radial groove configured to hold at least one medicament unit, the rotatable structure being positioned between the storage chamber and the outlet whereby when the rotatable structure rotates, the at least one radial groove carries the at least one medicament unit from the chamber to the outlet; and   a drive mechanism located within the housing for rotating the rotatable structure,   wherein when each medicament container is inserted into a respective one of the plurality of slots a respective engagement mechanism of the dispensing apparatus engages the drive mechanism to drive the drive mechanism to dispense medicaments units from each respective medicament container, and wherein   the dispensing mechanism comprises a biometric sensor for authenticating authorized personnel before dispensing medicaments from one or more medicament containers.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the dispensing apparatus further includes a first communication module and each of the plurality of medicament containers comprises a second communication module for exchanging data with the first communication module. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2  wherein each medicament container further comprises:
 a memory module adapted to store the number of medicament units contained within the chamber; 
 an update module adapted to update the number medicament units contained within the chamber upon dispensing of one or more medicament units from the chamber, wherein updating comprises storing the updated number of medicament units in the memory module and communicating the updated number to the first communication module. 
 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 2  wherein each medicament container further includes a memory configured to store identification information for each medicament container, wherein the identification information is communicated by each of the respective second communication modules to the first communication module when each of the medicament containers are inserted into a respective slot of the medicament dispensing apparatus. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 2  wherein the first communication module is further configured to transmit and receive information from a computer network. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the biometric sensor comprises a fingerprint scanner. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the biometric sensor comprises a retinal scanner. 
     
     
         8 . A system for dispensing medicament units, comprising:
 a dispensing apparatus;   a plurality of medicament containers coupled to the dispensing apparatus, each medicament container containing a plurality of medicament units for dispensing, and wherein each medicament container comprises:   a housing for containing a plurality of medicament units;   a rotatable mechanism configured to move at least one medicament unit to an outlet of the housing; and   a drive mechanism located within the housing for rotating the rotatable mechanism,   wherein the dispensing apparatus is configured to actuate the drive mechanism of each medicament container to dispense medicaments units from each respective medicament container, and   wherein the dispensing mechanism comprises a biometric sensor for authenticating authorized personnel before dispensing medicaments from one or more medicament containers.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8  wherein the dispensing apparatus further includes a first communication module and each of the plurality of medicament containers comprises a second communication module for exchanging data with the first communication module. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9  wherein each medicament container further comprises:
 a memory module adapted to store the number of medicament units contained within the housing; 
 an update module adapted to update the number medicament units contained within the housing upon dispensing of one or more medicament units from the housing, wherein updating comprises storing the updated number of medicament units in the memory module and communicating the updated number to the first communication module. 
 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 9  wherein each medicament container further includes a memory configured to store identification information for each medicament container, wherein the identification information is communicated by each of the respective second communication modules to the first communication module when each of the medicament containers are inserted into a respective slot of the medicament dispensing apparatus. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 9  wherein the first communication module is further configured to transmit and receive information from a computer network. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 8  wherein the biometric sensor comprises a fingerprint scanner. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 8  wherein the biometric sensor comprises a retinal scanner. 
     
     
         15 . A method of dispensing medicament units, comprising:
 inserting a plurality of medicament containers into respective slots of a dispensing apparatus configured to receive a plurality of medicament containers, wherein each medicament container contains a plurality of medicament units for dispensing by the dispensing apparatus;   engaging a drive mechanism located within a housing of a medicament container to rotate a rotatable mechanism within the medicament container by an engagement mechanism contained within the dispensing apparatus, wherein the engagement mechanism is configured to actuate the drive mechanism of each medicament container to dispense medicaments units from each respective medicament container; and   authenticating an authorized user of the dispensing apparatus with a biometric sensor prior to dispensing any medicament units from one or more of the plurality of medicament containers.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the dispensing apparatus further includes a first communication module and each of the plurality of medicament containers comprises a second communication module for exchanging data with the first communication module, and wherein the method further comprises communicating identification information stored in each of the plurality of medicament containers from each respective second communication module to the first communication module. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  wherein each medicament container further comprises a memory module adapted to store the number of medicament units contained within the housing, and wherein the method further comprises updating the number medicament units contained within the housing upon dispensing of one or more medicament units from the housing, the updating comprising storing the updated number of medicament units in the memory module and communicating the updated number to the first communication module. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16  further comprising communicating the identification information from the first communication module to a remote computer via a computer network. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the biometric sensor comprises a fingerprint scanner. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the biometric sensor comprises a retinal scanner.