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Wrist tags may stop drug errors
 The wrist band is fitted with a sensor, which communicates with a sensor on the medication packaging. QUICKVOTERELATEDSPARK
ON CNNI TV
YOUR SAY
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTSLONDON, England -- A wristband designed by a London-based design graduate could see hospital patients being tagged to ensure they are given the right medication. Claire Dunne's wristband, called "Brilliant," has a chip, two tiny LCD screens and sensor technology. The chip stores data about the patient and their medication requirements, including the type of medication and the correct dose. The wristband communicates with another chip on the medicine packaging using sensor technology. Information about whether the correct dose and drug is being administered appears on the wristband screens, and alerts the nurse or doctor if there is an error. Once the patient is discharged from hospital, the information can be uploaded to a central database. The data is wiped from the wristband and can be fitted to a new patient. Dunne, a design graduate from Brunel University in west London, tested her prototype at St Anthony's Private Hospital in Surrey, England. Helen Groome, a ward sister at the hospital, said Dunne's design had a lot of potential. "Claire's design is a really practical use of electronic-tagging in medical equipment design," she said. "Brilliant will give an extra level of security to both staff and patients, ensuring that the correct drug is being administered at the correct time." Medication errors are one of the most common medical mistakes and could be responsible for hundreds of deaths a year. A report last month estimated that more than 800 people die in England's hospitals each year due to lapses in patient safety. The National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) also estimated that there would be around 572,000 reported patient safety incidents in English acute hospitals annually, Britain's Press Association reported. These could be due to problems such as medication errors, equipment defects and patient accidents. Drug errors can occur if medicines have similar packaging, handwriting on the hospital drugs chart is illegible or the wrong patient is identified and given the incorrect drugs. The new system, if adopted by hospitals in the future, could prevent these situations and reduce the chances of human error. 
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