QuaMeDis is developing an AI-supported solution for automatically checking tablet dispensers to improve patient safety in hospitals and care facilities.
The QuaMeDis (Ensuring Quality in Medication Dispensing) research project aims to improve the safety of medication dispensing in hospitals and care facilities. Every day, countless oral medications are administered worldwide, often resulting in errors that can have potentially serious consequences for patients. Studies estimate that around 5% of all hospitalized patients are given the wrong medication at least once and a further 5% have a worse outcome. With 2.2 million hospital stays, this means around 5,500 patients are affected in Austria every year.
QuaMeDis is investigating the use of artificial intelligence (AI), in particular machine learning and computer vision, to automatically check the correspondence between the contents of tablet dispensers and electronic medication prescriptions. A prototype is being developed that takes images of filled dispensers, classifies the tablets they contain and compares this information with the prescriptions. By integrating optical sensor technology, a knowledge base and deep learning algorithms, a decisive gain in knowledge about the reliability, potential and risks of this new type of plausibility check of dispenser contents is to be achieved in order to minimize the error rate in the long term and thus make a positive contribution to the healthcare system overall.
The innovative approach of QuaMeDis consists of combining AI technologies with a specially developed hardware solution for automated medication verification. This represents a unique solution that not only increases safety, but also improves the efficiency and reliability of medication dispensing. The iterative development of a comprehensive knowledge base for the classification of tablets is a central challenge that is continuously being solved.
The project is being carried out by an interdisciplinary consortium that combines expertise from Upper Austrian companies and research institutions. RISC Software GmbH is leading the project and is contributing its many years of experience in medical informatics and AI. Other partners include Oberösterreichische Gesundheitsholding (OÖG), Kepler University Hospital (KUK), the University Clinic for Neurosurgery (JKU-MED) and R’n’B Consulting GmbH, which is contributing regulatory expertise.
QuaMeDis improves patient safety, supports medical staff and contributes to the long-term reduction of costs in the healthcare system. It strengthens Upper Austria as a business location through the development of advanced AI technologies and creates a pioneering role in the development of safety-critical medical applications. The research results from this project will then be further developed to provide a marketable overall system for increasing the safety of medication administration that can be seamlessly integrated into existing hospital infrastructures. This increases the international visibility of Upper Austria as a high-tech location and contributes to the sustainable improvement of healthcare.
This project is funded by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG).
Project Manager & Researcher
