Awardee Organization(s): Vaaji LLC
Principal Investigator(s): Sandeep Patil, MD, PhD | William Z. Potter, MD, PhD
Official Project Title: Prevention of Patch Poisoning in Elderly Alzheimer’s Patients
AITC Partner: PennAITech
Website(s): https://vaaji.io
Patients with Alzheimer’s are prone to medication errors with serious consequences. Some errors, however, may be preventable if detected early. This project will develop smart patch technology to track errors in real time to prevent adverse outcomes.
Fatalities or emergency hospitalizations can occur due to transdermal patch overdose/poisoning by placing more than the prescribed number on the body. Transdermal therapies typically have excess drug over what is intended to be delivered during the period when the patch is specified to be on body. Thus, an overdose can also happen if a new patch is placed without removing the older patch. A wide range of overdose symptoms occur with most commonly used drugs [cholinergic drug patch(s)] for Alzheimer’s. In severe cases, these include rapid dehydration, and renal failure, and/or low heart rate potentially leading to sudden cardiac arrest and death.
Early detection of one or more excess patches AND prompt removal within a defined period protects against effects of overdose. A prototype patch(s) will be built with a signaling tag that can be easily detected by a fixed reader. We will then assess the performance of this prototype patch system as Healthy Volunteers move freely in different sections of the Home Care Suite. Successful implementation of this technology will contribute to healthy aging at home and improve the well-being of the patients and their caregivers.