A wristband that checks the right drug? Brilliant

A student at Brunel University has won an industry prize for designing a hospital wristband, called ‘Brilliant’, that can check the dose and type of drugs being administered to patients.

The wristband (right), designed by Claire Dunne, who studied industrial design and technology at Brunel, is worn by the patient and contains a touch memory sensor to read the details of any medicine about to be administered.

The medicine packaging, which contains data in an ‘iButton’, is pushed against the wristband, and should the dose or the drug be incorrect it signals a warning on its screen (not visible in picture). Every time a dose of medicine is given, it is logged in the wristband’s memory.

Dunne told E-Health Insider that in choosing the name of the band she’d looked at several different terms before deciding on ‘Brilliant’: "Wouldn’t it be a nice idea to have something on your wrist that was brilliant?"

Helen Groome, ward sister at the private hospital in Surrey where the system had been testedm said the design was "a really practical use of electronic tagging in medical equipment design. 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."

The wristband, which can have its memory wiped and reused for any number of patients, is able to store information about the quantities and types of drugs administered to be downloaded for auditing and billing purposes.

Dunne said that the advantages of her system are twofold; firstly, it can increase patient safety and stop the wrong drugs being administered to patients, reducing the risks caused by illegible handwriting or confusing packaging in a busy hospital.

Secondly, the auditing and billing facilities made the system especially attractive to private hospitals and other international healthcare systems that required itemised charges for drugs.

Brian Kingham, chair of Reliance Security Group, who sponsor the Reliance Awards, said: "We felt that Claire’s design stood out as one which showed great innovation, coupled with a healthy dose of commercial reality."

Dunne’s plans for the Brilliant wristband currently include promotion and finding an industry sponsor.