University of Twente Student Theses
Development of a Smart Pill Dispenser to Support Patients with Substance Use Disorder during Home Detoxification
Spelbos, L.A.W. (2024) Development of a Smart Pill Dispenser to Support Patients with Substance Use Disorder during Home Detoxification.
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| Full Text Status: | Access to this publication is restricted |
| Embargo date: | 5 July 2026 |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the features and functionalities of a smart pill dispenser to effectively integrate into home detoxification treatments. People who suffer from Substance Use Disorder (SUD) can be treated inpatient or at their place of residence. Detoxification is one of the phases of this treatment but is currently a labour-intensive treatment because the patient is visited regularly by healthcare professionals. Medication can be used to reduce physical issues during this treatment, like withdrawal symptoms or cravings. Smart pill dispensers are not used to manage and monitor medication usage, because of lacking functionalities. In this research, we investigate the needs of healthcare professionals to design a solution that could be easily implemented in home detoxification programs. To understand these needs, we conducted two semi-structured interviews with healthcare professionals in the field of SUD, as well as one semi-structured interview with an expert in the field of software development and digital health. We categorised the findings from these interviews into six categories, by doing a thematic analysis. Our findings indicate that it is important that the pill dispenser is flexible and that it can be updated remotely, as this was mentioned by both healthcare professionals. This should be made possible by integrating with other information systems. During the interview with the expert in digital health information standards like Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) and Medicatieproces 9 (MP9) were discussed, which allows for software integration. The results of this research are limited because of the small sample of interviewees. In the future, more research can be done on the demands of healthcare professionals and SUD patients. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Bachelor) |
| Faculty: | EEMCS: Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science |
| Subject: | 54 computer science |
| Programme: | Business & IT BSc (56066) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/101875 |
| Export this item as: | BibTeX EndNote HTML Citation Reference Manager |
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