Inspiration
The inspiration for our project, the Elder Care Medication Tracker (or Aloe), came from a personal experience of one of our team members. Tien Cheng's father is elderly and has a lot of health problems, which require him to take a significant amount of medication every day. However, it became increasingly difficult for him to remember what medication he had to take and when, which led to instances of him either forgetting to take his medication or taking too much. We attempted to find existing solutions, such as medication tracking apps, but found that they were not suitable for Tien Cheng's father as he was not comfortable with technology and thus found the app UI to be too cumbersome. This led us to explore ways to create a solution that was accessible and easy to use for elderly individuals.
What it does
Aloe is an app that helps elderly individuals keep track of their medication schedules. The app provides reminders on when to take medication, and uses Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology to verify that the medication is the correct one. It also links to a database that stores information on different types of medication, such as dosage, side effects, and purpose. This information can be used to better understand the medication and any potential risks or interactions. By having all of this information in one central location, elderly individuals and their caregivers can have peace of mind that the correct medication is being taken at the correct time.
In general, it's supposed to work like this:
- Patient gets a prescription. The doctor then helps to fill in info about when the patient has to take the medication, etc. (in the future, may even include some QR code to be provides a solution that is easy to use and can make a real difference in people's lives. Additionally, we are proud of our implementation of OCR technology and linking it to a database to provide relevant information about the medication. The interface design is clean and easy to navigate, which makes it accessible to elderly users.printed onto the packaging)
- On the app, the patient can see what medication he/she/they have to take.
- We will send out push notifications to remind them when they need to take their medication
- When they take their medication, they can take a picture of the medication to verify that it is the correct medication they are taking
How we built it
Aloe was built with a combination of technologies. The front-end of the app was developed using Vue JS, which allowed us to create a user-friendly interface. The app is hosted using Firebase Hosting, which provides robust hosting and security features. The back-end of the app was developed using Firebase Cloud Functions, which allowed us to handle server-side logic and integrate with other services such as Google Vision API and Firestore Database. Firebase Cloud Messaging was also used to send push notifications to users when it was time for them to take their medication.
Challenges we ran into
One of the main challenges was making the application accessible for elderly individuals who may not be tech-savvy. This required us to consider how to simplify the interface, and make it easy to navigate. We also encountered challenges when trying to get Firebase Cloud Functions to accept multipart-form data, as it does not natively parse this type of input, as we needed to send the image of the medication, along with additional data on what the medicine is supposed to be.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We are proud of the fact that we have been able to address a real-world problem that affects many elderly individuals and their caregivers. Aloe provides a solution that is easy to use and can make a real difference in people's lives. Additionally, we are proud of our implementation of OCR technology and linking it to a database to provide relevant information about the medication. The interface design is clean and easy to navigate, which makes it accessible to elderly users.
What we learned
While working on this project, we learned how to leverage the Google Cloud Vision APl for its OCR capabilities. We also learned about the challenges and considerations that come with designing for an elderly population.
What's next for Aloe
We have several plans for future development of the Aloe. One of our main priorities is to integrate a QR code system, so that medication packaging can include a QR code that can be scanned to add the information to the app. This will make it even easier for elderly individuals to keep track of their medication.
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