The goal of this project is to develop a treatment booth with technology that allows opioid treatment programsto remotely dispense, either methadone or buprenorphine, under medical observation through telemedicine toa patient in a treatment booth. We believe that robotic automation is the ideal application to perform the samemechanical functions of the nurse at the dosing window. Specifically, these mechanical functions include bottlepositioning, capping, labeling, and placing for patient. This would allow nurses to use their clinical skills,serving patients across vast geographic regions, and only using a robot to physically dispense the medicationdirectly to a patient. Technology and automation will create a resilient and agile business model for opioidtreatment programs (OTPs), allowing a contactless patient-nurse experience and a centralized dosing queuewhich allows clinics to share the dosing window workload across OTP clinics. The Drug Enforcement Agency(DEA) regulates activities and medication storage at OTPs. That is why our first, and most critical, milestone isto design, build, and compliance test a custom safe that meets our technical needs as well as 21 CFR§1301.72. To determine our technical needs, we must complete the functional requirement specifications forthe hardware. After DEA approval, we will develop the software architecture and design, and prototype theend-to-end robotic process from pumping into a bottle, capping, labeling, and placing bottle in a specifiedlocation. After that, the complete design engineering, buprenorphine dispenser prototype, softwaredevelopment and the assembly of the alpha device will be completed. The vision of this project is to be thecatalyst that allows OTPs to provide uninterrupted service to patients through a contactless and efficientexperience, provide a safe and secure method for methadone inductions via telemedicine, and to allow OTPsexpand services to rural and underserved areas through satellite medication units.
Public Health Relevance Statement: The goal of the project is to develop a treatment booth with technology that enables opioid treatment programs
to dispense treatment medication for opioid use disorder, with observed dosing in real time, to a patient in the
treatment booth. In the short term, this will provide a contactless patient-nurse experience during the
coronavirus pandemic and allows nurses to share the workload. The long-term vision is that this treatment
booth presents a solution for opioid treatment programs a safe and secure mechanism to serve rural and
underserved areas who currently do not have access to treatment for opioid use disorder.
Project Terms: <0-11 years old>
