Demonstration with Equipment

CAPPLET: A Web-based Drug Identifier

Alvin B. Marcelo, MD, DPBS
National Library of Medicine, High Performance Computing and Communications

Abstract:

It is not uncommon for some patients to arrive unconscious in emergency rooms with medications in their pockets. Medication history is very important and it is incumbent upon the attending MD to determine what is the actual name of the drug. Previously, a health professional would rely on background knowledge of the more commonly used drugs. With a production of hundreds of new drugs each year, this system easily becomes very unreliable. As such tools like the United States Pharmacopeia Drug Information Manual printed by Micromedex (Williston, VT) are made available. The health professional browses the Micromedex picture database for a similar tablet and decides which one depicts the actual tablet most closely. This process is both time-consuming and error-prone. In addition, there are factors that can influence the decision of the health professional. He may be in a hurry and thus settles for the first most similar image he sees. On the other extreme, he may not be diligent in searching.

This study aims to develop a web-based application that will assist in the recognition of tablets, pills, and other solid medications by comparing it to an image database. The application will bring up a list of differentials with their percentage probabilities giving healthcare workers a stronger chance to get a correct match. At the very least, it makes the choosing process more quantitative rather than qualitative. Further, the database may be cross-referenced to a symptom database for poison control purposes.

Benefit in Attending Session:

View into a Java enhanced software used to assist doctors in decision making in the emergency room or the clinics.

It will show the opportunities offered by Java for developing small applets that will be useful for just-in-time requirements of the clinician.

Alvin B. Marcelo
National Library of Medicine
8600 Rockville Pike
Bldg 38A, B1N30
Bethesda, MD 20894
 
301-435-3278
Fax Number:
301-402-4080
marcelo@nlm.nih.gov
http://www.intermedonline.net/doctors/cv/amarcelo.htm