Medication delivery and monitoring system and methods

A drug delivery station comprising:

• an interface to a patient IV set comprising a port exposer for exposing a port of the IV set for medical needle insertion and a needle aligner for aligning the medical needle at the port;
• a syringe label cradle (SLC) unit comprising:
• a medical syringe cradle, a space for a label and a slider which in combination with a syringe comprising a needle, a barrel, and a plunger and position of the cradle relative to the slider provides vertical alignment for the needle such that the syringe needle is juxtaposed the interface when the SLC unit is disposed in the needle aligner;
• a label securely affixed to the syringe and which comprises machine readable drug identifying indicia;
• a label indicia reader for automatically reading drug identification information from the label;
• a syringe plunger position determining sensor whereby the station measures the plunger position and change of position as a drug is delivered to the patient from the medical syringe;
• the barrel having a known transverse diameter with the medical needle disposed along the longitudinal axis of the barrel;
• the slider being disposed to slideably ride within said needle aligner to deliver the medical needle to the port, the SLC comprises an area for the bar code label and the slider comprising a width which adjusts the needle to a predetermined height relative to the port.

A syringe label cradle (SLC) unit comprising:

• a medical syringe comprising an elongated barrel having a known transverse diameter and a medical needle disposed along the longitudinal axis of the barrel;
• a SLC comprising a cradle for the syringe and a slider which is slideably disposed at the SLC to deliver the medical needle to a port in a patient IV set, the SLC further comprising an area for a bar code label, the slider comprising a vertical width which adjusts the needle to a predetermined height;
• and
• a label which is carried by the SLC, the medical syringe being securely affixed to the SLC, and the label comprising indicia which is automatically readable by a label indicia reader.

A smart tray for holding and selectively delivering a plurality of syringe label cradle (SLC) units to a drug delivery and monitoring system, said smart tray comprising:

• a first SLC unit tray portion comprising a transverse width which is at least as wide as the longest SLC unit which it holds and a length consistent with receiving and holding said plurality of SLC units;
• a plurality of slots disposed transversely relative to said length, each slot having a depth which is the same as the other slots;
• a second portion of the smart tray which is releasibly affixable to the first portion, said second portion comprising:
• a data entry mechanism for entering patient data;
• a control panel comprising:
• a computer output display;
• an input keypad;
• a slot for one SLC unit wherein the SLC unit is constantly monitored;
• a lockable cover which securely releasibly affixes the SLC units to the smart tray.

A method for delivering and monitoring drugs to a port in an IV set comprising the steps of:

• delivering a safety label cradle unit to the port such that a needle on a drug loaded syringe which is a part of the safety label cradle unit is inserted into the port;
• automatically determining identification information relative to the drug contained in the syringe by electronically scanning a label on the safety label cradle unit;
• pushing a plunger of the syringe to deliver a volume of the drug through the port;
• monitoring movement of the plunger for the purpose of calculating and storing the volume of drug delivered.