Bang & Olufsen Medicom

Creating a shortcut to better health by improving patient compliance

Bang & Olufsen Medicom, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bang & Olufsen group, is a leading expert in the design, development and supply of innovative drug delivery device solutions and sensor based technologies. The current product range includes; inhalers, tablet reminders and injection pens with a focus on patient compliance.

Bang & Olufsen Medicom offers concept development, engineering and manufacturing services to clients with options to license its intellectual property.

PRODUCTS/SERVICES:

Bang & Olufsen Medicom focuses on four main areas of drug delivery device development, which employ innovative strategies to help with patient compliance issues:

Inhalation: The company makes inhalers with single dose counters called the - Assist Actuated InhalerTM - which give more power back to the patient on managing much medication remains in their canister and helps them track the doses they need to take regularly.

Tablet Reminders: The company created a series of tablet reminder devices called the Helping HandTM -  that remind patients about the tablets they need to take. The tablet reminder is equipped with electronic functions that once activated, can remind the user to take their medication and provides feedback on how well they have kept to their medication regime.

Injection pen cap: The company also developed an intelligent pen cap that fits with a wide range of injection pens. With this product the user can track the injection doses to be taken and again get feedback on their compliance rate for the longer term.

Diagnostic devices: In addition, Bang & Olufsen Medicom has partnered with 3M to create ambient-noise reducing electronic stethoscopes that allow for greater amplification of difficult-to-hear heart and lung sounds.

AWARD WINNING DESIGN

The company has also been associated with four design awards in the past year, primarily for its ambient-noise reducing stethoscope and the Helping HandTM, tablet reminder device.

The 3MTM LittmannR stethoscope has won two awards, the international iF Design award 2006 in the medical product category and the Danish Innovation and Design (D.I.D) award. The stethoscope is used by thousands of cardiologists and physicians worldwide. The widespread use of the stethoscope confirms claims that the product can pick up difficult-to-hear heart and lung sounds.

The ambient noise-reducing technology has been proven to filter out 75% of surrounding sounds and provides 18 times more amplification compared to acoustic stethoscopes.

Meanwhile, a second product by Bang & Olufsen Medicom has also had a dual design award success in the past year. The Helping Hand TM, a novel tablet reminder device has received two design awards and was a finalist in the global INDEX awards 2005. The device is unique on the market and currently serves thousands of customers in Europe, South America and Japan.

The Helping Hand TM ‘s intelligent design is particularly helpful in tackling the widespread issue of patient compliance. The device has built-in electronic features – a traffic light colour-coded feedback system to name one – that helps users to remember to take their medication and motivate them to continue this routine for the long term.

In addition, the Helping HandTM won the Chicago Athenaeum “Good Design” award 2005.

PATIENT COMPLIANCE FOCUS

Bang & Olufsen Medicom focuses on patient compliance, as the average patient forgets every second dose (patients on average have a 50% compliance rate – WHO Report 2003). Therefore we believe that patients need help to remember to take their medication and a motivation to keep on track to continue their full course of prescribed medication.

For more information you can visit:
http://www.medicom.bang-olufsen.com