Image credit: Kwong Kai Chung
Synapxe Senior Lead Specialist Benjamin Chu participated in the development of Visual Pillbox, making good use of Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) to help patients have a clear summary of the timing they need to take medicine and effectively manage various chronic diseases.
Benjamin Chu (40 years old) from Malaysia is an information technology professional who is good at Generative AI language and graph processing. He has been working in Singapore since 2016.
After a few years of experience in several local cooperations, he successfully joined Synapxe as a senior analyst in 2022 with his professional knowledge and skills in AI.
Benjamin said in an interview that participating in the development of Visual Pillbox, which helps elderly patients take medicine on time and correctly, makes him feel that what he is doing is meaningful and he is able to apply what he learned.
The Visual Pillbox utilises GenAI and optical character recognition (OCR) technology to efficiently organise medication information for patients. By capturing a photo of the medication, the Visual Pillbox can automatically generate a medication schedule, providing a clear overview at a glance.
Benjamin said that with the ageing population in Singapore, many elderly individuals have to manage multiple chronic diseases simultaneously. "Currently, during medication collection, it is common for nurses to provide patients with all the information at once, which may lead to situations where patients leave the pharmacy without fully comprehending the details.”
He highlighted that AI will provide personalised medication recommendations tailored to the patient's needs throughout the morning, afternoon, and evening, covering aspects such as types of drugs, dosages, frequency, and things to note etc.
Benjamin mentioned that the Visual Pillbox can help pharmacists, patients and caregivers better manage medication. "It can improve patients' willingness and accuracy in adhering to their medication schedule, making it especially beneficial for those who take multiple different medicines at various times."
He also said: "Some patients may not be fluent in English, the generated schedule also includes a Chinese option, allowing them to use this management tool without difficulties."
The Visual Pillbox is a healthtech product jointly developed by Synapxe and Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, and it has now completed the proof-of-concept phase.
