GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Any parent who has cared for a sick child knows that it can be difficult giving your child exactly the right dose of medicine. Experts have found that more than 80 percent of parents give their kids the wrong dose of medication.
That's why Matt Battle, from Canton, Ohio is hoping to create the ultimate measuring device.
Doctors attribute some of these medication errors to poorly designed labels and packaging. They say conventional measuring devices can wear down and the measuring marks can disappear. On some, the print is too small to read. And what about those instructions that are just too confusing to understand?
For years now, Battle has helped his family take care of people with special needs, many of whom take liquid medications. Pouring the right dose can be imprecise: "When you think you're done pouring it, it's still building up, building up."
Worried he wasn't giving clients the right dosage, he came up with the AMSCAP. It stands for Advanced Measuring Systems, which is Battle's company he is creating.
"I thought the best way to solve the problem would be to attack it where it starts, the actual bottle," Battle said.
AMSCAP
Think of it as a bottle cap oral syringe that gives parents an exact pour every time. All you have to do is turn, press, fill, and dispense.
With the AMSCAP, there's no guess and no mess, plus, there's a childproof lock.
Battle says the need for his product is there, citing a study in the journal Pediatrics that found that out of more than 2,000 parents, four out of five made a dosing error.
It's a statistic Battle is hoping to change.
"Anybody can do it," he said. "You just have to be determined to do it."
Battle is hoping to raise $18,000 so he can create working samples to send to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. His ultimate goal is to get the AMSCAP on the market as soon as possible.
If you would like to donate to Battle's project, or want more info, click here.
