NO744459L - - Google Patents

Description

Device for determining common properties for data units as well as method for using the device.

The present invention relates to a device for determination

of the nature of the relationship between, on the one hand, data that is characteristic of a unit or a group of different units, and on the other hand, data for another unit or another group of different units belonging to the same data collection, the device comprising a substrate corresponding to to each unit or group of units, as each substrate is organized using a system of addresses, on which the data that is characteristic of the unit or group of units corresponding to the substrate is recorded. Furthermore, the invention relates to a method for using the device.

Characters that are characteristic of each substrate are recorded

the said data, as the registration is carried out at the addresses that correspond to the unit or group of units that in turn correspond to the said base. At other addresses, the characteristic characters corresponding to the nature of the relationships between, on the one hand, data for the aforementioned units or groups of units, and on the other hand, data for the other units or groups of units in a data collection, are registered, as the characteristic characters corresponds to what is hereinafter called marks, which are functions of the nature of the relationships materialized by the characteristic signs in coded form.

Thus, the invention allows, with an address system in two dimensions that can be materialized or not on the substrate, and with a marking system and suitable codings, to record data and the nature of relationships in at least a three-dimensional system.

In the following, and for the sake of simplicity, one mainly considers planar substrates (maps, films, cards, sheets, tapes, etc.), on which an address system is marked in two-dimensional Cartesian I;

coordinates.

An expert will easily, and without going beyond the scope of the invention, be able to use the invention in connection with other coordinate systems (e.g. polar) or marking systems (e.g. numerical) for the address of the recorded data.

Likewise, for the sake of simplicity, in the first examples one will limit oneself to a one-dimensional mark system as in Monge's descriptive geometry, but it is easy for an expert to imagine several dimensions and to imagine a coding that allows the materialization of multi-dimensional systems of marks , as the following examples show.

On e.g. a card can be given a series of characters of different shapes as a function of a first dimensional series of marks and different colors as a function of a second dimensional series of marks.

In the following, the sub-unit that consists of the unit or group of units that corresponds to each substrate is called an "element". The data corresponding to the element itself and which can be recorded on the substrate are called "the element's properties". This can e.g. be the element's constituents such as the enumeration of units in the case of a group. The data corresponding to the relationships between the properties or characteristics of an element corresponding to a substrate, and the properties or characteristic data of other elements in the data collection (e.g. interaction, compatibility, incompatibility, negative or positive interference between elements or entities that make up the different elements), are called "relationships or relationship properties".

It is known in the art to record the elements' references and their properties on a substrate of any suitable type. Analytical comparison between substrates allows one to find out whether the different properties are compatible when looking to find what relationships may exist between the different elements, e.g. if one intends or, on the contrary, seeks to avoid certain interactions, compatibilities, incompatibilities, positive or negative interferences or any other kind of relationship that may exist between the elements and the units of which they are composed. j

To take a simple example: When installing a circulation system for fluids, it is necessary that the properties of the various composite elements are mutually compatible and do not show incompatibilities. Compatibility in dimensions is particularly intended so that the compositions can be carried out without difficulty. On the other hand, one seeks to avoid incompatibilities between the constituent materials or between each of these and the fluids that are to circulate.

This results in operations that are often long and difficult

to carry out manually, and which become very expensive when one wants to resort to automatic equipment. On the relevant substrates, you also usually work in two dimensions, which does not allow registration

of data in three dimensions or more.

The most perfect systems with punched cards work e.g. still with an address system in two dimensions on the card and perforation of a single type for the same substrate, and which only allows a relatively limited number of combinations and insufficient registration capacity for certain applications on the same substrate.

The manufacturers of electronic calculators with large capacity have had to orient themselves towards substrates with a significant number of addresses which usually require magnetic substrates which can only be implemented with the help of particularly expensive machines. Within many areas, however, it is an absolute requirement to have quick access to data for a number of addresses of the order of magnitude, e.g. thousand to ten thousand on one and the same substrate, which far exceeds the capacity of conventional punched cards, but what's more, when you need to materialize marks even in

a number as small as ten to a hundred, or even two to ten, one encounters problems that can hardly be solved without an investment in time and money that is incompatible with the user's means or purpose.

The only means used in this case necessitates a long and difficult comparison reading from the user's side

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the cards, and comments that give rise to a large number of jerrors. I I i

There are card systems on the market with a significant number of addresses, e.g. with perforations that allow in a collection of cards to select those that have a character pointing to the same address, e.g. those that have an oblong hole at a particular point in a set of round holes regularly spaced in a grid.

There are also optical means, which allow the classification of photographic film forming cards provided with a grid of opaque or transparent fields, allowing the extraction of all those cards which have an opaque field or a transparent field in a particular address on the card, but even these systems do not allow more than two pieces of information per address (0 or 1, yes or no, transparent or opaque, etc.). If you want to increase the card's capacity, you have to resort to essentially manual operations that require constant attention and considerable time.

In previous systems, the substrates otherwise only comprise two-dimensional coordinate systems.

As mentioned above, the invention allows working with substrates arranged by means of an address system with two dimensions and a marking system with at least one dimension. It allows not only to identify common characteristics of these data,

but also for any kind of relational properties between the characteristic data for different elements in a collection. As mentioned above, and for the sake of simplicity, in the first examples one must limit oneself to Cartesian coordinates, as the marks have one dimension and correspond to Monge's height if the substrates form the horizontal reference plane.

However, under the current conditions, most of the devices with two dimensions used to compare substrates cannot be used to compare substrates according to the invention, which requires that a distinction be made between the requests of the same brand that are fast at the same address, and buyers of other brands quickly at the same address.

IN!

In what follows, as a non-limiting example, reference will be made to an application area where the invention finds a very interesting application. It is about that problem

to find positive or negative interferences in the medical field. If e.g. a doctor writes out a prescription for a patient, the various drugs, especially their components, must be compatible with each other and compatible with the patient himself, with his lifestyle, with his nutritional status, with climatic or occupational conditions, etc.

At the present time, no practical means exists that allows the physician a systematic verification of interferences that can allow him to perform the verification in an accurate, rapid and efficient manner and without. having to resort to complicated and expensive equipment.

The invention then essentially consists in imposing the various positive or negative interferences as enumerated above on a substrate corresponding to each special pharmaceutical preparation or each special pharmaceutical ingredient, particularly for each active substance or corresponding to each family of special pharmaceutical preparations.

It is then a matter of imposing on each substrate, under conditions that allow easy retrieval, the nature of interferences with all the other specialties or constituents of active substances, nutritional conditions and other conditions of use as indicated above. To do this, one could e.g. apply a geographical imposition system for address on the substrate, e.g. a conventional Cartesian coordinate system, as mentioned above. It is then about getting each address to correspond to one of the other elements with which the comparison can be made and the corresponding address noted using any suitable recording means that suits the substrate and the used method, a sign materializing the nature of interference between the element to which the card corresponds and the element corresponding to the considered marked point.

It is possible to share groups, e.g. geographically, the check points corresponding to a family of elements, e.g. so that j

In i one finds the same interference on an easily applied area and I corresponding to e.g. to the existing antibiotics or to a family of foods.

The user who is in possession of the seen substrate corresponding to the existing elements extracts the substrates corresponding to the elements whose properties he wishes to compare, and by means of any suitable means such as those described above, he finds the interference signs which the addresses that correspond to the various elements that correspond to the selected substrates are added, and at the same time the interferences with other conditions of use that can be added without being the subject of special bases. If e.g. the user wants to prescribe specialties A, B, C and D to a patient, he draws e.g. out of its collection the substrates that correspond to A, B, C or D itself, or to their constituents, or to active substances continued as a function of the family to which they belong. By applying the addresses that correspond to the element applied to each of the cards (A, B, C, D, their constituents or active substances, etc.), one compares with the interference signs that may be applied to other substrates, which allows one to determine the possible mutual interferences between the drugs, but one can also enter in other fields on the substrate what sex, what age, what weight), his nutritional state (example: alcohol consumption), his living conditions (example: unfit for heavy work or for driving), the climatic conditions (example: living in a tropical country), other conditions (example: the time of taking medicines, etc.).

Regarding the nature of requests, at each address it must be possible to mark off requests of different kinds to which one assigns a mark, as each mark e.g. corresponds to a species of interference. As the nature of impacts can vary with the substrate, it is clear that one can distinguish them as a function of their nature itself, one can aim to distinguish them geometrically or by means of physical properties, which in turn can be digital or analogue, and one can very well understand the definition of a mark by measuring a quantity associated with the force (magnetic, optical, electrical or other).

i The device according to the invention is characterized primarily by the fact that

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on each substrate corresponding to a unit or group of different units to each address corresponding to the data that is characteristic of the other units or groups of units, one or more characteristic signs are recorded for each type of relationship between the data that is characteristic of the unit or the group of different units corresponding to each substrate, and the data that are characteristic of the other units or groups of units in the data collection. Other features of the invention will be apparent from the subsequent patent claims and from the description below. In order to better understand the technical features and advantages of the invention, exemplary embodiments will now be described, it being understood that these are not limiting in terms of the way in which they are implemented and the applications that can be made of them. Reference is made to the following figures:

Fig. 1 to 4 and 9 to 12 show coded characters according to the invention. Fig. 5 shows a first design of two substrates according to the invention. Fig. 6 shows an example of a coded symbol according to the invention, and Fig. 7 and 8 show another design of the substrates according to the invention, corresponding to two special pharmaceutical preparations selected on a specific market.

EXAMPLE 1. On square cards of transparent, non-stretchable, but possibly soft material, a grid is established in Cartesian coordinates, where each point of intersection can be considered an address. One allows a card and an address to correspond to each special preparation, so that on a card corresponding to a given special preparation at the other addresses signs can be applied corresponding to interferences, either with other special preparations at the addresses provided for this purpose, or to conditions of use which those listed above at other addresses which are therefore foreseen.

Opaque or transparent or colored characters can be applied to this card, the shape of which corresponds to each mark such as

can materialize.

Fig. 1 shows an enlarged view of a number of such signs. E.g. is drawn

1 what is applied to the address that corresponds to the special preparation that in turn corresponds to the card.

The character 2 corresponds to e.g. to mark 1, mark 3 to mark 2, etc.

Experience shows that one can easily distinguish between a dozen characters such as 2, 3 or 4 consisting of a ring-shaped part, which when superimposed with projections 6 which are displaced along the periphery form the aforementioned characters 2, 3 or 4. If the 12 positions of the protrusions are spaced 30° apart like the numbers on a dial, one can easily distinguish the position. E.g. in fig. 2 one finds around a sign such as 1 a certain number of superimposed rings 5 and protrusions 2, 3, 7 and 8 corresponding to easily identifiable marks, if e.g. as mentioned above in connection with fig. 1 projection 2 corresponds to mark 1 (position 12 on a dial), projection (or notch) 3 corresponds to mark 2, notch 7 to mark 4, and notch 8 to mark 9.

When the doctor in his collection cards e.g. choose those that correspond to four special preparations that he wishes to prescribe, occur

on the four addresses corresponding to the four special preparations characters such as 1 possibly surrounded by rings showing one or more ticks, and further, if the rings and the tick are colored, they are even easier to identify, and one also understands that with 12 ticks positions and 8 or 9 different colors, you will be able to significantly increase the number of possible brands that can be materialized at one and the same address.

If you also arrange cards corresponding to the patient's different characteristics (man, woman, aged 20 to 30, pregnant woman, woman exposed to certain allergies, men who live in hot countries, etc.), you can find the interferences for the special preparations that are arranged at the addresses that correspond to the patient's characteristics.

To facilitate reading, a frame can be arranged in which the various cards can be inserted, so that the grid is kept correctly superimposed and the frame illuminated with Wood light, as the characters J

consists of suitable materials.

i i In the present example, a system has been thought of in Cartesian coordinates, but it is clear that you can work with other coordinate systems. One can also think of other forms of signs with or without colouring.

EXAMPLE 2. One can also work with opaque cards with perforations such as 12, 13 or 14 which show notches in-above 6, as the diameter of the different perforations is close to the same.

By superimposing the cards that correspond to the considered special preparations and by looking at the translucency, at the addresses that correspond to the specialties you will see a perforation within which there are notches such as 17, 18, 19 and 20. As in example 1, one can think of addresses for conditions of use or patient characteristics.

EXAMPLE 3. Fig. 5 schematically shows two square cards A and B, preferably of transparent semi-rigid material, i.e. at the same time soft, but exhibiting good dimensional stability, so that the card is allowed to recover its exact dimensions even if voluntarily or by accident may have been boyd or veiled.

Card A corresponds to an element A, and card B to an element B. Both are arranged according to a grid that covers the entire surface of each card, and which is schematically shown dotted. The dimensions of the card and grid must allow superposition of A and B, and as perfect a coincidence as possible of the two grids and the edges of the cards.

One can possibly make do with a good overlay of the grids if the cards are provided with marking means such as characters or suitable perforations. This can be useful if, after long use, the card's corners and edges risk becoming worn. One can also, as is customary to do with punched cards for electronic calculators, cut off a corner to ensure that the jail cards are placed correctly in the card holder at the moment j

the comparison should take place and round the other corners

In order to avoid that they are bled.

Assuming that the cards of type A and B are intended for the study of interactions in the area of medicine or pharmacology,

divide the cards geographically into a certain number of fields marked C, P and R delimited by dotted lines. The dashed lines in the grid and the dotted lines delimit the fields on the card that may or may not materialize.

Each intersection point in the grid constitutes an information address, and fields C, P and R are identical from one card to another, so that they contain the same addresses. Field C reserves the components of elements A and B, i.e. the unit or group of units that make up the element.

If e.g. element A or element B are drugs, the different units can be the main active ingredient(s) or binders. If, on the other hand, you prefer to have cards where A or B are not special preparations, but only their components, the units can correspond to different functions of the main active ingredient, e.g. the functions of the molecule.

In the following, it is assumed that A and B are medicinal special preparations, and that a component of the special preparation corresponds to each address, namely a, a', a" for the special preparation A, and b, b' for the special preparation B.

On card A, coded symbols or signs are applied at the selected addresses for a, a', a" which show that at each address on card A a property or data that is characteristic has been registered

for the element A. Here you have chosen to register the ingredients, but you would also be able to register in a special field the dosage or the form in which the drug can be administered.

For the sake of simplicity, the figure does not show the coded symbol, but the references a, a', a" at the selected addresses. In the same way, on card B, the symbols B, b' which correspond to the active main components in B are shown.

On card A, outside of the addresses for the properties or the characteristic data, all the other addresses in field C can correspond to! all the other main active ingredients in all the considered special preparations that have provided the basis for cards such as A and B. It is of course of interest to preserve a certain number of free addresses for new special preparations that may enter the market. It is also of interest, for convenience and to allow possible verifications, to group, in sub-fields within field C, active main constituents in the same family, e.g. all antibiotics, acetylsalicylic acid and its derivatives, etc. In this way, at the other addresses in field C on card A, assigned to active main ingredients other than a, a', a", symbols, including r^, r^, corresponds to the relationship characteristics that may exist between the components of element A and the components of element B.

In a similar way, card B shows families of signs or symbols among which r&, r&1, r correspond to relational properties that may exist between the components of element B on the one hand and the components of element A and its units on the other.

These relational properties can correspond to interactions of any kind, and especially to incompatibilities or interferences.

It is clear that if a relationship characteristic between A and B appears on card A, the same should be found at least once on card B. If e.g. the sign r^ on card A corresponds to chemical interference between the active main ingredient a and the active main ingredient b, on card B you will find the sign or symbol r^ corresponding to r, .

b

On card A, r is at the same address as b on card B,

and rcl is again found on card B at the same address as a on card A. The coded symbols or characters registered at the different addresses can be as described above.

With each set of cards there must then be a table with the addresses on one side and the marks on the other. E.g. corresponds [the mark 0 to a first coded character or symbol, which one for be-j

I, for the sake of convenience, is also called O, corresponding to e.g. to the absence of any proper or relative property. This is in | present example the case if there was perfect neutrality between the constituents of element A and element b'. . This can be deduced by r^on card A by a character or symbol 0 which in turn can be deduced by the absence of any registration of characters at the corresponding address. The mark 1, which corresponds to a sign or symbol 1, can again correspond to a characteristic property such as i a, a' or a" on card A, or b, b' on card B. In the same way, the other marks 2, 3 , 4 etc. correspond to different relational properties, and it is clear that in order to avoid mistakes one can put on the cards in clear language, for example along the upper edge, the name or the possible designations of the corresponding element and the different units it consists of , i.e. in the present example the name or names of the special preparation or the name or the various chemical or commercial designations of the main active ingredients.

Field P can be reserved for addresses corresponding to different characteristics of the patient (age, sex, figure, race, hereditary characteristics, disease, etc.). One can even think of making card P,

on which one imposes the patient's characteristic characteristics, even if in field C one imposes interactions or susceptibilities that one might feel.

On the cards A and B, i.e. those corresponding to the special preparations, you can then apply relationship characteristics in field P for e.g. to show that this and that drug is suitable for infants, but not for older people, or vice versa, that this and that other drug is incompatible with diabetics or pregnant women, etc. This is derived from the ratio symbols r , r . or r...

Jp'p'p"

As far as field R is concerned, this can be reserved for the patient's nutritional status or living conditions. As with field P, R can indicate whether the patient lives in this or that climatic condition, in an urban or rural environment, and whether he performs intellectual or manual work. On cards such as A and B, field R can also indicate the possible interactions with this and that life form, e.g. interferences between an active substance and the enjoyment of alcohol. i jThis prompts the ratios or symbols rr, rri•

It is of interest to note that when one superimposes or compares the cards that correspond to the special preparations A, B prescribed by the doctor and the card or cards P, R that correspond to the patient's characteristic features and his life purpose, one will at the addresses that corresponds to the characteristic properties of the constituents of the selected elements find the relationship properties between these elements at the same addresses on each of the other thus selected cards.

It may also happen that at the same address you find coded signs or symbols that correspond to different brands or even to the same brand, which can strengthen or weaken the doctors' judgment in choosing or rejecting a special preparation or an active substance. This also gives reason to notice if the same main active ingredient is not repeatedly found in several prescribed special preparations, which is derived from the superimposition at the same address of several signs or symbols for properties or characteristic data.

If, as mentioned at the beginning of this example, the cards are transparent, it is easy to superimpose them, to let them fall together and to find the signs of relational properties superimposed on the signs of the characteristic properties.

EXAMPLE 4. One can imagine a system of cards of the same type as those mentioned in example 3, but in which the entire card base corresponds to an active main ingredient or to a group of active main ingredients and the different addresses of the special preparations. This can ensure a particularly easy search for all special preparations or groups of such containing one and the same main active ingredient, which in turn can ensure that one either avoids double use or, on the contrary, seeks to find even interacting side effects, or also to carry out a documentary or market analytical investigation.

With the help of the symbols coded according to the brands, you can continue

■ In materializing dosages, methods of intake, associations with others

^drug families and other relationship characteristics.

EXAMPLE 5. By re-familiarizing oneself with the conditions in the example

3, it should be remembered that you can possibly use the coloring of the characters to be registered. If e.g. the card's capacity allows one to sacrifice a surface element corresponding to each address,

and with sufficient size to be able to carry out what is mentioned below, you can use signs or symbols as described below. If, on the other hand, the card's capacity and dimensions leave little space for each address so that the eye can hardly distinguish the details, one can refer to an enlarged element either located on another substrate or on the same substrate in a free field, e.g. in the margin.

Fig. 6 shows a symbol of this type which can be used either at each address or with a reference if you wish to enlarge it to make it better readable. For convenience, the drawing in fig. 6 shown enlarged. The symbol shown is square and is divided into four by two orthogonal lines, and this layout can be generalized to any other shape and any number of divisions as long as it remains legible or discernible to the eye or any any suitable means.

For one and the same symbol divided into n fields (here 4) this allows

to arrange subsymbols in each field, i.e. to multiply the number of the dimensions of the marks by 4, or more generally by n. If one e.g. in the case of interactions of substances in medicinal products dispose of 4 fields, one can e.g. pre-expose field 21 for physical interactions, field 22 for positive pharmacological interactions, field 23 for chemical interactions and field 24 for negative pharmacological interactions.

In the previous sentence, the word interaction has been used, which is the most frequent case, but this can just as well be applied to any other relational property (incompatibility, interference, etc.).

I Each of the fields 21 to 24 can be subject to coloring as a function of the selected marks. Furthermore, one can not only vary the selected colour, i.e. the wavelength spectrum, but also the intensity, which on an inherently transparent substrate corresponds to the translucency of the colored symbol. This translucency of the colored symbol can be achieved either by reducing the intensity of the color or the thickness of the layer, or by using more or less fine or more or less spaced regular drawings (rasters).

Each drawing element (e.g. a line) can for a color correspond to a given component, which allows one, based on the field in which it is located, to deduce what kind of interaction each component entails. These different systems allow, by superimposing several substrates, to increase the intensity by reducing the transparency of the set, or to produce an intense coloring by superimposing the substrates that show the same muted colouring, which in practice e.g. corresponds to different special preparations comprising the same component and more particularly the same main active ingredient, each with a dose calculated for the special preparation's recipe, but which, if they are the subject of the same prescription, may give a stronger dose that must be taken into account.

If e.g. as shown in fig. 2 the symbol characters in each field are interpreted by means of more or less closely spaced stripes, but with different directions from one square to another, they primarily improve readability, i.e. the distinction between the different fields 21 to 24 in the same symbol, but can also allow references to observations or comments indicated in the margin of the substrate in the direction of the different arrows corresponding to different species of the above-mentioned interactions.

A system of stripes will also, when the cards are superimposed, allow one to distinguish directional stripes with identical colors from the stripe in the symbols that represent the main active ingredients or equivalents, but still, if the stripes overlap to a certain extent, you can make use of addition of colours, putting a coded meaning both in simple colors and in colors that are put together by superimposition.

[ EXAMPLE 6. This example describes a special design

intended to use all the special pharmaceutical preparations I that make up a specific market, here the French market, chosen as| illustrative example.

In this case, all the main active ingredients and other components of all French special preparations have been collected and classified.

A set of semi-rigid cards is established, preferably transparent and square, as each card corresponds to a special preparation in the broadest sense of the word. A single card may possibly correspond to several forms of delivery, to several dosages and even to several pharmaceutical forms.

Each card carries the drug's references and the manufacturer's name. Furthermore, it indicates the main active ingredients, or more generally, any ingredient that may cause interactions or side effects.

A reference matrix, here in the form of Cartesian coordinates, appears in the form of a rectangle with a length of 100 mm and a width of 50 mm.

This matrix reproduces:

1. The main active ingredients in the special preparation and their main pharmacological classes and possibly subclasses. 2. Their interactions, and the significance of these in connection with other main active ingredients. 3. The possible interferences of the main active ingredients with • certain foods, drinks and products that are absorbed by the respiratory tract, and other environmental factors such as sunshine, climate, altitude, etc. 4. The possible modifications of these recipes to standard paraclinical examinations (essentially biological), singles out the effects that necessitate the monitoring of those that interfere with the data.

5. Frequent or rare unwanted effects.

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6. Contraindications and caution in use in relation to the patient's characteristics, such as age, gender or pathological condition, as well as routes and methods of administration.

Individual cards per special preparation is designed on transparent

base from the same matrix. By superimposing two or more cards corresponding to the special preparations that are taken in the course of the same treatment, all information appears immediately by global reading, and especially the possible interactions and their most curative consequences.

This matrix consists of:

40 usable columns

07 free columns for updating

03 columns where any affiliation to one or more "secondary" pharmacological classes is noted.

A - Each pharmacological class is assigned a number of lines as a function of the number of main active ingredients in the class, e.g. X. This number is then congruent with X modulus 40.

The main active components occupy the first 75 lines of the motherboard. The three remaining free columns are used to indicate whether one or more main active ingredients in a special preparation belong to the secondary pharmacological class.

On the cards established per special preparation, the main ingredients are noted using a circle (descriptive code), as several colors are used if the preparation includes several active main ingredients. When an active main ingredient belongs to one or more secondary classes, it is also continued by means of a three-quarter circle of the same color as the line or lines corresponding to the class or classes, and in one of the three columns provided for this.

B - Interferences between main active ingredients (lines 1 to 75).

Each interference is entered on the card for the active main stock-I part by means of a variable ratio code according to the meaning of this interference.

Association that must be avoided

Potentialization /

Reduction of effect \

Interference of another kind I

C - Food, beverages and environmental factors (lines 76-77-78) .

We have reserved three lines on the matrix.

The interaction of a nutrient or an environmental factor with an active main ingredient is indicated with a relationship code identical to that used for the interferences.

D - Standard paraclinical examinations (lines 79-80-81).

It essentially concerns paraclinical samples that figure

in a list of medical-biological files to which certain curative practical tests can be submitted such as:

Electrocardiogram

Electroencephalogram

urban background and field of vision

Audiogram

When creating a card, each of these records can be coded in two ways, as: The effect of the drug entails possible disturbances, the code is then P.

or if, on the contrary, it concerns an important one

factor in the paraclinical monitoring, the code is then S.

|E - Unwanted effects (lines 8 2-8 3-8 4-85).

These adverse effects are arranged and classified by organ I and pathological syndromes.

Each of these records is coded in two different ways:

If they are frequent: F

If they are rare: R

F - Contraindications and caution in use (lines 86 to 100).

This chapter groups the patient's characteristics, intake routes and ways that can constitute:

either a contraindication, coded

or a simple usage caution, coded Z .

In each point of the reference matrix, one can then easily correspond

an active component, possibly another component or any other data concerning e.g. the patients or their living conditions, with a certain number of addresses being reserved for future use (especially for new products).

As mentioned above, names or other indications of the main active ingredients and any other components are applied to the card, and after each of these the corresponding address on the matrix is indicated as far as possible. In fig. 7, which represents the card corresponding to the special preparation commercially known under the name "Aspirine vitamine C de la marque ou denomi-nation Ml produtee par le Laboratoire Li" is e.g. indicate the names of the two main active ingredients. 1. acetylsalicylic acid continued the matrix at its address, ordinate 8 and abscissa 39. 2. ascorbic acid continued the matrix at its address, ordinate 32 and abscissa 16.

In the same way, in fig. 8, which corresponds to the special preparation

which is known in the trade under the designation M2, manufactured by [Laboratorium L2, the main active ingredient continued at its address

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in similar form: "probenécide 35-23".

It is recommended that you group the active components within the same family in the same field on the joint matrix or mother matrix, e.g. on the same line. One thus distributes the ordinates by assigning one or more lines per family:

1. General anesthetics

2. Local anesthetics

3. Hypnotic treatment

4. Antiepileptics, etc.

In the same way, these families are grouped again into larger families, e.g. :

1 to 11 relaxation of the central nervous system

12 to 14 stimuli for the central nervous system

15 to 17 drugs for the autonomic nervous system, etc.

In order to facilitate the imposition, as mentioned above, the relational symbols or signs in each case have the same color as the corresponding circle. It should be noted that on the attached figures, which are drawn in black on a white background, confusion is introduced between the colors of the different signs or symbols which does not exist in reality.

To facilitate identification, one can preferably follow a color code corresponding to the order in which the main active ingredients are listed on the special preparation's card.

In fig. 7, the following signs have been added that correspond to interactions with the products or families whose addresses are indicated. For the sake of simplicity, the signs corresponding to the side effects have been omitted. On the type or mother matrix, abscissas 1 to 3 have been reserved over the entire height of the ordinates for use by the latter, but it is clear that, without going beyond the scope of the invention, any other field on the matrix can be reserved for this purpose as well .

Signs corresponding to acetylsalicylic acid and all of the same color:

!!

- type A - interactions with

- type B - interactions with - type C - interactions with

Characters corresponding to ascorbic acid and all of the same color:

- type B - interactions with:

sulfonamides same addresses as above.

In fig. 8 are continued the following signs and symbols which correspond to interactions with the active component of the considered special preparation (probénécide).

penicillin and sulfonamides same addresses as above.

For the sake of simplicity, in this example, the other symbolic signs that correspond to side effects, environmental conditions, patient characteristics etc. have not been listed.

However, it may be advantageous, in the form of circular arcs (third-part circles, for example) of the same color as that chosen for the main ingredient in question, to indicate belonging to a different pharmacological class than that reserved for marking the product on the parent matrix. E.g. may aspirin, symbolized by a full circle in the analgesic class, appear as arcs in the anti-inflammatory, antipyretic or anti-constipation classes in tablet form.

If you e.g. reserving the abscissas 4 to 50 on a line on the parent matrix for a family of active components, one can use the corresponding free space on the abscissas 1 and 3 to impose the circular arcs corresponding to the side effects. In this way, one will be able to see axes moving side by side that correspond to the displace-

in i

In different components in one and the same special preparation, or several special preparations if one superimposes cards, which can take the form) of a series of characters ( ( ( ( without taking into account the grid of the matrix as far as the abscissas are concerned. Thus, one can then let appear accumulation of main pharmacological and/or side effects, which will allow one to explain certain reactions of the type of over-dosing which until now have not been able to be explained.

By thus superimposing two or more transparent cards such as those in fig. 1 and 2 showed in such a way that one makes the coordinate axes coincide and consequently the matrices if the cards correspond to the special preparations that are prescribed for a treatment, the linked signs or symbols that lie above the circles that correspond to the addresses of the main active ingredients considered or components respond to interactions whose nature is defined above, and which have been noted.

As has been emphasized, this allows us to note in general that there must always exist a double correspondence: if the main constituent X has an interaction with the main constituent Y, one must find this again both at the address of X on the card corresponding to Y and at the address to Y on the card corresponding to X.

This correspondence need not be identical; e.g. can X reduce the effect of Y without X's own effect being reduced.

Thus, the substrates according to the invention allow a permanent auto-verification of their accuracy, as information that does not appear twice when using the substrate corresponds to an error or forgetting to update.

Each card may be accompanied in any suitable form by useful additional clarifications for the mechanism of the interactions discussed, their significance, as well as bibliographic references.

It is particularly advantageous that each card is kept in a simple card holder of the open Bristol folder type which facilitates arrangement and display, and where it is stated in clear language: - on the front, general information about the product that

renders the legal data in identical order for all the cards established in a logical sequence and grouping, and

which is of practical interest to the user.

- inside, transcript in clear language of interferences, effects and other data which are recorded in code on the transparent cards.

Thus, when the practicing doctors dispose of a corresponding card, their prescription can easily and quickly be re-examined by themselves, and unwanted interactions and effects are avoided by a single act-imposing effort that ensures the revision of. their basic recipe and therefore do not cause any loss of time in daily practice.

Based on this new basis, their later modifications of the prescription come into the picture as the need arises, and new data is introduced either in the form of additional cards relating to new products or renewal of the cards, or even as additions that they themselves want to have signed off on prompting a reading or an information pending an "update renewal".

EXAMPLE 7. One can proceed as e.g. in example 1, but prepare the substrate by a photographic process, e.g. microfilms. It is then possible not only to apply signs to the various addresses, but also to include texts on the card that allow the user to find comments or indications as a function of the patient's weight and age.

The photographic process also allows the recording on film or microfilm of the table which represents the substrate in full scale, and on which it is easier to apply the characters of the desired addresses. Overlaying the clichés can easily be done optically, e.g. by projection either of superimposed clichés behind the same projection lens, or a projection lens for each cliché, as the different projected images are superimposed on a common screen.

EXAMPLE 8. On a substrate consisting of a square, preferably rigid or semi-rigid card provided with a so-called magnetic layer, one determines the addresses that correspond to a grid according to right-angled coordinates, and registers using any classical process magnetic signals on the addresses that correspond to the special preparations and the desired properties.

There are numerous recording techniques that allow high precision in the addresses and great variation in the shape or intensity of the signals, allowing one to determine a not insignificant number of marks at each address.

Thus, conventional cards usually have 5,000 addresses on which a selected character selected from a set of at least 25 different symbols coded according to the invention can be applied.

Each card corresponds to a special pharmaceutical preparation, and can

preferably stored in a card holder similar to the one described in example 6.

According to a variant, a magnetic tape of the usual type is used, the capacity of which is analogous to the capacity of 25 to 200 of the above-described magnetic cards. Each band can then either relate to a therapeutic class of drugs or all special preparations from a specific laboratory, or any desired classification.

One of the advantages of magnetic substrates is that the substrates can be modified without significant technical problems, especially during detection of new interferences, as such modifications are carried out from devices analogous to the devices in currently available typewriters with memory.

The implementation of the method according to the invention in the case of magnetic tapes can be carried out in the following way whether the substrate is a tape, a card or a disc.

The card or part of a tape which is associated with a first special preparation is inserted into a reading unit comprising a central memory and, in the case of tape, a control push-button set which allows the selection of the addresses for the special preparation in question. The characteristics found in the addresses of this special preparation are

then into the central memory.

In the same way, the properties are introduced at the addresses of a second, third, etc. special preparation by superimposing them precisely on the addresses of the first special preparation by means of a synchronization system.

It is then sufficient to reinsert the previously superimposed properties such as e.g. corresponds to the interferences between the considered special preparations by extracting these properties from the central memory of a reading unit, such as a cathode ray screen, optionally equipped with a device that allows reprography of the information read on the screen, a drawing board or even a conventional print.

This kind of recording allows remote retransmission, easy reproductions and comparisons of a large number of substrates using material that can easily be realized by a specialist from conventional elements.

One can also use an electrical process instead of a magnetic one, and vary the signals as a function of the mark in digital or analogue form.

Devices such as those described in the preceding examples can be subject to numerous variations and applications.

As far as applications are concerned, the fields of medicine and pharmacology offer numerous possibilities. One can e.g. study problems other than the interferences, one can e.g. also, within the area of homoepathy, study prescriptions taking into account the constitution of the individual type.

Furthermore, as far as the areas of application are concerned, one can study the important problem in medicine and pharmacology of overlapping doses, and further, separately or combined, the problem of nutrition, particularly for infants.

Thus, on a general level, when you wish to show the interactions that exist between a special preparation's active main ingredient and all the active main ingredients in all the other special preparations that belong to a specific market, e.g. in e.g. the French market, note that the same special preparation can exist in different pharmaceutical forms (cream, tablets, lozenges, ampoules, etc.) and different dosages intended for different routes of administration.

However, the interactions that exist between the main active ingredient in a special preparation and the main ingredient parts in other special preparations often vary significantly with the properties listed above.

Furthermore, possible interactions between the active components in several special preparations may vary as a function of the prescribed dosage, especially whether the preparations are taken at the same time or not, the frequency and speed of intake, or a delay in absorption or elimination of the drugs.

Consequently, it seems important to be able to take this data into account when implementing the method and the design of the device according to the invention as described above. Thus, the symbolic characters can be coded as a function of the data for the considered special preparation.

Expressed more clearly, this code can be a function of the pharmaceutical form of the special preparation in question, especially the dosage and the active components, the method of administration, the prescribed dosage, especially whether or not this special preparation is taken at the same time as other special preparations.

Furthermore, the coded symbolic characters can be the first symbolic character corresponding to the address for each active component in the special preparation, this symbolic character being a circle centered on the intersection point on the matrix that corresponds to said address, the circle having a separate color for said component , in that the first symbolic sign may have a part with a color that is different from the color of the said component, and in that this circle part is defined as a function of the data of the considered special preparation.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the coding of the first symbolic characters comprises a circle centered on the point of intersection

on the matrix corresponding to said address, as this circle

I has a specific color for said component, and another circle which may be centered like the first, but with a larger diameter than the first circle, and at least a part of which has one color that differs from the specific color for said component, as this part of the circle is defined as a function of the data of the considered special preparation.

Furthermore, the coded symbolic signs may be those corresponding to the interactions, these symbolic signs may be segments of a straight line centered on the intersections, and whose length corresponds mainly to the diameter of the said circles and whose direction corresponds to a predetermined code, being the line segments may have a part with a color different from the specific color for the said component, the said part being defined as a function of the special preparation's data in question.

Another design of the coding of the symbolic signs concerning the interactions can consist in, firstly, using the first line segments centered on the mentioned intersections, and whose length mainly corresponds to the diameter of the circles and whose orientation corresponds to a given code, these first line segments have a color specific to the said component, and secondly to use other line segments, parallel to the first and of analogous length, comprising at least one part whose color is different from the color specific to the said component, this part of the line segment is defined as a function of the considered special preparation's data.

Furthermore, the addresses for the active components can be grouped in fields corresponding to the families of active components according to a matrix which is common to all cards in the collection, as these fields themselves can be grouped in several areas. Each of these areas can include an address field reserved for the side effects, especially in such a way that they indicate that the components in addition to their own address can visit other families.

On the addresses in the aforementioned reserved fields, symbolic signs can be applied for the side effects of the components that correspond to the card in question. IN

Finally, at least part of the cards can be such that each of these cards relates to either a class of special preparations or active components, or a batch of special preparations or active components capable of treating one or a number of specific diseases, or they can relate to a specific type of patient.

EXAMPLE 9. Fig. 9 and 10 show two different codings as a function of a special preparation's data of the symbols that produce the active components in this special preparation and are applied to the card corresponding to this special preparation's respective addresses.

EXAMPLE 10. Figs. 11 and 12 show two different codings as a function of a special device's data, of symbols that represent the interactions, i.e. the relationship signs defined in the main patent and the additions thereto.

As mentioned above, the interactions between the special preparations' active components depend on their data, i.e. their vegetable forms, the dosages, the routes of administration and the prescription conditions.

For example, as a possible interaction as a function of the vegetable form, glucocorticoids can be mentioned, which, if used as a cream whose binder is penetrating, are able to interact with the active components of a special preparation taken through the usual route, while these interactions will not occur with a non-penetrating binder.

Concerning interactions as a function of the dosage used, an example can be mentioned of aspirin as in weak doses, i.e. in the ratio of 0.5 to 1.5 grams per day, increases the accumulation of uric acid in the blood by blocking the emptying of uric acid through the urinary tract. In this case, one must avoid combining the intake of aspirin in small doses at the same time with doses of conventional uric acid driving, urine forming agents.

In strong doses, on the other hand, i.e. over 3 grams per day, aspirin has a uric acid driving effect, so that the interactions with the special preparations that include uric acid driving agents are no longer to be feared. As an example of interaction as a function of the route of intake, one can mention the case of products from the class of injectable penicillins such as ampicillin, methicellin , etc., which when ingested in the same syringe or perfusion fluid inactivate aminoglycosides such as kanamycin or gentamycin.

When, on the other hand, these are administered separately or through different routes, e.g. one intravenously and the other intramuscularly, the inactivation is no longer present.

As an example of interaction as a function of the medication prescription, and especially of the time table determined by the prescriber, one can mention the case of PAS which, if absorbed in conjunction with isoniazid, counteracts the digestive absorption of this, while this effect disappears when the intake times for each active main component is displaced.

Consequently, the possible interactions of the main active ingredients in a special preparation with those in other special preparations can be a function of what is called in the present description the properties of the special preparations, as this expression includes all the factors of the type described above for example.

Following improvements, the symbolic signs are coded as a function of the properties of the special preparation to which they refer.

Thus, one can, e.g. on the card for a special preparation comprising ampicillin in injectable form, code the circle which is applied to the address reserved for ampicillin and whose color characterizes this, with part of the circle being colored with a different colour, with this differently colored part of the circle meaning that in injectable form, the possible interactions with certain active components of the type aminoglycosides are a function of simultaneous administration from the same syringe.

The meaning of the coding can be specified on the card header next to the name of the special preparation as described above.

In the same way, the symbolic signs in the relationship code can be coded, reserving a part of the segments with colors that refer to the interactions, this segment part having a different color as a function of the special preparation's property in question.

In the same way, you can use the two concentric circles or two parallel lines (fig. 10 and 12) if you want to indicate on the one hand the interactions of an active main ingredient with the other active main ingredients, and on the other hand the variations in these interactions with one or more properties of the special preparations containing them.

Of course, the coding described above is only given as a non-limiting example, as this coding is nevertheless particularly satisfactory in that it is simple and easy to read and does not increase the acquisition price. upon pressing.

EXAMPLE 11. On the other hand, a brief description has been given above of special pharmaceutical preparations based on a matrix in which each line comprises 50 abscissas.

Furthermore, it has been shown that the addresses for the active components can be divided into fields corresponding to the families of the active components.

Finally, the possibility of reserving fields for side effects has been mentioned, e.g. by, for each line corresponding to the main active ingredients, reserving the abscissas 1 to 3 on which circular arcs of identical color are applied as for the active components, as these circular arcs correspond to the side effects, i.e. that they indicate that the mentioned active components belong to other families .

According to a variant which is particularly advantageous with regard to the scientific nature of the invention, the common matrix can consist of three areas in which the fields corresponding to the families of the active components are grouped.

These three areas preferably have columns of the same height, i.e. comprising the same number of ordinates.

The first area preferably consists of lines comprising 25 abscissas, with one abscissa reserved for the side effects, 20 abscissas reserved for symbolic signs for the active components that exist and their interactions, and 4 abscissas reserved for new components that may appear later.

The second area consists of lines with 15 abscissas, of which one abscissa for the side effects, 11 abscissas for the existing active components, and 3 for new components, while the third area has lines with 10 abscissas, of which one for the side effects, 7 for the existing active components and 2 for new components. This distribution allows a better classification and a better scientific representation of the common matrix thanks to the multiplication of the lines.

In the same way, it may be of interest to use, not just a matrix whose elements are arranged according to lines or columns, thereby risking that e.g. the end of the lines or the column is not used, but to distribute the classes or subclasses of active components in sequence one after the other as the sentences in the same paragraph, but separating them with a blank space analogous to a punctuation sentence, within which separate characters appear, e.g. those concerning the side effects.

Finally, a special thought has been given briefly regarding each special preparation, and has further mentioned that the device, the method and the apparatus have numerous applications, especially in the medical-pharmacological field.

In order to facilitate the work of the prescribers, especially the doctors, it is advantageous that at least part of the cards in the card collection according to the invention are designed so that each card in this part relates to a class of special preparations that are capable of treating one or a number of specific diseases, or even relate to a specific type of disease.

One can e.g. realize a card concerning diabetics, on which one indicates all incompatibilities and interactions of the active components with this type of disease.

During the doctor's writing of a prescription for a special preparation for a diabetic, it is sufficient to superimpose the card that

I I

refers to diabetes with the cards relating to the prescribed special preparations or a group of special preparations so that the doctor is made aware of possible incompatibilities.

In the same way, cards can be established concerning the sick person himself

and his characteristics (age, sex, constitutional or acquired syndromes, etc.) which, when superimposed on the other briefly concerning drugs, groups of drugs or diseases, allow the elimination of dangerous treatments and to guide the prescriber's choice.

Regarding the materialization of the marks and addresses, it is clear that one can always encode them directly or indirectly, and then either digitally or analogically, especially as regards the marks as far as analogy is concerned, as underlined above. This can show the advantage of allowing the formation of matrix sorts in three dimensions with the possibility of superimposing a set of data or properties, or more generally of a table or superimposition list that provides all the information that is characteristic of each of the studied comparison elements .

Regarding the realization of the substrates according to the invention, there are a certain number of techniques that allow simplification of the manufacture, e.g. numerous drugs interfere with the antibiotics, and one can then assume that the entire field on each substrate that is reserved for antibiotics if one refers to example 1 can be one color, which is easier to read and very clearly and in a particularly easy way allows indicate an interference with the products that materialize with a whole family of addresses. Conversely, the substrates that correspond to different antibiotics can be provided with large incompatibility fields corresponding to product families that are incompatible with antibiotics.

As shown above, the present invention finds its application, among other things, in the medical or pharmaceutical field where the detection of interactions or incompatibilities is of fundamental importance to the doctor when writing the prescription and its implementation by the pharmacist, but a specialist can find numerous other applications in very different areas without modifying the content of the invention, e.g. in agriculture for the selection of fertilizers which

J

function of soil and breeding, or in general in any area where at least two elements have to work together and where the interactions are sought or avoided, as well as in the area of human, animal or vegetable nutrition, and as general

equal rule in all the areas where relationship characteristics between

elements can be detected.

Claims (56)

1. Device for determining the nature of relationships between data characteristic of a unit or a group of different units and data characteristic of another unit or another group of different units belonging to the same data collection, comprising a sub-base corresponding to each unit or group of units, each sub-base being organized by means of an address system, characterized in that on the sub-base corresponding to each unit or group of different units , at each address corresponding to the data characteristic of the other units or groups of different units, apply one or more signs indicating the nature of the relationship between the data characteristic of the unit or groups of different units corresponding to the substrate and the data that is characteristic of the other units or other groups of units in the data collection. 2. Device as specified in claim 1, characterized in that at the addresses corresponding to the data which are characteristic of the unit or group of units corresponding to said substrate, different characters are applied for this characteristic data. 3. Device as stated in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that all the different signs correspond to marks as a function of the nature of the relationship. IN 4. Device as specified in one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that all the different characters are materialized in coded form. 5. Device as specified in one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the address system has two dimensions and that the collection of addresses/labels has at least three dimensions. 6. Device as set forth in one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the various signs consist of symbols divided into several fields, each corresponding to a dimensional series of marks. 7. Device as set forth in one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the symbols are materialized by means of colored characters that reproduce a predetermined code. 8. Procedure for implementing the device according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that one explores the bases that correspond to the data or groups of data whose properties one wants to compare, and in that one, address by address and brand by brand, compares the characters that may coincide. 9. Method as stated in claim 8, characterized in that the exploration address by address is simultaneous. 10. Procedure as specified in claim 8, characterized in that the exploration address by address is carried out in sequence. 11. Method as set forth in any one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that the brand-by-brand exploration is simultaneous. 12. Method as set forth in any of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that the exploration is carried out brand by brand in sequence. 13. Procedure as specified in claim 8, character i- cert by allowing the bases to be compared to coincide, so that the homologous addresses are superimposed on each other. 14. Application of the device and the method according to one of claims 1 to 9 for searching for relational properties of the type of interactions in the area of medical prescriptions. 15. Device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, and used for the determination of interactions between active ingredients and components of special preparations, comprising a separate card for each special preparation or each active component, each card being arranged using a common address system for all cards, characterized by the fact that each card includes a request for a common matrix on which an address is assigned to each active component to be taken into account, each symbolic character, for each component corresponding to the card, indicating the corresponding address, a series of coded symbolic characters, in whole or in part, for the other addresses of the common matrix , indicates any interactions between the components that correspond to the card and those that correspond to said other addresses. 16.A wiring as stated in claim 15, characterized in that the cards consist of magnetic cards. 17. Device as specified in claim 15, characterized in that the cards are transparent. 18.A arrangement as stated in one of claims 15 to 17, characterized in that the cards are rectangular. 19. Device as stated in one of claims 15 to 18, characterized in that the matrix is rectangular and in that it is in an identical position from one card to the other, so that it can coincide with the cards when superimposed. 20. Device as specified in one of claims 15 to 19, characterized in that the active components' addresses are divided into fields corresponding to the active components' "families". 121.A system as specified in claim 20, characterized in that each line on the matrix corresponding to a given ordinate I is associated with a family of active main components. 22.A code according to one of claims 17 to 21, characterized in that when a card corresponds to a special preparation comprising several main active ingredients, the symbolic signs corresponding to each component have a color specific to said component. 23.A arrangement as stated in claim 22, characterized in that colors are distributed to the components that are applied to the same card according to a code that corresponds to the sequence, in the enumeration of components that are applied to said card. 24. Device as specified in one of claims 15 to 23, characterized1 in that the first symbolic sign corresponding to to the address of the component itself, a circle is centered on the intersection of the matrix that corresponds to the address. 25. Device as stated in claim 24, characterized in that said circle's diameter is at most equal to the distance between two consecutive intersection points on the common matrix. 26. Device as stated in one of claims 22 to 25, characterized in that the other symbolic signs corresponding to the interactions are segments of a straight line centered on said intersections, and whose length mainly corresponds to the diameter of said circles and whose direction corresponds to a predetermined code. 27. Device as stated in one of claims 15 to 26, characterized in that at least one address field on the matrix is reserved for side effects. 28. Device as specified in claim 27, characterized in that the addresses of said fields are reserved to indicate that the components, in addition to their own addresses, may belong to other families. In i 29. Device as specified in one of claims 27 or 28, characterized in that the said reserved fields are located in the immediate vicinity of the fields that correspond to the addresses of the active components in the said family. 30.A coding as specified in claims 27 to 29, characterized in that in each of the aforementioned reserved fields, each component is represented by a character with the color chosen for the component in question. 31. Device as specified in one of claims 22 to 30, characterized in that other addresses are reserved environmental conditions for patients to be treated, and corresponding interactions and side effects. 32.A regulation as specified in claim 31, characterized by the fact that certain addresses are reserved for products of the type beverages, foodstuffs, tobacco and analogues, or their components as well as corresponding interactions and side effects. 33. Device as set forth in one of claims 31 or 32, characterized in that certain addresses are reserved for modifications to the biological analyzes and paraclinical samples. 34.A arrangement as specified in one of claims 31 to 33, characterized in that other addresses are reserved for the patient's characteristic features. 35. Device as specified in one of claims 31 to 34, characterized in that side effects are reserved for other addresses. 36. Device as specified in one of claims 27 to 35, characterized in that symbolic signs for the side effects of the components corresponding to the card in question are applied to the address in the reserved fields. 37.A arrangement as specified in one of claims 27 to 35, characterized in that the symbolic signs consist of simple geometric motifs. IN 38. Device as specified in one of claims 27 to 37, characterized in that the symbolic characters consist of pictorial characters and letters of the alphabet. 39. Device as specified in claims 15 to 38, characterized in that the symbolic characters are coded as a function of the properties of the relevant special preparation. 40. Device as stated in claim 39, characterized in that the code for the symbolic characters is a function of the pharmaceutical form of the relevant special preparation. 41. Device as stated in claim 39 or 40, characterized in that the code for the symbolic characters is a function of the special dosage of the relevant special preparation's active components. 42. Device as stated in any one of claims 39 to 41, characterized in that the code for the symbolic characters is a function of the route of administration for the relevant special preparation. 43. Device as stated in any one of claims 39 to 42, characterized in that the code for the symbolic characters is a function of the dosage of the relevant special preparation. 44. Device as specified in claim 43, characterized in that the dosage includes indication of simultaneous or non-simultaneous intakes of the relevant special preparation with the intakes of other special preparations. 45. Device as set forth in any one of claims 39 to 44, in which the coded symbolic characters are the first symbolic character corresponding to the address of each active component in the special preparation, this first symbolic character being a circle centered on the intersection of the matrix which corresponds to the said address, the circle having a specific color for the said component, characterized in that a part of this circle has a color different from the specific color for the said component, this part of the circle being defined as a function of the relevant special preparation properties. in 46. Device as stated in any one of claims 39 to 44, in which the symbolic characters are the first symbolic character corresponding to the address of each active component in the relevant special preparation, this first symbolic character comprising a circle centered on the intersection of the matrix that corresponds to said address, this first circle having a color of its own for said component, characterized in that another circle centered as the first circle but with a diameter at most equal to the diameter of the first circle, includes at least a part with a different color from the own color for the said component, this circle part being defined as a function of the properties of the special preparation in question. 47. A device as set forth in any one of claims 39 to 46, in which the coded symbolic characters are those corresponding to the interactions, these symbolic characters being segments of a straight line centered on said points of intersection and the length of which substantially corresponds to that of said circles diameter and the direction of which corresponds to a predetermined code, characterized in that part of the line segment has a color different from the color specific to the said component, the segment being defined as a function of the properties of the special preparation in question. 48. Device as set forth in any one of claims 39 to 47, in which the coded symbolic characters are those corresponding to the interactions, these symbolic characters being the first line segments with a particular color for said component centered on said intersections, and if length mainly corresponds to the diameter of the circles and the direction of which corresponds to a predetermined code, characterized in that other segments in parallel with the first segments have an analogous length comprising at least one part with a color different from the specific color of the said component, this part of the segment is defined as a function of the properties of the relevant special preparation. 49. Device as specified in any one of claims 39 to j48, in which the active components' addresses are divided into fields corresponding to the families of the active components, characterized in that the common matrix j for the card collection includes several areas that divide all fields corresponding to the families of the active components. 50.A coding as stated in claim 49, characterized in that each area of the matrix includes an address field reserved for the side effects. 51.A code as stated in claim 50, characterized in that the addresses for the mentioned fields which are reserved for the side effects indicate that the components, in addition to their own address, may belong to other families. 52. Device as stated in claim 51, characterized in that the symbolic signs for the side effects of the components corresponding to the card are imposed on the addresses for the aforementioned reserved fields. 5 3.A arrangement as stated in any of claims 39 to 52, characterized in that at least part of the cards are such that each card in this part relates to a class of special preparations or active components. 54.A system as stated in any of claims 39 to 53, characterized in that at least part of the cards is such that this part relates to a collection of special preparations or active components capable of treating a specific disease. 55.A system as set forth in any of claims 39 to 52, characterized in that at least part of the cards are such that each card in this part relates to a collection of special preparations or active components capable of treating a number of specific diseases . 56. Device as stated in any one of claims 39 to 52, characterized in that at least one part of the cards is such that each card in this part relates to a specific type of patient.