UniDose - Robot Dispenser for Nuclear Medicine
UniDose for Nuclear Medicine
RescueDose has developed a reliable, fast and efficient, small scale automatic liquid medical dispensing machine for Nuclear Medicine, the UniDose.
The UniDose provides a solution for dispensing accurate doses of radioisotopes in safe, sterile, radiation-protected syringes with high accuracy and without the need for technician contact. The UniDose carries out the actions required for the preparation of the dose, including substances withdrawing, lowering the syringe into the nuclear dose calibrator and placing it into the tungsten shielding case. The uniqueness of the UniDose is in its simplicity. While other solutions may require changing work methods or the entire filling environment, the UniDose is a small and compact robot that may be assembled at any pharmacist working station on the existing infrastructure.
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According to the European Medicines Agency, “Medication errors” are unintentional errors in the prescribing, dispensing, administration or monitoring of a medicine while under the control of a healthcare professional, patient or consumer. They are the most common single preventable cause of adverse events in medication practice.
Both health workers and patients can make mistakes that result in severe harm, such as ordering, prescribing, dispensing, preparing, administering or consuming the wrong medication or the wrong dose at the wrong time. However, all medication errors are potentially avoidable.
Preventing errors and the harm that results, requires putting systems and procedures in place to ensure the right patient receives the right medication at the right dose via the right route at the right time.
The cost associated with medication errors has been estimated at US$ 42 billion annually or almost 1% of total global health expenditure.
In March 2017 the World Health Organization (WHO) launched a global initiative to reduce severe, avoidable medication-associated errors in all countries by 50% over the next 5 years.
The initiative calls on countries to take early priority action to address these key factors in order to reduce medication errors and harm to patients. It aims to make improvements in each stage of the medication use process including prescribing, dispensing, administering, monitoring and use.
In a multicenter study, Ferner et al, checked systematic medication errors in routine clinical practice. They found that systematic calculation errors occurred in about 5% of cases, and major errors in drawing up in a further 3%, with inadequate mixing in 9%. This indicates that the delivered dose often deviates from the intended dose.
The trend, in the last decade, for improving medication safety in health systems is through innovations in automation technology. As regulatory requirements are increasing and investment in patients’ safety takes high priority, more and more hospitals and pharmacies are searching for computerized solutions to significantly improve the precision and safety of dosages and distribution of medication.
In an article by Chapuis et al, the authors decided to assess the impact of an automated compounding dispensing (ACD) system on the incidence of medication errors related to picking, preparation, and administration of drugs in a medical intensive care unit. Their conclusion showed that the implementation of an automated compounding dispensing (ACD) system reduced overall medication errors related to picking, preparation, and administration of drugs in the intensive care unit. Furthermore, most nurses favored the new drug dispensation organization.
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One of the biggest challenges dealing with toxic and radioactive substances is the radiation exposure of the staff. Maximum radiation exposure to staff occurs during the generator elutions, compounding (kit preparation), and unit-dose dispensing.
Furthermore, higher hand exposure is caused by direct handling and injecting of radiopharmaceuticals.
Current safety measurements include body shielding (which does not protect the hands during manual dispensing), frequent monitoring in the form of bioassays and the use of strict threshold levels. The last two ensure early detection of exposure to radiopharmaceuticals and quick corrective action, however neither can prevent the exposure, when occurs.
RescueDose has developed an automated compounding dispensing (ACD) robot for the preparation and dispensing of liquid medication designed to minimize staff exposure to radiopharmaceuticals and maximize safety.
Key Features:
Full automation of the syringe filling process.
Smart & Compact size fits within any laminar chamber.
High throughput –cycle time < 20 sec.
Supports different syringes, pigs and vials.
Reduced needle wear
High accuracy and repeatability of volume withdrawal.
Options available –prefill, volume adjust, concentration adjust, needle type.
Smart vial shutter for radiation-protected.
Emergency button
