Jerry Fahrni

Category: Cool Technology

  • Cool Pharmacy Tech – Phocus Rx

    Ever heard of Phocus Rx? Neither had I until a couple of days ago when my boss sent me a link to this story about Children’s Hospital Los Angeles receiving Phocus Rx as a charitable donation.

    Phocus Rx is camera system used in pharmacy clean rooms to document and validate the IV compounding process. It consists of two compact 5 megapixel cameras mounted outside the hood in the clean room ceiling or on articulated arm and workflow management software. That’s quite a departure from the other systems I’ve seen where the camera sits in the hood. In addition Phocus Rx includes the obligatory image capture that allows pharmacists to remotely review the compounding process. Pretty cool stuff.

    By my count we now have four of these systems on the market, including PHOCUS Rx. Getting pretty crowded in there. Although I have to say that DoseEdge is far and away the most talked about of the IV workflow management systems on the market today. I’d love to play with them side by side to compare features and functionality.

    The other systems that I’m aware of include:

    From the PHOCUS Rx website:

    PHOCUS Rx is a powerful camera verification system combining hardware and software. It enables pharmacists and technicians to remotely document and validate the preparation of IV drugs. Two ultra compact 5 megapixel cameras are located outside the hood in the clean room ceiling or on articulated arm. Bi-directional communication software enables pharmacists to review high resolution images and validate or send a warning message.

    FEATURES

    • scalable and modular system
    • non invasive – no wires or devices in hood
    • server located outside compounding area
    • validate and store images
    • barcode recognition
    • based on client/server structure
    • simple workflow screens
    • historical and activity reports

  • Cool Pharmacy Tech – T-Haler

    The T-Haler is a training device developed by Cambridge Consultants to help asthma patients learn how to use their inhalers. Why is this such a cool piece of technology? Because patients invariably do a crapy job using their inhalers.

    I used to ask asthma patients to demonstrate how they used their inhalers, and I was almost always disappointed by what I saw. Most patients don’t understand how to properly use these simple little devices, which ultimately leads to treatment problems, and in worst case scenarios poor control of their asthma.  This is especially true in pediatric patients. Asthma education was a big part of the pharmacist’s job when I worked in a pediatric hospital.

    From the Cambridge Consultants site:

    Cambridge Consultants developed the T-Haler concept, a simple training device. Interactive software, linked to a wireless training inhaler, monitors how a patient uses their device and provides real-time feedback via an interactive video ‘game’. T-Haler provides visual feedback to the user on their performance and the areas that need improvement. These tools could help the estimated 235 million asthma sufferers worldwide to get the most from their inhaler, and potentially reduce the millions spent annually on asthma-related emergency room admissions.

    More than 50 healthy participants, aged 18-60, took part in a recent study conducted by Cambridge Consultants to test the efficacy of T-Haler. Before using the training system, the average success rate of the group in using an inhaler correctly was in the low 20% range – in line with numerous other studies carried out. The participants had no prior experience with asthma or inhalers and were given no human instruction beyond being handed the T-Haler and told to begin. The on-screen interface walked the group through the process, which takes just three minutes to complete.

    The T-Haler measures three key factors for proper inhaler use. First, whether the patient has shaken the inhaler prior to breathing in; second, the force with which they breathed in; third, when they pressed down on the canister (the step which releases the drug). These three variables can determine the efficacy with which drugs are delivered in a real metered dose inhaler (MDI) device.

    As healthcare trends toward a focus on preventive care and devices which offer greater consumer appeal and compliance, innovations such as the T-Haler may soon become the norm in doctors’ offices, pharmacies and clinics.

  • RFID technology to monitor football players to prevent overheating on the field

    This is simply cool. There’s no other way to put it.

    Barcode.com: “On the football field, for example, heat prostration has led to several fatalities over the past few years. The problem starts during pre-season practices that take place under the intense summer sun. Identec has already developed a headband with an embedded heat-sensing chip. The RFID chips embedded in helmets developed by HotHead Technologies, combine RFID with a heat-sensing thermistor, offering plenty of range.”

    From the hotheads technology website:

    The H.O.T. System is a patent-pending, two-component package that embeds a heat sensing unit inside the helmet of an individual and collects and relays periodic temperature readings from that person’s skin to a portable data collector (A ruggedized PDA or Laptop Computer). The portable device is used to alert the individual or an observer that the person has exceeded an allowable temperature while the subject’s helmet is on.

    If skin temperature ranges outside of the set parameters then the data collector will alert the sensor unit in the helmet to take temperature readings at a faster rate. The alert will be displayed on the data collector so the operator of the data collector can make a decision on whether to stop the current activity and seek to receive further observation from a professional and take measures to cool their temperature down. The alert will be automatically removed from the data collector as soon as the skin temperature falls back into the normal parameters.

    There’s also a short video that shows the basic idea here.

  • Cool Pharmacy Technology–KitCheck

    Anyone that’s ever worked in an acute care pharmacy knows about med trays, code trays, transport boxes, intubation kits, etc. They’re a bit of a headache because all the medications inside each kit has to be manually manipulated and tracked, including the dreaded lot number and expiration date of everything in the trays.

    Well, KitCheck is a system that uses RFID technology to track the medications found in all those different med trays, code boxes, etc. I thought it was pretty cool. It’s a great idea. Wish I would have thought of it.

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  • Cool Pharmacy Technology – ZiuZ Inspector

    The ZiuZ Inspector – or is it the Foresee Inspector – is an interesting system designed to inspect the contents of unit dose packages produced by high-speed unit dose packagers. I don’t think there’s much need for this in most acute care pharmacy operations here in the U.S. because we don’t unit dose enough tablets and/or capsules to make it worth while, but I do think it may have potential in some long-term care pharmacies using a central dispensing model. Who knows, that’s not really my area of expertise.
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  • Cool Pharmacy Technology – Eyecon Pill Counter

    1. Scan the bottle
    2. Pour the tablets onto the Eyecon Pill Counter counting platter. The Eyecon Pill Counter uses “Machine vision technology” to count the tablets.
    3. Package the tablets

    That’s pretty simple. Sure beats the heck out of counting the tablets by hand. 5…10…15…20….

    More information on the Eyecon Pill Counter can be found here.

  • Cool Pharmacy Technology–DAP Personal Med Manager

    I came across the HealthOneMed Dispense-A-Pill (DAP) Personal Medication Manager while surfing the ‘net one afternoon earlier this week. It’s basically a miniature ADU with pie-shaped wedge slots for personal medications. I thought it was pretty slick.

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  • Cool Pharmacy Technology – Demolizer II

    imageI’m at the MEDICA World Forum for Medicine in Düsseldorf Germany this week. While I haven’t seen much in the way of pharmacy related products, I did come across something that I thought was pretty cool. The brochure I grabbed said it was the “Sharps Waste Eliminator” by GMP (Global Medi Products). However when I went to the GMP website for more information I couldn’t find mention of it anywhere. A little creative Googling led me to the BMTS Corp site where I found the device I was looking for. Someone should have a talk with the marketing folks at GMP. Just sayin’.

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  • Accurate Assessment of Adherence (man vs. machine) [abstract]

    A recent article in Chest1 demonstrates the value of electronic data collection in medication adherence. In this case it was inhalation therapy in cystic fibrosis patients. This type of article is important as we consider the future of electronic health records and where the data for such records should come. Remember, people are notoriously unreliable historians while computers don’t lie.

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  • Cool Football Technology

    technology review:

    Dan Garza, assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery at the Stanford School of Medicine, and his team recently completed a study of the mouth guards using crash-test dummies, and  plan to publish the data soon…

    Garza believes that the mouth guards may turn out to be more accurate than helmets because they don’t shift as much during impact. They also read forces inside the skull more closely, and they’re cheaper…. The Stanford studies will collect data from the mouthpieces as well as video of plays, when available, and clinical information about players’ injuries. 

    Seriously, how cool is that. Leave it to Stanford – yes that wonderful school just up the road from where I live – to make science fun. How can you go wrong applying science to football?

    You can read more about impact sensing mouthguards at the X2IMPACT website here.