Jerry Fahrni

Category: Cool Technology

  • Cool Pharmacy Technology–RevVac Syringe

    I suppose this could really be cool tech for nursing or lab, but I thought it was worth having a deeper look.

    The ReVac Retracting Safety Syring by Revolutions Medical “use a proprietary patented technology in which a vacuum causes the needle to retract into the barrel of the syringe or device after an injection is administered or blood is drawn.”

    According to the Revolutions Medical website “[t]he RevVac™ Safety Syringe and Phlebotomy (blood drawing) Device operate the same as a standard syringe and device. No additional training, skills, or procedures are necessary. The both products work on a vacuum principle, where pressing the plunger in them creates a vacuum. When the plunger reaches the bottom, the needle is captured. A further push on the plunger breaks the seal, and the needle retracts into the plunger barrel. The vacuum is maintained, so the needle cannot be removed from the plunger.”

  • Augmented reality for chemists [video]

    Boing Boing: “In a very cool video from Chemical and Engineering News, Art Olson of the Scripps Research Institute explains how chemists in his lab can predict how well the drugs they develop will work.

    Olson’s lab prints 3D models of molecular structures, both targets—like the HIV protease enzyme in the video—and the drugs they’ve made to bond to those targets. The models are rigged up so that when Olson holds them in front of a webcam, they instantly interact with chemical analysis software his team has built. The result is a system that allows researchers to see, physically, how well the drugs fit their targets, and simultaneously test how well the two are likely to bond on a chemical level.”

    A 3D printed molecule with augmented reality! This is downright awesome. There’s no other way to say it. Drug development will never be the same. The only question I have is… where can I get one for myself?

  • Pocket-sized drug detection

    gizmag: “The researchers say that real time date rape drug detection has been impossible until now because of the lack of a sensor sensitive enough to detect the drugs. Adding to the difficulty of proving the presence of such drugs is that after a few hours they become undetectable in the human bloodstream.

    The system they [Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences] developed works on simple optics principles, says Professor Fernando Patolsky. Although date rape drugs are colorless and odorless when mixed into a cocktail, they do subtly change the optical properties of the drink and it is this change that the new sensor detects. When a ray of light comes into contact with a drugged drink, a "signal change" occurs and the sensor sounds an alarm. A commercial version of the sensor could emit a beeping noise or a small flashing light for use in the dark and loud environment of a bar or club.”

    Pretty cool stuff with a practical application. Let’s hope it’s easily portable, simple to use and dirt cheap. Kind of reminds me of a technologically advanced refractometer.

  • Cool Technology for Pharmacy – PharmASSIST OPTIx

    ThomasNet News: “PharmASSIST OPTIx enables remote prescription verification by taking a high-resolution image of each prescription’s vial contents and vial label, and automatically displaying them on a designated pharmacist’s workstation. The pharmacist compares these images to the appropriate drug image from a standardized drug database, along with specific prescription details to complete the verification. The verifying pharmacist can be stationed anywhere – in the front of the pharmacy counseling patients or offsite at another pharmacy, a central processing center, or working from a home office. PharmASSIST OPTIx stores each prescription’s images as part of the patient history record, enabling pharmacies to quickly retrieve them for pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) audits and to confirm the quantity dispensed.

    Pharmacies can use PharmASSIST OPTIx in stand-alone mode or integrated with Innovation’s PharmASSIST Symphony® workflow systems, which enables end-to-end prescription tracking, problem management, and reporting. In addition to processing a pharmacy’s countable medications, PharmASSIST OPTIx handles all non-countable products (e.g., ointments/creams, liquids, syringes, inhalers, etc.) for prescription filling and remote verification. The system can also assist pharmacies with physical inventory control.”

    It reminds me of a non-cleanroom version of DoseEdge.

    Additional automation is needed for it to be a real game changer, but it’s still pretty cool technology. It would be slick if the person filling the prescription never had to touch the product and the end result could be remotely verified.

    Product website here.

    OPTIx brochure (PDF).

  • Cool Pharmacy Technology–Apoteca

    I have a soft spot for robotics, especially for IV preparation. I’m not quite sure that pharmacy is ready to fully embrace the idea, but we’re well on our way.

    APOTECAchemo is an IV preparation robot modeled in the image of i.v.STATION. Prior to yesterday I had not heard of APOTECA. Fortunately someone visiting my site left me a link to the U.S. website. The site contains limited information with the exception of the video below. However, a quick internet search led me to the Loccioni Humancare website where I was able to find additional information.

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  • Revisiting the idea of Shareable Ink

    EMR and HIPAA: “The interesting thing about Shareable Ink is that they provide such an interesting middle ground between a technical solution and continuation of paper. I remember about 5 years ago when I heard someone describe the perfect clinical documentation system. It was completely flexible. Required little to no training. Supported every possible documentation style. etc etc etc. Then, they acknowledged that what was being described was the paper chart. It was then that I recognized that while EMR can provide some benefits that paper charts can’t provide, paper charts also had some advantages that would be difficult to provide using an EMR.

    I think this background is why I found the Shareable Ink approach to documentation so fascinating. I really see it as an interesting way to try and capture the benefits of granular data elements and electronic capture of the data while still enjoying the benefits of paper.

    My simplified explanation of the Shareable Ink technology is as follows. You print out a form that you want to use for the patient visit. Each page that’s printed out has a unique background (although it just looks like a colored page to the naked eye). When you use the Shareable Ink pen to write on the printed out page, the pen uses a camera to record what you wrote on that page and where you wrote it. Then, once you sync the pen it recreates the document you wrote on in the system.”
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  • Cool Pharmacy Technology – Codonics SLS Safe Label System

    Labeling syringes has always been difficult for anesthesiologists in the OR. It must be because they never seem to get it right. If you don’t believe me, just look at the image below. These drugs were found during routine inspection of an OR suite. Well that’s all changed now with the Codonics SLS Safe Label System.
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  • Cool pharmacy technology – StoreRx

    It’s not often that I take note of pharmacy technology designed for the outpatient setting, but I had to make an exception when I came across the StoreRx robotic prescription storage system by ARX.

    What little outpatient pharmacy I remember, keeping track of patient prescriptions once filled was always a headache. I’ve seen several systems designed to make use of hanging bags like the WillCallRx system by TGCRx (PDF), but I never like the bag system; not sure why. However the StoreRx robot uses a different system altogether.

    Unfortunately for you and me, I couldn’t find a video of the StoreRx system in action anywhere on the internet. That’s a real bummer as I’d like to see it doing its thing.

    According to the ARX website:

    StoreRX is the most space efficient way of storing your customer’s prescriptions inside a robot. It enables accurate tracking of completed prescriptions, which is ideal for prescriptions with several bags and also for monitoring those which have not been collected.

    The white and brown medium grade e-flute cardboard boxes come in 2 different sizes, large and small. Both are easily recognised and efficiently stored by the robot. The StoreRX boxes are fully recyclable and bio degradable, but of course, these robust boxes can be re-used again and again.

    Prescriptions can be stored and located using the patient name, as opposed to looking up the required packs, making the prescriptions easier to locate during busier periods.

    Other outpatient pharmacy will-call systems can be found here.

  • Cool Technology for Pharmacy – Sharp SX Bagger

    Some items in a pharmacy are simply difficult to bar-code. Perhaps they’re too small, have an awkward shape or their surface won’t accommodate ink or an adhesive. The problem creates some interesting workarounds, and not always for the better.

    One solution is to individually package each item and place the drug information and a bar-code on the outside of the packaging material; overwrapping, if you will. I’ve never been a big fan of overwrapping items because it can be time consuming and cumbersome. Today I ran across a machine that I think offers a genuine option for medications that are difficult to bar-code.
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  • Cool Technology for Pharmacy – Pentapack HP500

    There really aren’t too many machines out there designed to unit dose liquids on a scale small enough for the needs of an acute care pharmacy in a hospital. So when I came across the Pentapack HP500 in the ASHP Midyear exhibit hall I took notice. As demonstrated at ASHP Midyear, the machine is capable of unit dosing both oral solids and oral liquid medications. That’s rather unique functionality that deserves some attention.

    Unfortunately the Pentapack website is void of useful information, which is really a shame because the HP500 is a neat little device.
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