Pharmaceutical & medical
Improving infusion drug delivery to reduce medical error
Dr. Tracy Brown, head of Life Sciences and Healthcare at TÜV SÜD National Engineering Laboratory discusses how dosing errors, in the drug delivery devices that are used for patient treatment and diagnostics, can be identified and reduced. Dr. Brown explains why metrology is needed to bridge the knowledge gap through the design of a representative multi-infusion system to test how different liquids mix and how this affects drug concentration
microlitre to picolitre range (less than one thousandth of a mL). Its growing application across healthcare and pharmaceutical fields, including drug infusion and organ-on-a-chip (OOAC), is creating demand for increased fundamental understanding of microflows. Infusion is the most common form of
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therapy in a clinical setting. Each day, millions of patients worldwide receive intravenous infusion treatment, e.g. nutrient or electrolyte replacement, anaesthesia, chemotherapy. Its widespread use in critical healthcare settings means infusion errors are often made which can lead to adverse incidents, morbidity and, at worst, prove fatal. Whilst the monitoring of a
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icrofluidics technology provides tools that enable the precise control and manipulation of fluids in the
patient’s vital signs can indicate potential dosing errors, they cannot be relied upon as a means of ensuring safe drug delivery and only indicate the error after it has occurred, i.e. when it is too late. The growing focus on a personalised approach
to healthcare brings with it a commensurate impetus for greater metrological understanding. Precision medicine is expected to change fundamentally the delivery of medical treatments and is predicated on the idea that different sizes of dose can be delivered accurately. The journey towards therapeutic and prophylactic interventions tailored to individuals that take into account their genetic blueprint, environment and lifestyle is underway. Intrinsically, this will necessitate the need for enhanced measurement capability to ensure the accurate dosing of
infusions containing novel complex therapeutics designed to treat niche illnesses. We are part of a consortium of European
National Measurement and Designated Institutes, universities and manufacturers that has embarked upon a three-year project aimed at improving dosing accuracy and enabling the traceable measurement of volume, flow and pressure of drug delivery devices used in infusion therapy. The research project will develop traceable
calibration procedures for medical flow devices such as infusion pumps, down to very challenging low flow rates in the nanolitre (nL) per minute range necessary for infusions in certain patient groups, e.g. neonates. Techniques will be developed for generating and measuring the response or delay time of
January 2021 Instrumentation Monthly
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