CytoCare Eliminates Human Handling of Hazardous IV Medications

US Pharm. 2009;34(2):42.

Technicians and pharmacists face severe exposure risks to hazardous, toxic agents while manually compounding chemotherapy drugs. Inhalation, ingestion, and skin contact related to drug handling and needlesticks can be extremely harmful.

CytoCare is the world's first and only automated robotic system for the safe preparation of hazardous, patient-specific cancer therapy medications and IV admixtures. Through the effective, efficient production of sterile, accurate, and ready-to-administer IVs, CytoCare greatly decreases life-threatening medication errors and contamination risks, increases throughput, and reduces waste. Manufactured by Health Robotics and ISO Class-5 certified, CytoCare is exclusively licensed and distributed in North America and the Caribbean Islands by Devon Robotics, a Devon International Group company (www.devonrobotics.com; 610-755-4958).

The CytoCare workflow process is as follows: Pharmacists plan the preparation cycle at the managing station (CytoCare's software features HL7 integration with hospital pharmacy systems). The CytoCare unit is loaded with proper drugs and final containersan IV bag, a syringe, or a drug vial. A laser barcode scanner identifies the drugs and determines proper dosage. A six-axis robotic arm then removes excess solutions, weighs IV solutions for accuracy, and mixes the drugs. Powdered drugs are reconstituted and drugs are mixed by single-use syringes to prevent cross-contamination. All toxic wastes are safely discarded, and air curtains with four HEPA filters ingest contaminated airflow.

Dose accuracy is checked by three independent systems: encoders on the syringe driving mechanism, laser meters measuring syringe plunger positions in real-time, and precision scale measuring of the prepared drugs ensure accuracy. Final syringes, IV bags, or drug vials are unloaded and ready to administer to patients. An automatic hazardous waste management system eliminates exposure to toxic wastes, and unused drugs are also unloaded and available for reuse.