Devices which assist the dispensing of pharmaceutical products serve two purposes. They reduce errors in medical prescribing and address unused or unnecessary medicine waste.

Medtech machines can identify which drugs are connected with which patient. They can also autodispense the correct medication in the right dosage for specific needs. These machines are paving the way to reducing prescription errors.

Electronic advances in atomic force microscopy (AFM) form the cutting edge of pharma tech innovations. They are designed to examine and improve drug delivery systems, such as IVs, and to consider how drugs interact with patients. Sensitive equipment can adjust the behaviour of the drugs or create alerts if the medicine isn’t working or causing harm.

Pharmaceutical drugs can be prescribed or administered. When prescribed in NHS hospitals, an astonishing 85% of prescriptions are written out by junior doctors. On the wards and in the operating theatres, drug delivery systems such as IVs are in use. Here, consultants are more likely to decide rapidly what is needed and how much.

Unfortunately, whenever there is human involvement there is human error and waste. It is clear some pharmaceutical errors could be avoided at the dispensary level through robot pharmacists. These would dispense from accurate input rather than the squiggly doctor’s signature.

Over one billion prescriptions are written each year, and medicine is the most common intervention in any health service. The numbers involved are therefore always going to be huge. The UK is one of the leaders in understanding our error rates in drug administration. It also successfully keeps this rate low in comparison to other countries. Still, there are 237 million errors a year, three quarters of which lead to some harm. In addition, 712 deaths per year are directly caused by medications.

Remember that as recently as 15 years ago, we didn’t have keyhole surgery. Now, robotic arms assist during these operations. Advanced pharmaceutical technology is where Medtech will have the greatest impact. Miniature electronics are looking into nanoparticle drug-delivery systems. They examine the interrelationship between intracellular activity and the function of engineered nanomaterials on a microscopic level.

Much of what is already known concerns nanoparticles and their effects on cells after cellular uptake. However, there is no detailed understanding of whether the outcomes of these interactions may be favourable or not. The positive interactions will lead to improvements in drug delivery. They will also improve the composition of drugs which are prescribed. The end result will be more accurate medicine intervention. It will also bring greater innovations in robots able to administer drugs while connected to the Internet of Things (IoT).

Pharmaceutical companies are moving towards outsourcing R&D in these areas. As a result, there’s much opportunity for EMS to work with innovative Medtech firms on advances in pharmaceutical technology. Working in this area of electronics is likely to produce real improvements for patients. That makes it a rewarding area to work in too.