SAFERamp provides benefits to: PATIENTS—fewer drug administration errors CLINICIANS—Fast, convenient drug preparation; No more glass cuts from bro- ken ampoules and fewer needle injuries PHARMA—Brand differentiation; drug life management HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS – Lower overall costs due to fewer consumables used (e.g. needles), reduced sharps disposal costs and reduced costs associ- ated with drug administration errors such as insurance and extra bed daysSAFERamp is a new ampoule packaging device that quickly and safely opens a f illed ampoule and automatically labels the syringe drawing up the drug, avoiding drug ad- ministration errors. SAFERamp provides an opportunity for ampoule manufacturers to add value to the traditionally high-volume but low-margin sealed ampoule market. SAFERamp TM For further information please contact: Dr Maher Khaled [email protected]+44 (0)1223 760339 Cambridge Enterprise Limited, University of Cambridge Hauser Forum, 3 Charles Babbage Road, Cambridge CB3 0GT, UK www.enterprise.cam.ac.uk
CLINICIANS—Fast, convenient drug preparation; No more glass cuts from bro-ken ampoules and fewer needle injuries
PHARMA—Brand differentiation; drug life management
HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS – Lower overall costs due to fewer consumablesused (e.g. needles), reduced sharps disposal costs and reduced costs associ-ated with drug administration errors such as insurance and extra bed days
SAFERamp is a new ampoule packaging device that quickly and safely opens a filled
ampoule and automatically labels the syringe drawing up the drug, avoiding drug ad-ministration errors. SAFERamp provides an opportunity for ampoule manufacturersto add value to the traditionally high-volume but low-margin sealed ampoule market.
Over 10 000 drug administration errors are re-ported every year in the UK alone, with thousandsmore errors potentially going unreported. Theseerrors can result in severe patient harm and insome cases even death (e.g. 25 deaths reportedin 2006 in the UK). Drug administration errors arealso associated with significant costs to healthcare providers, in terms of extra bed days, admini-stration costs and potential litigation.
Syringe mislabelling is a common cause of drugadministration error, especially in the stressful en-vironment of operating theatres.
The SAFERamp Solution
Dr Daniel Wheeler, an anaesthetist in the Univer-sity’s Department of Medicine, conceived of SAFERamp as a device to automatically label asyringe while withdrawing a drug from a glass am-poule, eliminating the possibility of syringe misla-belling errors. A large labelling area allows thedrug name, type and dose and the manufacturer’sbrand to be clearly displayed.
SAFERamp allows the clinician to quickly andeasily open an ampoule while retaining the brokenglass within the device. This reduces the problemof glass cuts encountered during conventionalampoule opening. An integrated nozzle avoidsthe need to use a needle to draw up the drug.
Other features incorporated into SAFERamp in-clude:
a 5 m particulate filter that keeps the medica-tion entering into the syringe sterile and freefrom small shards of glass
A special nozzle tip that stops bubbles fromentering into the syringe—a common problemwith drawing up a drug using a needle
an integrated cap on the label ring, so that af-ter the drug has been drawn up, the syringecan be capped until ready for use, protectingagainst contamination.
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snap-locks that secure the mechanism inplace, preventing re-use. These snap-locksalso trap all broken glass in the device, mean-ing that SAFERamp can be disposed of ingeneral clinical waste instead of taking up
valuable sharps bin space with empty am-poules and needles.
Manufacture
SAFERamp consists of only 3 simple polypropyl-ene parts and has been designed to be easilymanufactured and assembled. SAFERamp canbe supplied by ampoule manufacturers in a con-ventional sterile pouch to maintain sterility.
Commercialisation
We are actively seeking partners to help us bring
SAFERamp to market.
A proof-of-concept prototype device has beenmade and detailed 3D CAD designs have beengenerated for tooling for an initial production runof devices for field-testing.
SAFERamp is protected by a priority UK patentapplication.
Sealed ampoule
Label ring:This part transfers tothe syringe automati-cally upon openingthe ampoule
Aspirator : This part opensthe ampoule andinserts a nozzleinto the open top
