Medical Packaging

The POWERWAND (from Access Scientific Inc., San Diego), an extended-dwell peripheral IV catheter (PIV), substantially outperforms other catheters in both patient satisfaction and safety, according to a presentation at the recent annual meeting of the Infusion Nurses Society (INS).

The presentation was by Teresa Darst, RN, Director of Vascular Access at Huguley Memorial Medical Center. Huguley (Burleson, Texas) was the first hospital in the nation to fully implement the new technology.

Sharps Compliance Corp. and Daniels Sharpsmart Inc. recently announced they have formed a joint marketing alliance. Sharps is a leading full-service provider of cost-effective mail-back/ship-back solutions designed for the proper management and treatment of medical waste as well as used healthcare products. Daniels is a world-wide leader in sharps containment and medical waste management.

Cardinal Health has launched its complete portfolio of surgical gloves—including the Protexis powder-free surgical gloves and Triflex powdered surgical gloves—in sustainable, half-fold packaging.

MUNDELEIN, Ill. (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Healthcare employees work in a fast-paced environment where even the simplest mistakes can have serious consequences – like accidently using a latex exam glove when the worker or patient has a latex allergy. According to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), 8-12 percent of health care workers are latex sensitive with reactions ranging from irritant contact dermatitis and allergic contact sensitivity, to immediate, possibly life-threatening, sensitivity.

Flow wrapping has gained support as a cost-effective automated alternative for medical device packaging. Vendors including Amcor and Perfecseal have introduced films for device packaging engineered to perform on high-speed flow wrapping machines.
For applications sealing thicker substrates used in device packaging, Bosch Packaging Technology (www.boschpackaging.com) introduced at Pack Expo Las Vegas the Pack 301 LD (long dwell) horizontal flow wrapper. The unit produces up to 150 packs per minute.

We are pleased to announce that three packaging professionals have joined our Editorial Advisory Board:

Michael Forehand, Principal Packaging Engineer, Global Engineering and Technology, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals;

Dan Penny, Director of Packaging Engineering, Cardinal Health;

and Edward M. Dunn, Senior Director Packaging Technology, Merck Manufacturing Division.

Cost-cutting is a frequent task of today's packaging engineer. Pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers are looking to reduce costs wherever they can, so engineers must balance new packaging development with savings-minded product life cycle management.

But how can packaging engineers possibly juggle this increasing workload? Companies must develop a portfolio management process for prioritizing all projects, advises Stephen Birtsas, a manager with global innovation management consultancy Kalypso.

DuPont Medical Packaging has announced plans to modernize the manufacturing technology behind its longest-standing and most-popular styles of Tyvek. The global manufacturer will transition the manufacturing of Tyvek 1073B and Tyvek 1059B to its latest flash-spinning technology and production lines at its Richmond, VA, and Luxembourg facilities. DuPont Tyvek 2FS and Tyvek Asuron are already produced with the new flash-spinning technology on one of the lines.