The European Association of the Self-Adhesive Label Industry (FINAT) has awarded Schreiner MediPharm’s Smart Blister Card a prize in the prestigious ‘Innovation & Electronic Printing – Electronic Devices’ category. The pack extends standard multi-dose blister packs by a digital adherence monitoring tool, enabling tracking of medication intake in real time.
Polypharmacy is a term used to describe permanent therapies involving the simultaneous prescription of several medications. In our aging societies, that concerns more and more people, says the company. However, complex medication plans do not always make it easy for patients to take the right medicine at the right time, which may have serious consequences. According to estimates, wrong parallel intake of different medicines causes up to 25,000 deaths per year in Germany alone. The Smart Blister Card provides an innovative way of monitoring adherence to the medication regimen.
In the case of polypharmaceutical applications, medicines are frequently filled into standard blister packs by hospital and large pharmacies so that patients can take them according to their medication plans. However, physicians and pharmacies have no way of tracking whether and when patients have taken their medicines. That is possible with the Smart Blister Card because it enables digital medication adherence monitoring. Integrated into blister pack are conductive lines combined with an electronic unit.
As soon as the patient pushes tablets out of a cavity, data is generated in real time such as the exact time of pill removal, the respective cavity, and the dose it contains. The data is stored in the Smart Blister Card and transmitted to a database via a smartphone app or a reader using NFC (Near Field Communication) or Bluetooth technology.
For physicians and pharmacists, the handling of the Smart Blister Card is both convenient and flexible. After filling and sealing the blister pack, the card is simply attached to the back of the pack without impairing the filling process. The technology can be inconspicuously integrated into the packaging design.
The product is suitable for nearly all existing multi-dose and single-dose blister packs and can be adapted to the respective application, according to the company. Thanks to the transparent film, the marking of each cavity remains clearly visible. In addition, a temperature monitoring feature for sensitive active ingredients is an available option.
Patients can take their tablets as usual because the cavities can be pushed through as easily as before. Additionally, smartphone apps can provide patients with digital self-monitoring support and even enable a reminder function to comply with their medication plan, helping to reduce the risks of polypharmacy and to enhance therapeutic success, the company believes.
This article was created in collaboration with AIPIA (the Active and Intelligent Packaging Industry Association). For a full update on active and intelligent packaging, come along to the AIPIA World Congress (co-organized by Packaging Europe) in Amsterdam on 14-15 November. The only smart packaging event covering the entire technology spectrum, the World Congress is a meeting place for the global active and intelligent packaging industry where brand owners, innovators, and other stakeholders can network and see and discuss the latest trends and innovations. Register to attend here.
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