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The adoption of automated drug dispensing systems (ADDS) in hospital pharmacies is a global trend, driven by its potential to reduce dispensing errors, minimize prescription filling time, and ultimately, improve patient care services. However, a significant research gap exists in the field, as a comprehensive assessment of patient satisfaction with ADDS is currently lacking. This study, with its comprehensive approach, aims to fill this gap by comparing patient satisfaction between hospital pharmacies implementing ADDS and traditional drug dispensing systems (TDDS). The cross-sectional study was conducted in hospitals adopting ADDS and TDDS. All the outpatients aged 18 or above who visited the pharmacy were included, and severely ill patients were excluded from the study. A 17-item, 5-point Likert scale questionnaire assessed the participant's satisfaction. The questionnaire has four domains: pharmacy administration, dispensing practice, patient education, and dispensing system. The demographics of the study participants were normally distributed between ADDS and TDDS according to chi-square analysis. The mean participant satisfaction was significantly (P<0.05) higher in ADDS than in TDDS regarding all the items of dispensing practice and dispensing system domains. Three items related to the pharmacy administration domain showed significant participant satisfaction with ADDS. However, the participants' satisfaction showed no significant difference (p=0.176) between ADDS and TDDS in terms of the cleanliness of the pharmacy. Also, the participant's satisfaction between ADDS and TDDS was not statistically significant regarding the pharmacist's explanation of the side effects (p=0.850) and provision of all necessary information to the patient (p=0.061) in the patient education domain. Patient satisfaction was higher in the ADDS participants than in TDDS regarding pharmacy administration, patient education, dispensing practice, and systems. However, pharmacists in ADDS need to be motivated to transfer the advantages of ADDS to patient care, including comprehensive patient education, particularly on side effects.

High-throughput liquid dispensing technology plays a critical role in modern biological laboratories, especially in high-throughput screening experiments. However, the efficiency and throughput of existing dispensing technologies no longer meet the requirements for such experiments. To address this problem, this paper proposes a solution for a non-contact multi-channel dispensing system based on the principle of pneumatic valve control. The system uses a non-contact dispensing method that effectively reduces reagent contamination while providing rapid liquid dispensing. Pneumatic valve-controlled multi-channel liquid dispensing systems have great potential to increase dispensing throughput and efficiency. This paper proposes using the lumped parameter method to establish a system dynamics model that analyzes the relationship between flow and time. Through simulation analysis, the influencing factors of droplet detachment from the sample needle were analyzed to guide the selection of system pressure and sample needle inner diameter. The experimental results preliminarily determined the uniformity of multi-channel liquid dispensing and the accuracy of the lumped parameter model. The simulation results of the process of detaching the sample needle are basically consistent with the experimental results. These studies can provide guidance for multi-channel dispensing systems based on pneumatic valve control.

The article discusses important problems with water and sanitation management, with an emphasis on problems that affect both the general people and large businesses. In the first part, an Internet of Things (IoT)-based sophisticated water level sensor system is introduced. This creative solution incorporates intelligent water dispensers and is designed for efficient maintenance of water dispensers in large infrastructures like offices, schools, and huge buildings. Real-time alerts are utilized by these dispensers to inform authorized workers of low water levels, allowing for timely replenishing. Additionally, the system has an automated dispensing mechanism that removes the difficulties associated with manual handling and raises standards of hygiene. Extensive testing of the prototype has proven the effectiveness of the system, which consistently dispenses water when a container is present and stops when it is emptied or removed.

Drug dispensing in retail pharmacies typically involves several manual tasks that often lead to inefficiencies and errors. This is the first published quality improvement study in Latin America, specifically in Brazil, investigating the operational impacts of implementing a robotic dispensing system in a retail pharmacy. Through observational techniques, we measured the time required for the following pharmacy workflows before and after implementing the robotic dispensing system: customer service, receiving stock, stocking inventory, separation, invoicing, and packaging of online orders for delivery. Time savings were observed across all workflows within the pharmacy, notably in receiving stock and online order separation, which experienced 70% and 75% reductions in total time, respectively. Furthermore, customer service, stocking, invoicing, and packaging of online orders, also saw total time reductions from 36% to 53% after implementation of the robotic dispensing system. This study demonstrates an improvement in the pharmacy’s operational efficiency post-implementation of the robotic dispensing system. These findings highlight the potential for such automated systems to streamline pharmacy operations, improve staff time efficiency, and enhance service delivery.

Background The emergency of antimicrobial resistance due to irrational antimicrobial use has put public health under threat. Accredited Drug Dispensing Outlets (ADDOs) play an important role in enhancing availability and accessibility of antimicrobials, however, there is a scarcity of studies assessing antimicrobial dispensing practices in these outlets, focusing on children in Tanzania. Objective This study was conducted to assess the antimicrobial dispensing practices among ADDO dispensers and explore the factors influencing the use of antimicrobials for children in Tanzania. Methods A community-based cross-sectional study utilizing both qualitative (interviews) and quantitative (simulated clients) methods was conducted between June and September 2020 in seven zones and 14 regions in Tanzania. Results The study found inappropriate dispensing and use of antimicrobials for children, influenced by multiple factors such as patient’s and dispenser’s knowledge and attitude, financial constraints, and product-related factors. Only 8% (62/773) of dispensers asked for prescriptions, while the majority (90%) were willing to dispense without prescriptions. Most dispensers, 83% (426/513), supplied incomplete doses of antimicrobials and only 60.5% (345/570) of the dispensers gave proper instructions for antimicrobial use to clients. Over 75% of ADDO dispensers displayed poor practice in taking patient history. Conclusion ADDO dispensers demonstrated poor practices in dispensing and promoting rational antimicrobial use for children. Training, support, and regulatory interventions are required to improve antimicrobial dispensing practices in community drug outlets.

Background Although automated dispensing robots have been implemented for medication dispensing in Japan, their effect is yet to be fully investigated. In this study, we evaluated the effect of automated dispensing robots and collaborative work with pharmacy support staff on medication dispensing. Methods A robotic dispensing system integrating the following three components was established: (1) automated dispensing robot (Drug Station®), which is operated by pharmacy support staff, (2) automated dispensing robot for powdered medicine (Mini DimeRo®), and (3) bar-coded medication dispensing support system with personal digital assistance (Hp-PORIMS®). Subsequently, we evaluated the incidences of dispensing errors and dispensing times before and after introducing the robotic dispensing system. Dispensing errors were classified into two categories, namely prevented dispensing errors and unprevented dispensing errors. The incidence of dispensing errors was calculated as follows: incidence of dispensing errors = total number of dispensing errors/total number of medication orders in each prescription. Results After introducing the robotic dispensing system, the total incidence of prevented dispensing errors was significantly reduced (0.204% [324/158,548] to 0.044% [50/114,111], p  < 0.001). The total incidence of unprevented dispensing errors was significantly reduced (0.015% [24/158,548] to 0.002% [2/114,111], p  < 0.001). The number of cases of wrong strength and wrong drug, which can seriously impact a patient’s health, reduced to almost zero. The median dispensing time of pharmacists per prescription was significantly reduced (from 60 to 23 s, p  < 0.001). Conclusions The robotic dispensing system enabled the process of medication dispensing by pharmacist to be partially and safely shared with automated dispensing robots and pharmacy support staff. Therefore, clinical care for patients by pharmacists could be enhanced by ensuring quality and safety of medication.

Background Non-prescription dispensing of antibiotics, one of the main sources of antibiotic misuse or over use, is a global challenge with detrimental public health consequences including acceleration of the development of antimicrobial resistance, and is facilitated by various intrinsic and extrinsic drivers. The current review aimed to systematically summarise and synthesise the qualitative literature regarding drivers of non-prescribed sale of antibiotics among community drug retail outlets in low and middle income countries. Methods Four electronic databases (PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus and Google Scholar) and reference lists of the relevant articles were searched. The Joanna Briggs Institute’s Critical Appraisal Checklist for qualitative studies was used to assess the quality of included studies. The enhancing transparency in reporting the synthesis of qualitative research statement was used to guide reporting of results. Data were coded using NVivo 12 software and analysed using both inductive and deductive thematic analysis. Results A total of 23 articles underwent full text review and 12 of these met the inclusion criteria. Four main themes were identified in relation to facilitators of non-prescribed sale of antibiotics among community drug retail outlets: i) the business orientation of community drug retail outlets and tension between professionalism and commercialism; ii) customers’ demand pressure and expectation; iii); absence of or a lax enforcement of regulations; and iv) community drug retail outlet staff’s lack of knowledge and poor attitudes about antibiotics use and scope of practice regarding provision. Conclusions This review identified several potentially amendable reasons in relation to over the counter dispensing of antibiotics. To contain the rise of antibiotic misuse or over use by targeting the primary drivers, this review suggests the need for strict law enforcement or enacting new strong regulation to control antibiotic dispensing, continuous and overarching refresher training for community drug retail outlet staff about antibiotic stewardship, and holding public awareness campaigns regarding rational antibiotic use.

The versatile manipulation of cross-scale droplets is essential in many fields. Magnetic excitation is widely used for droplet manipulation due to its distinguishing merits. However, facile magnetic actuation strategies are still lacked to realize versatile multiscale droplet manipulation. Here, a type of magnetically actuated Janus origami robot is readily fabricated for versatile cross-scale droplet manipulation including three-dimensional transport, merging, splitting, dispensing and release of daughter droplets, stirring and remote heating. The robot allows untethered droplet manipulation from ~3.2 nL to ~51.14 μL. It enables splitting of droplet, precise dispensing (minimum of ~3.2 nL) and release (minimum of ~30.2 nL) of daughter droplets. The combination of magnetically controlled rotation and photothermal properties further endows the robot with the ability to stir and heat droplets remotely. Finally, the application of the robot in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is explored. The extraction and purification of nucleic acids can be successfully achieved. Current droplet manipulation techniques have limitations such as applying to a large scale of volume or of on-demand droplet release. Here using a magnetic actuated Janus origami robot, Jiang et al. present a strategy to achieve omni-manipulation of micro and nanoliter droplets.

Soft materials capable of transforming between three-dimensional (3D) shapes in response to stimuli such as light, heat, solvent, electric and magnetic fields have applications in diverse areas such as flexible electronics 1 , 2 , soft robotics 3 , 4 and biomedicine 5 – 7 . In particular, magnetic fields offer a safe and effective manipulation method for biomedical applications, which typically require remote actuation in enclosed and confined spaces 8 – 10 . With advances in magnetic field control 11 , magnetically responsive soft materials have also evolved from embedding discrete magnets 12 or incorporating magnetic particles 13 into soft compounds to generating nonuniform magnetization profiles in polymeric sheets 14 , 15 . Here we report 3D printing of programmed ferromagnetic domains in soft materials that enable fast transformations between complex 3D shapes via magnetic actuation. Our approach is based on direct ink writing 16 of an elastomer composite containing ferromagnetic microparticles. By applying a magnetic field to the dispensing nozzle while printing 17 , we reorient particles along the applied field to impart patterned magnetic polarity to printed filaments. This method allows us to program ferromagnetic domains in complex 3D-printed soft materials, enabling a set of previously inaccessible modes of transformation, such as remotely controlled auxetic behaviours of mechanical metamaterials with negative Poisson’s ratios. The actuation speed and power density of our printed soft materials with programmed ferromagnetic domains are orders of magnitude greater than existing 3D-printed active materials. We further demonstrate diverse functions derived from complex shape changes, including reconfigurable soft electronics, a mechanical metamaterial that can jump and a soft robot that crawls, rolls, catches fast-moving objects and transports a pharmaceutical dose. Programmed ferromagnetic domains are 3D-printed into soft materials capable of fast transformations between complex three-dimensional shapes via magnetic actuation.

Background Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is a prospective, team based, structured process used to identify system failures of high risk processes before they occur. Medication dispensing is a risky process that should be analysed for its inherent risks using FMEA. The objective of this study was to identify possible failure modes, their effects, and causes in the dispensing process of a selected tertiary care hospital using FMEA. Methods Two independent teams (Team A and Team B) of pharmacists conducted the FMEA for two months in the Department of Pharmacy of a selected teaching hospital, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Each team had five meetings of two hours each, where the dispensing process and sub processes were mapped, and possible failure modes, their effects, and causes, were identified. A score for potential severity (S), frequency (F) and detectability (D) was assigned for each failure mode. Risk Priority Numbers (RPNs) were calculated (RPN=SxFxD), and identified failure modes were prioritised. Results Team A identified 48 failure modes while Team B identified 42. Among all 90 failure modes, 69 were common to both teams. Team A prioritised 36 failure modes, while Team B prioritised 30 failure modes for corrective action using the scores. Both teams identified overcrowded dispensing counters as a cause for 57 failure modes. Redesigning of dispensing tables, dispensing labels, the dispensing and medication re-packing processes, and establishing a patient counseling unit, were the major suggestions for correction. Conclusion FMEA was successfully used to identify and prioritise possible failure modes of the dispensing process through the active involvement of pharmacists.