Development of an Automated Assistance System for Medication Compounding Work

Antineoplastic medication compounding is conducted in most large hospitals and involves the repetitive task of extracting a specific quantity of medication from vials using syringes and transferring it into intravenous infusion bags. When a large syringe is used during medication compounding, manipulating the syringe plunger requires considerable force because of the negative pressure inside the vial as well as the viscosity of the drug solution. This repetitive and intense plunger manipulation can lead to musculoskeletal disorders of the arms, shoulders, and other areas. Implementing motorized syringe manipulation and automating the drug compounding process are beneficial approaches for enhancing pharmacist convenience and work efficiency. This study introduces the development of an automated assistance system for medication compounding designed to manipulate syringes and medication containers accurately and reliably. The developed equipment ensures compatibility with various syringes, vials, and intravenous (IV) infusion bags without the need for consumables. It is designed for the diversified, small-quantity production of personalized drugs, featuring a compact, affordable structure that can be easily accommodated within existing drug compounding facilities. The performance of the developed equipment is validated through simulations and experiments. The results prove the developed equipment has high dispensing accuracy (error range: ±0.09%) and high repeatability (standard deviation: 21 mg).