A new printer, developed by a Sudbury woman, is helping hospital pharmacies

A few years ago, a Sudbury pharmacy technician decided there was a better way to do her job, which includes labelling pill bottles and vials. So she came up with a new product that improves the labelling function while also improving patient safety.

Avalon Lupini is registered pharmacy technician at Sudbury's hospital, Health Sciences North. She said a part of her job was handwriting labels for medications in the pharmacy.

"So having to sit down and hand write sixty of those [labels], apply them to each vial, and it would often smear, and it would need to be re-done. It was time consuming and messy," she said.

"For example, when we make a product for the patient and we send it to the floor, if the product leaked onto the label, the ink would smear, resulting in it sent back to the pharmacy and us having to remake the product. That is time-consuming and a risk to the patient."

In 2023, she came up with a solution: a printer that would be easy to use, not have ink smearing and the label would stay properly stuck to the bottle.

Her husband owns a software company so she asked for his help.

"He and his team of software developers went ahead and built the prototype," she said.

"We trialled it here at the hospital, and it's been a great success with streamlining all the labelling of our products, as well as the safety aspect and efficiency for our staff."

'Fast solution'

The administrative director for HSN's pharmacy department said she's thrilled that Lupini's product has gone from "idea to market."

"I'm also excited for our staff to be relieved of a manual, handwritten labelling process to move to an automated solution that withstands all the various storage conditions for medications within a hospital," Michelle Nogalo said.

"Medications have different expiry dates based on storage conditions, like frozen, refrigerated, or room temperature. So having a fast solution that actually sticks to products and is always readable, ensures we'll meet all 'Beyond Use Date' accreditation standards for medications."

Morning North6:17Sudbury pharmacy technician has come up with a better way to label medications

Avalon Lupini works in the pharmacy at Health Sciences North in Sudbury. She spends a lot of her time writing labels for drugs. She found a better way to do that by helping to create a printer for the labels.

Lupini said she never imagined she'd been helping to create technology to help her workplace run more efficiently. Now she would like to see it in wider use.

"Our plan is to attend a lot more trade shows, perhaps get into some hospitals for demonstration," she said.

"If you have a great idea for a problem and you think that you can make that solution happen, pursue it. Because it could make a world of difference in your daily routine for not just yourself, but in a wide spectrum for people."