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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
The current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has been affecting all sectors worldwide, and efforts have been targeting the enhancement of people’s health and labour conditions
of collaborators belonging to healthcare institutions. The recent vaccines emerging
against covid-19 are seen as a solution to address the problem that has already killed
up to two million people. The preparation of the Pfizer-BioNTech covid-19 vaccine
requires a specific manipulation before its administration. A correct homogenization
with saline solution is needed and, therefore, a manual process with a predefined protocol should be accomplished. This action can endanger the operators’ ergonomics
due to the repetitive movement of the process. This paper proposes a low-cost prototype incorporating an arduino based embedded system actuating a servomotor to
perform an autonomous vials’ homogenization allowing to redirect these healthcare
workers to other tasks. Moreover, a contactless start order process was implemented
to avoid contact with the operator and, consequently, the contamination. The prototype
was successfully tested and recognised, and is being applied during the preparation of
the covid-19 vaccines at the hospital pharmacy of Centro Hospitalar de Vila Nova de
Gaia/Espinho, E.P.E., Portugal. It can be easily replicated since the source files to
assemble it are provided by the authors.
Description
Keywords
Covid-19 Homogenization Pharmacy preparations and compounding SARS-CoV-2 vaccine
Citation
Lima, José, Rocha, Luísa, Rocha, Claúdia; Costa, Paulo (2021). Low-cost SARS-CoV-2 vaccine homogenization system for Pfizer-BioNTech covid-19 vials. International Journal of Robotics and Automation. ISSN 2089-4856. 10:4, p. 340-352