Medical Packaging Types
Medical Packaging Types
Medicines are one of the bases of the health system necessary for disease control and prevention, as well as effective tools for improving the patients quality of life. Health system sustainability finds in pharmaceuticals the perfect framework to support its guarantee. When talking about medicines, not only medicine as such must be taken into account, but also about medical packaging.
What is the Purpose of Medical Packaging?
To guarantee its safety, quality and traceability, certain objectives are kept in mind when manufacturing a medical package:
To Keep the Medicine Qualities Intact
The package must guarantee the protection of the medicine from external factors such as light, temperature, etc.
Guarantee the Safe Route of the Medicine
The medical packaging includes tools such as optical devices and traceability systems (optical or radiofrequency reading codes) to guarantee its origin.
Ensure Patient Protection
The medical package is designed with Tamper-evident technology that shows if it has been opened before, such as the guarantee rings on pill bottles. It is also child-proof and designed to avoid accidental poisoning, so that it is more difficult to open.
Types of Medical Packaging
Many medicines can be found in different formats and these, in turn, can be packaged in different ways. Whether in liquid, capsule, cream or spray formats, each medicine will have some needs that can be supplied with one package or another.
Some of the most common drug forms and their accompanying packages, as well as the materials from which they are manufactured, are:
Tablets and Capsules
The tablets are generally round, in some cases scored to indicate that they can be broken, while the capsules are elongated and enclose the medicine in an envelope usually made of gelatin in two fitted parts. Both tablets and capsules are manufactured in neutral colors to make them less attractive to children.
They are found both in a blister pack (sheet with cavities with pressure opening or folding sheet) or in a bottle that groups the pills in a package.
Syrups & Liquids
They are packaged in a bottle or ampoule, which can be made of Glass or Plastic.
Syrups usually have child-resistant and senior friendly caps and closures (which are significantly difficult to open by children but can be opened by adults in a reasonable time).
The ampoules are usually single-dose or what is the same for an individualized one
Creams & Lotions
They are packaged in tubes that can be made of aluminum, metal or recyclable plastic to make better use of the product. With screw cap or flip-top cap, to facilitate its opening and closing
Mechanical Engineering Design Trends
Sustainability criteria increasingly have more weight and influence in the design of medical packaging. These measures allow visualizing the involvement of the pharmaceutical community in global efforts to reduce the impact on the environment.
Laboratories play a fundamental role in promoting this type of initiative in the different types of packaging medical products. There are different measures to achieve more sustainable products, such as:
- Reduce its weight to contain more medication per package.
- Minimize the environmental impact during the medical package manufacture.
- Facilitate the reuse of the package before throwing it away.
- Use materials that allow recycling.
Remember that once you no longer need the medication, whether or not they still contain medication, all medical packaging must be deposited with blisters, tubes, bottles, bottles… Even the boxes in which they come with the prospectus.