Laser Coding Applications in the Healthcare Sector: An insight into the benefits of Datalase’s Photonic Printing technology
The healthcare sector is constantly pushing technological boundaries to improve patient care and operational efficiency, whilst meeting industry-driven regulatory requirements.
This insight looks at the applications of Datalase’s Photonic Printing technology in the healthcare sector, highlighting its advantages in pharmaceutical product labelling and medical device tracking.
Introduction
Datalase’s Photonic Printing technology is being implemented by various healthcare organisations to enhance patient care and streamline operations. By utilising this innovative technology, healthcare professionals can improve the accuracy and efficiency of patient identification and tracking. Additionally, the use of Datalase’s technology can aid in labelling and packaging regulatory compliance, ensuring that healthcare organisations meet industry standards and regulations.
What is Photonic Printing?
At its core, Photonic Printing is a unique, patented method that utilises laser-reactive pigments to produce high-contrast, durable, and stable marks. When exposed to a specific laser light wavelength, the pigment undergoes a colour change, allowing for the precise creation of images, barcodes, and text.
Pharmaceutical product labelling
The pharmaceutical industry faces immense pressure to maintain accurate labelling, ensuring patient safety, and regulatory compliance. Here’s how Datalase’s technology is reshaping this arena:
- Traceability and Serialisation: With counterfeit drugs becoming a global concern, the ability to trace and authenticate products is crucial. DataLase offers a range of coatings for folding cartons, blister packs, films and laminates that provide consistently high quality, high contrast, permanent black or white graphics, barcodes and serial numbers. This ensures that every product can be individually identified and tracked from manufacturer to end-user.
- Enhanced Durability: Traditional ink-based printing methods can fade, smudge, or wear off, especially if exposed to environmental factors or friction. Datalase’s technology offers high resistance against these adversities, ensuring the legibility of the label throughout the product’s lifecycle.
- Regulatory Compliance: DataLase Photonic Printing is proven to meet many global serialisation and traceability mandates. This ensures that pharmaceutical companies can stay compliant with regional and international packaging regulations.
Medical device tracking
The medical device sector, like pharmaceuticals, also requires stringent traceability for safety and regulatory reasons.
- Permanent Marking: Medical devices, from surgical instruments to implants, need durable and permanent markings for identification and traceability. Here, DataLase offers a range of pigments that can be incorporated into plastic masterbatch, as well as laser-active coatings that can be applied to the finished article.
- These pigments and coatings provide high-contrast, long-lasting marks that withstand sterilisation processes, handling, and wear and tear.
- Real-time Production Control: With laser coding, manufacturers can implement real-time quality control, ensuring that every device leaving the production line meets the required standards.
- Flexible Design: The technology allows for flexibility in marking designs, whether it’s complex barcodes, QR codes, or detailed logos and symbols, ensuring that each device is accurately represented and easy to identify.
Benefits of Datalase’s technology in healthcare:
- Environmentally Friendly:DataLase Photonic Printing provides a lower carbon footprint alternative to traditional ink-based printing, by simplifying the supply chain and reducing energy costs, whilst leveraging patent-protected chemistries.Further, it reduces the need for consumables, solvents, and waste, contributing to greener operations.
- Speed and Efficiency: Laser coding is fast and does not require drying time, allowing for quicker production lines and reduced downtimes.
- Cost-effective: By eliminating the need for inks, solvents, and regular maintenance associated with traditional printing methods, organisations can achieve significant cost savings in the long run.
Conclusion
Datalase’s Photonic Printing technology is a game-changer in the healthcare sector. With precise and durable labelling of pharmaceutical products and effective tracking of medical devices, this innovative solution supports security and efficiency within the healthcare packaging supply chain.