Robotics & Automation News

Where Innovation Meets Imagination

vaccine

Intelligent multi-camera system for quality control of vaccine bottles

by

Combating the Covid-19 pandemic is at the top of the global agenda. Around the world, efforts are being made to supply the population with vaccine as quickly as possible. But providing around 8 billion doses – at least one for every person in the world – is no easy task.

Glass vials are a crucial factor in the delivery of the billions of doses of vaccine. About 50 billion of them are produced worldwide every year. Currently the producers of the vials are massively ramping up their production so as not to become the proverbial bottleneck in the supply chain.

However, medical-grade vaccine vials are not standard glass tubes. Whether rolled-rim bottles, threaded bottles or ampoules, they are all made of the special glass borosilicate and require customized production lines. [Read more…] about Intelligent multi-camera system for quality control of vaccine bottles

IDS cameras ensure quality of vaccine containers

by

Coronavirus: Vaccine bottle manufacturers under pressure?

Combating the Covid-19 pandemic is at the top of the global agenda. Providing vaccine to populations around the globe means providing around 8 billion doses – with only one for every person in the world.

In addition to the availability of the vaccine, a decisive factor in the race against time is the disposability of the glass vials.

To ensure that the mass vaccination against the coronavirus does not fail because of the container, the producers of the vials are massively ramping up their production so as not to become the proverbial bottleneck in the supply chain. [Read more…] about IDS cameras ensure quality of vaccine containers

Data loggers and cold chain management: What you should know

by

Who could have seen that coming? In the era of COVID-19, “cold chain” has become a household phrase.

Or, if we’re not at that level yet, at least more and more people are thinking about what it takes to transport products over long distances, store them, and deliver them to end-buyers while keeping them at punishingly cold temperatures — sometimes below the average temperature of Antarctica!

Of course, the COVID-19 vaccines have sparked this interest in cold-chain management. Three vaccines have received emergency use authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration, received approval from the CDC, and are in the process of the most vast logistical rollout effort in human history. [Read more…] about Data loggers and cold chain management: What you should know

How automation can help fast track a vaccine

by

When there’s a Covid-19 vaccine, we’ll all want one fast. Here’s how Honeywell says digital tools can help speed up the process…

The coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated the need to develop a vaccine as quickly as possible.

The typical vaccine development and production process depends on how the vaccine is created, with the manufacturing process taking anywhere from several days to several weeks for a single batch.

As the coronavirus spreads around the world, the urgency of being able to scale up a vaccine is even more critical. [Read more…] about How automation can help fast track a vaccine

UPS Foundation supports Ghana’s vaccine drone delivery network

by

The UPS Foundation, which leads the global citizenship programs for UPS, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, have announced support for the expansion of a medical drone network into Ghana.

Zipline, a California-based automated logistics company, will use drones to make on-demand, emergency deliveries of 148 high priority products including emergency and routine vaccines, blood products and life-saving medications.

The service will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from four distribution centres – each equipped with 30 drones – and deliver to over 2,000 health facilities serving 12 million people across the country.

[Read more…] about UPS Foundation supports Ghana’s vaccine drone delivery network

Broad cancer vaccine may be out of reach

by

vaccination

The high level of genetic diversity between individual tumors suggests that if it were to be developed, a broad cancer vaccine would be unlikely to work for more than 0.3 per cent of the population, according to new research published in the open access journal Genome Medicine.

Next generation sequencing has revealed a wealth of information on the genetic diversity of tumors, which in turn has led to research into individualised treatments for cancer based on the molecular characteristics of a patient’s tumor.

Cancer vaccines are one type of prospective treatment that involves turning the patient’s immune system against the tumor.

Dr Ryan Hartmaier, lead author from Foundation Medicine, USA, said: “A broad or semi-universal vaccine capable of targeting many different tumors would be seen by some as the ‘holy grail’ of cancer therapy as it wouldn’t involve the time or cost of individualising treatment.  [Read more…] about Broad cancer vaccine may be out of reach