Most of us keep a variety of pharmaceutical products in our medicine cabinets or various drawers. From over the counter headache medicine and bandages, to prescription medications, all of our items are packaged with differing techniques. And pharmaceutical companies must determine the pros and cons for each packaging technique — they decide which technique is best for which products. So what are the best medical packaging techniques?
One way in which pharmaceuticals are packaged is with pouch packaging. This method is often used for pharmaceuticals, as it offers patients the option of measured doses in prepackaged containers. This helps to keep things easy for the patients and prevents the patient from using too much of the product. For example, liquid products are often packaged in pouches, which are easy to open and dispose of for the consumer. These offer many options to keep the product easy to open for the patient, including child-safe seals, rip seals, and easy to open rip and tear pouches.
Another type of packaging is bottle packaging. This provides more flexibility in cap options, including child-safe, snap off, and twist off. Some patients find that they require the additional security of child-safe caps, as it prevents young children from finding and opening the bottle. Meanwhile, many patients have difficulty opening these — even adults! Thus, snap and twist off caps provide an easy solution for these patients. Plus, bottle packaging allows for many different preferential options, such as bar code printing — and this allows for easy identification by the client or in the pharmacy. But the packaging medical supplies, such as pharmaceuticals and other products, are very closely monitored by regulatory bodies. Therefore, it is important for sterilisation techniques be utilized during this process. In bottle packaging, for instance, liners and seals prevent the product from being touched by outside substances. Thus, this assures the consumer that nothing has tampered with the product.
A third packaging technique, and surely one that you are very familiar with, is blister packaging. This technique is most commonly used in the United States to package unit dose pharmaceuticals. It uses a cavity, or pocket, to keep the product safe and maintain durability of the package — and the package itself usually includes peelable lamination for easy opening for the consumer! And while high speed blister packaging results in a greater amount of product packaged in a shorter amount of time, companies also offer additional services to clients, such as lot numbers and expiration dates to ensure improved quality control. Clients can enjoy even more services from these companies with the use of carded blister packaging. This allows for more customization through color, style, and container options, as well as the ability to add coupons with products to later generate future purchases.
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