Analytical Spectral Devices, Inc. (ASD), manufacturer of precision analytical instruments for real-time, field based material identification and verification, announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued Patent Number 6,771,369 covering the Company’s innovative solution, RxSpec™. RxSpec™ is a non-contact technology that directly measures and verifies the chemical composition and dosage of a prescription drug when being dispensed in a pharmacy.
ASD’s patented RxSpec™ technology utilizes a combined visible and near Infrared spectroscopy inspection system to directly check the prescription drug while in the dispensing vial. The real time measurement is sensitive to chemical composition, color, and dosage level. The measured “chemical fingerprint” is compared to a known database, thereby providing 100% assurance that the dispensed drug is correct in both type and concentration. Thus, it is effective in distinguishing drugs that look alike, are of different dosages, or even counterfeit.
RxSpec™ technology is the first real tool to automate the time consuming and labor intensive manual verification process that is used in virtually every pharmacy. Integrated into the pharmacy workflow, RxSpec™ technology can free up the pharmacist to spend valuable time with customers. Because RxSpec™ is a direct analytical technique, it promises to help reduce potentially harmful filling errors and detect counterfeit drugs. Other techniques such as bar coding only identify a container label, whereas RxSpec™ directly measures the drug itself. As such, anytime a drug is moved from one container to another is a potential application point for RxSpec™ technology. The technology is applicable in all pharmacy environments, including Central Fill, Mail Order, and retail pharmacies.
“We are extremely excited about the issuance of this patent. It solidifies ASD’s technical leadership in applying direct analytical techniques in pharmacy settings,” said Dave Rzasa, President and CEO of ASD. “ASD has been actively developing the RxSpec™ technology and products over the last few years to achieve cost-effective and practical solutions to some of the most important issues facing pharmacies today. Specifically, RxSpec™ technology offers a way to directly measure a prescription drug as it is filled to insure the correct drug and dosage are dispensed. Further, it is the only proof-positive manner to identify counterfeit drugs which look identical to real drugs. Properly integrated into a pharmacy system, RxSpec™ will improve pharmacist productivity and the overall integrity of prescription drug verification.”
Founded in 1990, Analytical Spectral Devices manufactures cost-effective, precision, transportable and field-portable, laboratory-quality Vis/NIR spectrometers, spectroradiometers, spectrophotometers and corresponding software and accessories. ASD’s instruments perform well in a range of environmental conditions, in and outside the laboratory, and have applications in pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, analytical chemistry, mining, grain, food and dairy, remote sensing, pulp and paper industries world-wide.