Feature: Robots automate behind-the-scenes pharmacy work, ease pharmacists' burden

by Xinhua writers Wang Siyuan, Zhang Manlin

BEIJING, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Do you remember sitting in a childhood clinic, eyes wide as a nurse broke open an intravenous vial, silently hoping no stray shard of glass would end up in your arm? This long-standing worry is now finally being put to rest -- by robots.

In a Beijing hospital, three robotic arms are working in perfect harmony -- one grips the intravenous infusion bag, one handles the vial, and one operates the syringe. On the other side of the glass, pharmacist Chen Tingyu watches. She calls the machine her "hand-saving partner."

"Bringing industrial robots into pharmacy intravenous admixture can drastically free pharmacists from repetitive manual labor, reduce human error and extend quality care to more patients," said Fu Xiaoyang, founder of Meilan PIVAS Robots Co., Ltd, the company that developed the device.

HANDS OFF

On a typical shift now, Chen pulls out the machine's drawers, loads them with vials and infusion bags, and logs each item's name and quantity into the system. She slides the drawers back in, where a chip tells the robot what is inside. When a prescription arrives, she taps the screen and the three arms get to work.

Before the robot arrived, Chen spent her shifts snapping open vial after vial, drawing dose after dose, mixing drug after drug -- all by hand. "Pharmacists who do this for years often develop occupational injuries, such as tendonitis and wrist strain," she said.

The physical toll is even heavier when hazardous medicines are involved, such as those used in chemotherapy. The U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health says healthcare workers who prepare or administer such drugs may be exposed in the workplace, with both acute and chronic health effects reported.

Fu knows the frustration all too well. Trained in pharmacy at one of China's top medical schools, he once prepared intravenous drugs himself. When he shifted his focus to industrial robots for the medical field, Fu knew exactly where his expertise could make the greatest impact.

"Pharmacy intravenous admixture closely resembles an industrial production line. It is a perfect setting for robots to take the lead, not just assist," said Fu.

Fu's team spent four years developing the fully automated intravenous drug preparation robot, followed by two more years of testing in hospitals. Commercial trials began only last year.

The fully automated system replaces an entire pharmacy intravenous admixture center -- which typically spans hundreds of square meters -- with a footprint of just eight. It cuts staffing needs by over 80 percent and operates three to five times faster than traditional manual methods.

"People get fatigued, but the robot never tires. It follows standardized procedures every single time," said Chen, adding that with her "new colleague", she feels more confident in every infusion bag that leaves the room.

But she never sees the robot as a replacement, as it only takes on the repetitive, physically draining work, while complex formulations, unusual doses, and judgments about drug compatibility still require a pharmacist's expertise.

Liu Zhongjun, director of the spinal surgery institute at Peking University Third Hospital, said that the goal of technology advance in healthcare is not to replace medical professionals, but to relieve them of repetitive tasks and allow more time for communication and patient care.

MINDS ON

The current Meilan system still relies largely on programmed procedures. Before the system can process a new medicine, information about its container, dosage, compatibility and handling method must be entered into the system.

For Fu, the next step is to give the robotic arms a "brain," so they can better coordinate their movements and sharpen pharmacists' judgment. "A good tool doesn't just follow orders. It brings out the best in the person using it, like a wand," he said.

The planned upgrade, which the company hopes to realize by the end of this year, is intended to help the system recognize variations in drug containers, coordinate more flexibly with neighboring arms, monitor wear-prone components, and alert staff when maintenance is needed.

It could also allow pharmacists to communicate with the machine more naturally. If an urgent prescription arrives, for example, a pharmacist could ask the system to give it priority instead of manually rearranging the production sequence.

Fu said any handling plan generated by an upgraded system would still need to be reviewed and approved by a pharmacist before compounding begins. While the machine can generate recommendations and carry out standardized procedures, professional judgment will always rest firmly in human hands.

Further down the line, Fu envisions a robot empowered by artificial intelligence (AI) that learns from every dose it prepares. Drawing on a growing library of past prescriptions, it could recognize patterns across cases and offer clinical suggestions -- displayed on the screen for the pharmacist to review. When it detects a potential issue in a prescription, it would flag it with an alert.

GOING WIDER

Fu has long advocated for bringing his system to community-level healthcare facilities, believing that a robot equipped with expanding clinical knowledge would be an indispensable helping hand on the front lines.

"In settings where experienced pharmacists are scarce, an AI-powered assistant could offer clinical suggestions drawn from thousands of prior cases," Fu said, adding that the robot is also compact enough to be loaded onto emergency rescue vehicles for disaster relief.

Fu is confident about the road ahead, buoyed by policy support at the national level. Last November, China's National Health Commission, together with four other government departments, issued a guideline calling for AI to be deeply integrated into the health sector, to drive high-quality development and better meet the public's growing demand for health services.

The policy momentum is already translating into concrete opportunities. Fu is actively reaching out to partners overseas, and his efforts are gaining traction. Siriraj Hospital, Thailand's largest public hospital, has confirmed its intent to collaborate, with a formal agreement expected to be signed this September.

Hospital and industry representatives from Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Italy and the United States have traveled to China to gain a better understanding of the equipment. Fu said that the company is working on certification and adapting the system to different countries' regulatory requirements and pharmaceutical workflows.

The global interest, Fu believes, reflects something universal. "Healthcare systems differ from country to country, but the desire to keep people safe and well is the same everywhere."

"Not every breakthrough needs to be a rocket launch, some of the most important ones simply make a patient's infusion a little safer, and a pharmacist's work a little lighter. That, to me, is what technology is really for," Fu said. ■