Study Finds Equashield is One of Only Two Truly Closed Systems as Defined by Original NIOSH Protocol
University of North Carolina's Eshelman School of Pharmacy study published in the Journal of Oncology Pharmacy Practice
NEW YORK, September 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --
Equashield (equashield.com), a leading provider of Closed System Transfer Devices (CSTDs) for hazardous drugs, today announced the results of a study conducted by the University of North Carolina's Eshelman School of Pharmacy, evaluating six marketed closed system transfer devices (CSTDs) according to the 2015 National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)'s proposed testing protocol.
The results of the 2016 study, published in the Journal of Oncology Pharmacy Practice, found that of all the CSTDs tested, only two could adequately contain hazardous drug vapors and aerosols in both the compounding and administration process - with Equashield being one of them. Containment of hazardous vapors is one of several factors used to assess the effectiveness of Closed System Transfer Devices, and use of Isopropyl alcohol serves as a realistic worst case surrogate for such assessment.
"According to the conclusions of the researchers, CSTDs that showed no leakage should be the preferred choice for hospital systems," said Marino Kriheli, Co-founder of Equashield. "While there is still an ongoing debate on the use of isopropyl alcohol as the surrogate for the NIOSH protocols, in truth, this surrogate serves as a magnifying glass for escaped drug vapors to the environment that takes place in real pharmacy settings, providing the most rigorous method of testing for CSTDs. Using isopropyl alcohol separates those systems that are truly closed from those that are not, as alcohol is present in many drugs and represents a similar volatility.
Researchers at the Eshelman School of Pharmacy disclosed that the study was funded by a grant from Equashield.
About Equashield
Equashield is a leading provider of a full range of manual and automated solutions to hospitals for the compounding and administration of hazardous drugs. Equashield's product suite includes EQUASHIELD II, its flagship Closed System Transfer Device (CSTD), and EQUASHIELD® Pro, the first ever closed system drug compounding robot. Equashield's CSTD is clinically-proven to protect healthcare professionals from hazardous drug exposure. The globally awarded EQUASHIELD® II covers more routes of exposure than alternative systems by preventing contamination of syringe plungers and drug residuals on connector surfaces, as well as exposure to drug vapors. Studies have shown Equashield's CSTD to be faster to deploy and easier to use than competing systems, and the system has passed the proposed 2015 alcohol vapor containment protocol from NIOSH, confirming that it can contain the harshest vapors & emissions. EQUASHIELD is in use by hundreds of hospitals and clinics around the world and has been both cleared by the FDA under the ONB product code and substantiated in FDA-cleared labeling as preventing microbial ingress for up to seven days.
For more information: http://www.equashield.com
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