Transforming Pharmacy: HRS Wins Pfizer Award with Vuzix Smart Glasses and Flex4vision Technology

Marie Sevrin and Louise Tacré from HRS receive the award from Pfizer representative, Hugues Ropson

We're thrilled to announce that the Robert Schuman Hospitals (HRS) have won the prestigious Pfizer Innovation Award on June 7th, 2024, for Innovation in Hospital Pharmacy. This award, organized by the Association of Hospital Pharmacists of Luxembourg (APHL) and funded by Pfizer, highlights groundbreaking advancements in medication logistics within hospitals. The winning project from HRS, which focused on incorporating augmented reality to enhance the production circuit for sterile preparations, is a testament to innovation and collaboration in healthcare.

The Pfizer Innovation Award celebrates exceptional projects that revolutionize medicine logistics, clinical pharmacy, or medical devices in hospital settings. This award, valued at €10,000, seeks to acknowledge and support projects that:

• Independently design and implement improvements in medicine logistics
• Complete within a 36 to 48-month timeframe
• Involve multiple hospital departments
• Are coordinated by a hospital pharmacist and supported by hospital management

Marie Sevrin and Louise Tacré from the HRS Pharmacy Production team, under the guidance of Anne Otto, earned this accolade with their innovative approach to the production circuit of sterile preparations. This project, to improve the quality of production in Hospital Pharmacy, aims to control the process by leveraging cutting-edge technology to streamline and enhance the preparation process, ensuring greater efficiency and safety.

At the heart of this innovation are the Vuzix M400 augmented reality smart glasses and the Flex4vision application developed by aixofit. These technologies collectively transform the traditional processes into a more precise and efficient system. The Vuzix smart glasses in conjunction with the Flex4vision application facilitate controlling the whole production process and provide traceability by archiving photos and videos.

The Robert Schuman Hospitals team using the Vuzix M400 to scan a label

Vuzix M400 smart glasses: provide a voice-enabled, hands-free workflow experience that allows hospital pharmacists to follow complex procedures with ease and accuracy. By overlaying digital information onto the real world, the M400 smart glasses guide pharmacists through each step of the sterile preparation process, from prescription handling to final reporting.

Flex4vision Application: Developed by aixofit, this application integrates seamlessly with Vuzix smart glasses. It offers ready-to-use and customizable solutions for pharmaceutical preparation, logistics tracking, 3D plan visualization, and more. Specifically for this project, Flex4vision's application ensures precise reference taking, photographic documentation of syringes or bags, and generation of detailed reports for delayed control, thus completing the batch file comprehensively.

The Robert Schuman Hospitals team interacts with the Flex4Vision application via voice commands

This award-winning project underscores the critical role of technological innovation in healthcare. By integrating Vuzix's smart glasses and Flex4vision's application, HRS has set a new standard for sterile preparation processes. The benefits are manifold:

• Enhanced Accuracy: Augmented reality guides ensure each step is performed correctly, reducing the risk of errors.
• Increased Efficiency: Streamlined processes save time, allowing pharmacists to focus on more critical tasks.
• Improved Safety: Comprehensive documentation and delayed control capabilities enhance patient safety and compliance.

"Pharmaceutical care awards, such as the Pfizer Innovation Award, are pivotal in fostering innovation and driving research that empowers hospital pharmacists to overcome specific challenges and bridge technology gaps. With the integration of Vuzix smart glasses and our Flex4vision application, hospitals can optimize their human resources while ensuring that processes, such as the production circuit for sterile preparations, are executed with precision and safety."

-Colette Huts, CEO, Flex4vision

As we celebrate this remarkable achievement, we also look forward to the future of hospital pharmacy. The collaboration between HRS, Vuzix, and Flex4vision exemplifies the power of innovative technologies to transform healthcare practices. We are excited to see how these advancements will continue to evolve and improve patient care worldwide.

Congratulations to the Robert Schuman Hospitals, and a heartfelt thank you to the dedicated teams and partners who made this project possible. Your commitment to excellence and innovation is truly inspiring!