Before the technology was perfected and made available to the market, one person was reported to have died from taking the wrong dosage in the spring of 2010. Nikkei Drug Information released a study in June 2011 that showed 97.4% of pharmacists nationwide admit having given the wrong dosage to their patients. They all agreed that clearly printed tablets will be extremely helpful when dispersing drugs. All the more making the team more determined to see this technology succeed.
The advantage of being able to print the product name directly on the tablet is that it allows both medical professionals and patients themselves to easily identify what drug each individual tablet contains by product name, preventing prescribing and dosing errors. Because antiplatelet drugs in particular are high-risk drugs that inhibit clotting, their use needs to be discontinued before surgery, and having the product name printed on the tablets themselves makes it much easier for medical professionals and patients to identify the drug.
It is our dream to see this technology spread around the world to ensure safety when distributing medications to patients or loved ones; or when patients are taking the medicines themselves.