Biology
Technology Stops Medical Mistakes - Inside Science
Reported April 2006
BACKGROUND: Valimed, a new monitoring system, flashes an ultraviolet light on tiny samples of chemotherapy drugs to make sure the right combination and dose of chemotherapy is being administered to each patient. It's the same principle used to detect bombs.
CHEMICAL FINGERPRINTS: The Valimed system is based on the fact that most drugs have a unique chemical fingerprint that can be detected when the drugs are exposed to ultraviolet light. It is a unique pattern that tells scientists when a particular molecule is present in a sample. Each chemical element emits or absorbs radiation at specific wavelengths. Sodium, for example, emits mostly orange light, while the oxygen used in neon lights emits green light.
HOW IT WORKS: Every time the Valimed machine scans a sample of medication, it compares the fingerprint with a library of standard fingerprints stored in its database. The current reference library includes 10 commonly used intravenous drugs that need to be mixed especially for children, such as insulin, heparin, epinephrine, narcotics such as morphine, and antibiotics, in addition to chemotherapy drugs. The system helps eliminate the potential for human error when administering dosages -- which can be critical if the patients are young children.
WHAT LIGHT CAN REVEAL: Anything that produces light or radiates energy reveals information about itself. Spectroscopy is a technique used by physicists and astronomers to study the makeup of an object or substance based on the kind of light it emits. For instance, with spectroscopy, astronomers can determine what stars are made of, similar to chemical fingerprinting. By passing light from a star through an instrument called a spectrograph, the light spreads out into a colorful spectrum, much like passing white light through a prism. By studying how the spectrum becomes brighter or darker at each wavelength, scientists can tell what chemical elements are in the star. They can also determine its temperature, density, or how fast it might be spinning.
ABOUT CHEMOTHERAPY: Chemotherapy is a treatment for cancer, in which certain drugs are injected into the blood to kill cancer cells or to stop them from spreading. They can travel around the body and attack cancer cells wherever they find them, so chemotherapy is used when cancers have spread beyond one region of the body.
If you would like more information, please contact:
Brad Wills
Wills & Associates, Inc.
Rockville, MD
301-767-1919
bwills@wills-pr.com
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