WO2016004879A1

WO2016004879A1 - Mobile pharmacy compounding system

Info

Publication number: WO2016004879A1
Application number: PCT/CN2015/083599
Authority: WO
Inventors: Dorothea Koh; Hongwei Zhao; Jinhong WANG; Feng Tang; Haidong JIANG; Jun Shen; Bo Wang; Quanxi ZHANG
Original assignee: Baxter China Investment Co Ltd
Current assignee: Baxter China Investment Co Ltd
Priority date: 2014-07-11
Filing date: 2015-07-08
Publication date: 2016-01-14
Anticipated expiration: 2017-01-11
Also published as: CN105332524A

Abstract

A mobile pharmacy compounding system is provided. The system includes a first module (101) having a first housing (105) defining a first inner space (103), wherein the first housing has a first connection opening (109) on a first wall (107). The system further includes a second module (121) having a second housing (125) defining a second inner space (123). The second module is a prefabricated unit having a size smaller than that of the first housing so that the second housing can be moved into or out of the first housing through the first connection opening. When in a retracted position, the mobile pharmacy compounding system has a relatively small size, which facilitates the transportation and movement of the system. When in an expanded position, the inner space of the mobile pharmacy compounding system is expanded so that various pharmacy compounding devices and equipments can be disposed in the inner space.

Description

MOBILE PHARMACY COMPOUNDING SYSTEM

Cross Reference to Related Application

The present application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201410328964.9 filed on July 11, 2014, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Field of the Invention

The present application relates to the field of pharmacy admixture devices, and more specifically, to a mobile pharmacy compounding system.

Background of the Invention

Pharmacy Intravenous Admixture Service (PIVAS) is a medical service and facility operated in an operating environment designed for intravenous medication and in compliance with the GMP standards. Trained pharmaceutical technicians or paramedics can process pharmacy intravenous admixture or compounding, including, for example, total parenteral nutrition, toxic intravenous drugs and antibiotics, etc. in PIVAS by strictly following prescriptive operating procedures to provide the clinical intravenous medication. The PIVAS sets up a centralized management model for compounding, inspecting and dispensing the intravenous pharmacies in a clean environment, which steps were formerly processed in separate wards of a hospital, so as to provide standardized, safe and effective pharmacy intravenous compounding service to the clinic.

The traditional PIVAS is usually placed in an outpatient/emergency building, pharmacy or ward of the hospital according to the hospital’s actual needs for diagnosis and treatment services. In order to comply with quality controls, standards and operating procedures of centralized pharmacy intravenous compounding, a variety of adaptive transformations to the buildings are often needed, which significantly increases the costs for constructing and using the PIVAS. In addition, it is difficult to carry on large-scale transformations and expansions once the PIVAS is built as a fixed construction. Therefore, the traditional PIVAS is usually unable to meet the increasing demands for pharmacy intravenous compounding. Moreover, the traditional PIVAS will use the very limited construction area in the hospital, which may affect the scale of the diagnostic and treatment services of the hospital.

Therefore, there is a need for a new pharmacy compounding system to solve the problems in the traditional PIVAS, including but not limited to, that the traditional PIVAS has strict requirements regarding the location and surrounding environment and may cause high construction cost and long construction period, and can not be widely used in different medical and healthcare service facilities.

Summary of the Invention

The present application provides a modularized and flexibly configurable mobile pharmacy compounding system to fit for different environments and locations. It further provides a mobile pharmacy compounding system that can be retracted to a state occupying a relatively small space during transportation (i.e. in a retracted position) , and can also be expanded to an operating state with an expanded inner working space after arriving at the working place (i.e. in an expanded position) , so as to meet the actual needs for pharmacy compounding. The mobile pharmacy compounding system of the present application also has other improvements to overcome defects and problems in the traditional PIVAS.

In one aspect, the application provides a mobile pharmacy compounding system. The system comprises a first module having a first housing defining a first inner space, wherein the first housing has a first connection opening on a first wall； and a second module having a second housing defining a second inner space, wherein the second module is a prefabricated unit having a size smaller than that of the first housing so that the second housing can be moved into or out of the first housing through the first connection opening.

In certain embodiments, the mobile pharmacy compounding system further comprises a third module formed of foldable plates that can be pivotally folded into the first housing.

The mobile pharmacy compounding system of the present application can be disposed in an environment or location with certain space such as a yard, parking lot or other places rather than constructed as a fixture in a building. Moreover, the second module can be movably accommodated in the first module, thereby facilitating the transportation of the mobile pharmacy compounding system. Furthermore, the modularized mobile pharmacy compounding system may be transformed and upgraded by replacing or adding different modules, which further improves the expansibility, universality and service life of the system.

The foregoing has outlined, rather broadly, features of the present application. Additional features of the present application will be described hereinafter, which form the subject of the claims of the present application. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific embodiments disclosed herein may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures or processes for carrying out the objectives of the present application. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present application as set forth in the appended claims.

Brief Description of Drawings

The aforementioned features and other features of the application will be further described in the following paragraphs by referring to the accompanying drawings and the appended claims. It will be understood that, the accompanying drawings merely illustrate certain embodiments in accordance with the present application and should not be considered as limitation to the scope of the present application. Unless otherwise specified, the accompanying drawings need not be proportional, and similar reference characters generally denote similar elements.

Figure 1 shows a plan view of a mobile pharmacy compounding system 100 according to an embodiment of the application；

Figure 2A shows a side view of the mobile pharmacy compounding system 100 along the A-A’ direction in Figure 1 in an expanded position；

Figure 2B shows a side view of the mobile pharmacy compounding system 100 along the A-A’ direction in Figure 1 in a retracted position；

Figure 3 shows a plan view of a mobile pharmacy compounding system 200 according to another embodiment of the application；

Figure 4 shows a plan view of a mobile pharmacy compounding system 300 according to another embodiment of the application；

Figure 5A shows an exemplary structure of a portion of the foldable plate of a third module in Figure 4；

Figure 5B shows another exemplary structure of a portion of the foldable plate of the third module in Figure 4；

Figure 6 shows a plan view of the mobile pharmacy compounding system 300 along the B-B’ direction in Figure 4；

Figure 7 shows a configuration of a ventilation duct used in a second module of the mobile pharmacy compounding system 300 of Figure 4；

Figure 8 shows a plan view of a mobile pharmacy compounding system 400 according to another embodiment of the application.

Detailed Description of the Embodiments

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings as a part of the present application. The illustrative embodiments described in the detailed description, the accompanying drawings and the claims are not limiting, and other embodiments may be adopted, or modifications may be made without deviating from the spirit and subject of the application. It would be appreciated that the various aspects of the application described and graphically presented herein may be arranged, replaced, combined, divided and designed in many different configurations, and these different configurations are implicitly comprised in the application.

Figures 1, 2A and 2B show a mobile pharmacy compounding system 100 according to an embodiment of the application. Figure 1 shows a plan view of the mobile pharmacy compounding system 100 in an expanded position, and Figure 2A and 2B show side views of the mobile pharmacy compounding system 100 along the A-A’ direction in Figure 1 in the expanded position and in a retracted position, respectively. The mobile pharmacy compounding system 100 can provide space for pharmacy compounding related facilities and devices, intravenous drugs and/or other materials, and provide working space for pharmacy compounding related operators (e.g. pharmacists, pharmacy compounding staffs, doctors, nurses and assisting staffs, etc. ) .

As shown in Figures 1, 2A and 2B, the mobile pharmacy compounding system 100 includes a first module 101 having a first housing 105 defining a first inner space 103. In certain embodiments, when seen from above, the first housing 105 may be rectangular, square or hexagon in shape, or have other suitable shapes. Unless specified otherwise, the shape of the first housing 105 or other housings described herein refers to the shape of the housings in the plan view (seen from above, as shown in Figure 1) , which is substantially the same as the shape of the bottom side of the first housing 105.

The mobile pharmacy compounding system 100 further includes a second module 121 having a second housing 125 defining a second inner space 123. The second module 121 is a prefabricated unit. The prefabricated unit means that the second module 121 is packed in advance with various equipment and facilities pre-disposed in the second housing 125 and can “plug and play” without any further processing. As a prefabricated unit, the second module 121 can be constructed as a hermetical structure, thus ensuring that the cleanliness of the second inner space 123 meets the cleanliness requirement under relevant pharmacy compounding controls or standards.

The size of the second housing 125 is smaller than that of the first housing 105 so that the second housing 125 can be moved in or out of the first housing 105. In certain embodiments, as shown in Figure 1, the first housing 105 has a rectangular shape with four side walls, the bottom side and the top side. The first housing 105 has a first connection opening 109 on its first wall 107, which is sized to allow the second housing 125 passing therethrough. For example, the width of the first connection opening 109 is equal to or greater than that of the second housing 125, and the height of the first connection opening 109 is also equal to or greater than that of the second housing 125. In certain embodiments, the external width and height of the second housing 125 are equal to the inner width and height of the first housing 105, respectively. Therefore, the first connection opening 109 occupies the whole area of the first wall 107, thus the physical structure of the first wall 107 can be omitted. In some other embodiments, the first connection opening 109 can occupy only a portion of the first wall 107.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 1, the first connection opening 109 substantially occupies the whole area of the first wall 107. In this situation, the outer surfaces of

side walls

127 and 129, the top side 131 and the bottom side of the second housing 125 are substantially flush to the corresponding faces of the first housing 105 (i.e. the inner surfaces of

side walls

111 and 113, the top side 116 and the bottom side) , respectively, thus maximizing the space of the second inner space 123 defined by the second housing 125. In certain embodiments, when the second housing 125 is completely moved into the first housing 105, or when the second housing 125 is moved out of the first housing 105, the first connection opening 109 can be hermetically closed by the corresponding faces of the second housing 125 to maintain the air cleanliness in the first inner space 103.

The structure of the second housing 125 will be further described below with reference to Figures 2A and 2B. The second housing 125 substantially moves in a normal direction of the first connection opening 109, e.g. moves horizontally (in the direction shown by arrows in Figure 2A and 2B) , thereby moving into or out of the first housing 105. In order to clearly show the connection relationship between the first housing 105 and the second housing 125, an additional module 138 in Figure 1 is omitted in the side views shown in Figures 2A and 2B. In certain embodiments, the mobile pharmacy compounding system 100 may include a sliding device (not shown) such as a sliding guide. The sliding device is used for slidably attaching the first housing 105 to the second housing 125 so that the second housing 125 can be moved between the expanded position shown in Figure 2A and the retracted position shown in Figure 2B. The second housing 125 is accommodated in the first housing 105 when in the retracted position, as is shown in Figure 2B. The second housing 125 is moved out of the first housing 105 when in the expanded position, as is shown in Figure 2A. In a preferred embodiment, the widths of the

side walls

127 and 129 of the second housing 125 are substantially equal to or less than those of the

side walls

111 and 113 of the first housing 105. Thus, when the second housing 125 is moved into the first housing 105, the second housing 125 can be completely accommodated in the first housing 105 (as shown in Figure 2B) . When the second housing 125 is moved to the expanded position as shown in Figure 2A, the second housing 125 is substantially moved out of the first housing 105, thereby minimizing the occupancy of the first inner space 103.

In certain embodiments, the sliding device may include a removable support beam. When the second housing 125 is moved out of the first housing 105, the support beam can be disposed at the bottom side of the second housing 125 to support it, thus avoiding leaning or distorting of the second housing 125 relative to the first housing 105 due to suspension of its bottom side.

In certain embodiments, a second connection opening (not shown) is disposed on the side wall 111 adjacent to and perpendicular to the first wall 107 of the first housing 105. The width of the second connection opening is equal or greater than that of the side wall 127 of the second housing 125, thus allowing the second housing 125 moving into or out of the first housing 105 therethrough. The second connection opening can be sized and shaped to be hermetically closed by the second housing 125 when the second housing 125 is moved out of or into the first housing 105, thus maintaining the cleanliness of the first inner space 103.

Furthermore, the sliding device for slidably attaching the first housing 105 to the second housing 125 can be a bi-directional sliding device, which is configured so that the second housing 125 can move either in the normal direction of the first connection opening 109, or in the normal direction of the second connection opening on the side wall 111. In other words, the mobile pharmacy compounding system 100 has two operable expansion manners. The first expansion manner is that the second housing 125 can be moved out of the first housing 105 from its length side. The second expansion manner is that the second housing 125 can be moved out of the first housing 105 from its width side. The bi-directional sliding device thus allows the mobile pharmacy compounding system to expand according to the specific environment condition where it resides.

In certain embodiments, both the first housing 105 and the second housing 125 are rectangular in shape with substantially the same length. Then the second housing 125 can be moved out of the first housing 105 from its length side to form a “＝” -shaped arrangement.

In certain embodiments, both the first housing 105 and the second housing 125 are rectangular in shape, and the second housing 125 has a length shorter than that of the first housing 105. Then the second housing 125 can be moved out of the first housing 105 to form an L-shaped or a T-shaped arrangement. In particular, when the first connection opening 109 is located at one end of the length side of the first housing 105, the second housing 125 can be moved out from the end of the length side of the first housing 105 to form the L-shaped arrangement. Moreover, when the first connection opening 109 is located in the middle of the length side of the first housing 105, the second housing 125 is moved out from the middle of the length side of the first housing 105 to form the T-shaped arrangement.

In some other embodiments, one of the first housing 105 and the second housing 125 is rectangular in shape, and the other is square in shape. For example, the first housing 105 is rectangular in shape and the second housing 125 is square in shape, or vice versa, thus allowing the second housing 125 to be moved out of the first housing 105 to form the L-shaped or T-shaped arrangement. Specifically, when the first connection opening 109 is located at one end of the first wall 107 of the first housing 105, the second housing 125 can be moved out of the first housing 105 to form the L-shaped arrangement. Moreover, when the first connection opening 109 is located in the middle of the first wall 107 of the first housing 105, the second housing 125 can be moved out of the first housing 105 to form the T-shaped arrangement.

In certain embodiments, when the second housing 125 is in the expanded position, the second wall 133 is substantially in parallel with the first wall 107. In addition, the second wall 133 is usually retained in the first housing 105. When the second housing 125 is in the retracted position or the expanded position, the first connection opening 109 is hermetically closed by the second housing 125, i.e., the first connection opening 109 and the second housing 125 are hermetically connected together to avoid or reduce external contaminants entering the first inner space 103. The second housing 125 has an opening 135 on the second wall 133. When the second housing 125 is in the expanded position, the first inner space 103 is allowed to communicate with the second inner space 123 through the opening 135. In certain embodiments, the opening 135 is sized to at least allow people to pass therethrough so that the operators can move between the first inner space 103 and the second inner space 123. Preferably, the opening 135 is also sized to allow materials (e.g. drugs to be compounded or compounded drugs, etc) passing therethrough. For example, materials can be delivered by a conveyer device between the first internal space 103 and the second inner space 123.

Besides the opening 135, one or more additional openings can be disposed on the side walls of the second housing 125, e.g. an additional opening 137 on the side wall 127. These additional openings may allow the second module 121 to connect with one or more additional modules, or allow people and/or materials to move between the second inner space 123 and the outside. In certain embodiments, the additional openings can also be used as emergency exit for evacuation in case of emergency. A sealing door can be disposed on the additional opening of the second housing 125, e.g. on the additional opening 137, to close it when the second housing 125 is not connected with the additional module. Preferably, the sealing door hermetically closes the additional opening.

Similarly, one or more additional openings can also be disposed on the side walls of the first housing 105. These additional openings may allow the first module 101 to connect with one or more additional modules, or allow people and/or materials to move between the first inner space 103 and the outside, or as the emergency exit for evacuation in case of emergency. For example, the additional opening 115 is disposed on the side wall 111 of the first housing 105. An additional module 138 is connected to the first housing 105 of the first module 101 through the additional opening 115, e.g. for moving materials into and out of the first inner space 103. In this situation, the additional module 138 is used as a buffering channel for the materials to move into and out of the first inner space 103. Similarly, an additional opening 117 is disposed on the side wall 113 of the first housing 105, and an additional module 139 is connected to the first housing 105 through the additional opening 117, e.g. for the operators to enter and exit the first inner space 103. In this situation, the additional module 139 is used as a buffering channel for the operators to enter and exit the first inner space 103.

In certain embodiments, the additional module may include a functional room or functional area for pharmacy compounding. Then the mobile pharmacy compounding system can expand its compounding space by connecting to the additional module through its additional opening, thus improving the pharmacy compounding capability.

In certain embodiments, the additional module may include a functional area for storing pharmacy. The mobile pharmacy compounding system can increase its drug storing space by connecting to the additional module through its additional opening, thus increasing its drug storing capability and reducing the frequency of delivering drug supply.

In certain embodiments, the additional module may include a functional area for other purposes, e.g. a functional area for training purpose. In brief, by providing the additional openings and connecting to additional modules through the additional openings, the expansibility of the mobile pharmacy compounding system can be improved.

One or more material delivery openings may be disposed on the walls of the first housing 105 and the second housing 125. The material delivery openings are sized to allow the materials passing therethrough, but not to allow people to pass therethrough or at least making it difficult for people to pass therethrough. For example, the material delivery opening can be shaped and sized to allow a conveyer belt to pass through or to install a two-way interlock transferring window such as the transferring

windows

171 and 179 shown in Figure 1 to deliver materials between the first inner space 103 and the second inner space 123. Thus, the material delivery openings provide an independent material delivery channel, which is helpful for improving the material delivering efficiency, and easy to make a suitable and flexible layout of the functional area in the mobile pharmacy compounding system and to install various facilities and equipment therein.

In addition, in certain embodiments, at least a portion of the areas of the first housing 105 and the second housing 125 can be provided with electricity, water, communication and/or ventilation ducts or wires (not shown) . Electricity, water, communication or air can be provided through these ducts or wires from outside to the facilities or devices in the first module 101 and the second module 121. These ducts may be disposed inside or outside the housings, or in an interlayer of the walls of the housings, e.g. an interlayer 140 shown in Figure 2.

The inner space of the first module 101 and the second module 121 can accommodate the facilities and devices, drugs or other materials of the mobile pharmacy compounding system 100, and provide working space for the operators. The second module 121 is a prefabricated unit whose internal structure and layout is pre-determined. The first module 101 is not a prefabricated module whose internal structure and layout can be adaptively configured and adjusted according to actual needs. For example, the internal structure and layout of the first module 101 can be adjusted after transporting the mobile pharmacy compounding system 100 to a hospital or other medical service places and gets ready to be expanded. At least a portion of the inner space 103 is occupied by the second module 121 when the mobile pharmacy compounding system 100 is in the retracted position. When the mobile pharmacy compounding system 100 is in the expanded position, the second housing 125 is moved out of the first housing 105, releasing the portion of the first inner space 103 occupied by the second housing 125. Therefore, the internal structure and layout of the first module 101 can be configured based on the actual needs after the mobile pharmacy compounding system 100 is expanded. For example, the functional area of the first inner space 103 can be divided and the facilities and equipments can be disposed within the divided first inner space 103 accordingly.

Figure 1 shows an exemplary configuration when the mobile pharmacy compounding system 100 according to the embodiment of the present application is in the expanded position. The exemplary configuration of the mobile pharmacy compounding system 100 will be specifically described below with reference to Figure 1.

In the mobile pharmacy compounding system 100, the second module 121 is mainly used for pharmacy compounding, and the air cleanliness class of at least a portion of the second inner space 123 should generally meet the cleanliness requirement under relevant pharmacy compounding controls or standards. In certain embodiments, the cleanliness class of the second inner space 123 is equal to or higher than Class ISO 8 under the ISO 14644-1 standard (unless specified otherwise, the cleanliness classes mentioned below all refer to the cleanliness class in accordance to the ISO 14644-1 standard) .

In certain embodiments, the second inner space 123 can be divided into different functional areas or functional rooms, e.g. gowning rooms, pharmacy compounding rooms, etc. These functional areas or functional rooms may have different cleanliness classes to meet different operational needs. For example, the cleanliness class of a gowning room can be equal to or higher than Class ISO 8, the cleanliness class of a pharmacy compounding room can be equal to or higher than Class ISO 7, and the cleanliness class of a horizontal laminar flow clean workbench and a biological safety cabinet in the pharmacy compounding room can be equal to or higher than Class ISO 5, etc. It should be noted that the first cleanliness class and other cleanliness classes mentioned below all refer to the internal cleanliness class at corresponding places when the mobile pharmacy compounding system operates normally, but not the cleanliness class when the system does not operate or operate abnormally (e.g. during transportation) .

In certain embodiments, the second module 121 includes a first functional room 141 and a second functional room 143 in the second housing 125. The first functional room 141 is located between the opening 135 of the second housing 125 and the second functional room 143. In certain embodiments, the cleanliness class of the first functional room 141 is equal to or higher than Class ISO 8, while the cleanliness class of the second functional room 143 is usually higher than that of the first functional room 141, e.g. equal to or higher than Class ISO 7.

The first functional room 141 includes a gowning room for the operators to change clothes so as to avoid bringing dusts, germs or other contaminants into the second functional room 143. For example, the operators can wash hands, wear hats and masks, change shoes and clean clothes, and wear gloves in the gowning room. Preferably, the first functional room 141 may have an air shower device. In certain embodiments, as shown in Figure 1, the gowning room further includes a first gowning room 145 and a second gowning room 147. The first gowning room 145 is adjacent to the opening 135, and the second gowning room 147 is adjacent to the second functional room 143. The first gowning room 145 is used for the operators to wash hands, wear hats and masks, change shoes and clothes, etc. The cleanliness class of the first gowning room 145 can be equal to or higher than Class ISO 8. The second gowning room 147 is used for the operators to change clean clothes, wear gloves and re-disinfect their hands, etc. The cleanliness class of the second gowning room 147 can be equal to or higher than Class ISO 7.

Accordingly, the first functional room 141 may have water tanks, lockers, cabinets etc. In certain embodiments, devices can be secured to the walls of the second housing 125. The term “secure” used herein includes removable fixation, e.g. secured by a fastener (e.g. bolts) , and irremovable fixation, e.g. secured by welding. Therefore, based on the needs of the actual arrangement, the devices can be removed from certain places and secured to other places of the second housing 125. It will be readily appreciated that the number of the gowning rooms and the internal arrangement of the gowning rooms in the first functional room 141 can be adjusted according to the requirements of the pharmacy compounding systems in different countries.

In certain embodiments, as shown in Figure 1, the second functional room 143 includes a pharmacy compounding room for processing non-controlled drugs or controlled drugs. The term “controlled drugs” used herein means drugs to be compounded that contain one or more cytotoxic drugs or antibiotics, and the drugs to be compounded may or may not contain one or more other drug components. The term “non-controlled drugs” used herein means drugs to be compounded that do not contain any cytotoxic drugs and antibiotics.

The air pressure of the second functional room 143 is higher than that of the first functional room 141, e.g. 5-10 Pa higher, to prevent air in the first functional room 141 with lower air cleanliness from flowing into the second functional room 143 and affecting the air cleanliness of the second functional room 143. The second functional room 143 can have a horizontal laminar flow clean workbench 155 whose cleanliness class is equal to or higher than Class ISO 5. And the operators can compound or admix the non-controlled drugs on the horizontal laminar flow clean workbench 155. The horizontal laminar flow clean workbench 155 is secured to the walls of the second housing 125, e.g. the side walls and/or the bottom side of the second housing 125. For example, the bottom of the horizontal laminar flow clean workbench 155 can be secured to the bottom side of the second housing 125 using fasteners such as bolts, buckles, etc. During the transportation of the mobile pharmacy compounding system 100, in order to avoid the horizontal laminar flow clean workbench 155 from falling, safety hooks (not shown) can be disposed on an upper part of the horizontal laminar flow clean workbench 155 and the hooks can be connected to the side walls of the second housing 125 through ropes. Thus the secured horizontal laminar flow clean workbench 155 will not move relative to the second housing 125, avoiding damage to the horizontal laminar flow clean workbench 155 due to accidental shake or shift during the transportation of the mobile pharmacy compounding system 100.

Alternatively, the second functional room 143 may have a biological safety cabinet (not shown) for compounding or admixing the controlled drugs. Similarly, the biological safety cabinet can be secured to the walls of the second housing 125 and connected to the second housing 125 through the safety hooks on an upper part of the biological safety cabinet to avoid accidental shift or shake of the biological safety cabinet during the transportation of the system 100.

The first module 101 is mainly used as an area for reviewing prescriptions, preparing and dispensing compounded drugs. The cleanliness of the first inner space 103 can be lower than that of the second inner space 123. For example, the cleanliness of the first inner space 103 may be substantially equal to or slightly higher than the cleanliness of the external air. In certain embodiments, an air conditioning system can be provided with the first module 101 to regulate air conditions (e.g. temperature, humidity, cleanliness and/or pressure, etc) in the first inner space 103.

In some other embodiments, the area for preparing and dispensing drugs may be disposed in the second module, e.g. in a buffering area set between the first functional room and the opening connecting to the first module (not shown) .

In certain embodiments, the first module 101 includes a third functional area 161 and a fourth functional area 163 located in the first housing 105. The third functional area 161 can have tables and chairs, computers, printers or other office equipment, where the pharmacists or doctors can review the prescription and dispense the drugs (including preparing drugs to be compounded and/or dispensing the compounded drugs) . At least a portion of the devices in the third functional area 161, e.g. the tables and chairs, can be secured to the walls of the first housing 105. The fourth functional area 163 can have shelves such as drug racks, drug cabinets or storage cabinets. The operators in the fourth functional area 163 can do some preparation work such as unpacking and sorting the materials, e.g. drugs, medical devices or other consumables, and placing them on the corresponding places of the shelves.

In certain embodiments, the third functional area 161, the fourth functional area 163 or other functional areas in the first housing 105 can be separated by dividers (with or without doors, windows and material delivery openings) so as to separate the functional areas in a relatively closed manner. In some other embodiments, the functional areas in the first housing 105 can be separated merely by arranging the tables and chairs, and office equipment, but not by the dividers.

Besides the third functional area 161 and the fourth functional area 163, the first module 101 may also include other functional areas. For example, the first module 101 may include a fifth functional area for training purpose. The pharmacy compounding staffs can conduct training in the fifth functional area. Accordingly, the fifth functional area can have tables and chairs, projectors, computers or other training facilities or equipment. These facilities or devices can be secured to the first housing 105.

In operation, the drugs or other materials stored in the first module 101 need to be delivered to the second module 121 to conduct compounding in the second module 121. Furthermore, the compounded drugs need to be delivered into the first module 101 so as to be dispensed to corresponding staffs through, for example, a drug output window 179 on the side wall 119. Accordingly, the mobile pharmacy compounding system 100 also has a conveyer device 171 for delivering drugs to be compounded and compounded drugs between the first module 101 and the second module 121. The conveyer device 171 is configured between the first module 101 and the second module 121 to deliver materials, e.g. the drugs to be compounded and the compounded drugs. In the embodiment shown in Figure 1, the conveyer device is disposed at the material delivery opening of the second wall 133 and configured as a two-way interlock transferring window or other similar structures to facilitate delivery of the drugs between the first inner space 103 and the second inner space 123, and maximally reduce contamination to the second inner space 123.

Still referring to Figure 1, uses of the mobile pharmacy compounding system 100 will be further elaborated below.

Drugs or other materials can be delivered into the first inner space 103 through the additional opening 115, and stored in the fourth functional area 163. The operators can enter into the first inner space 103 through the additional opening 117. The doctors or pharmacists responsible for prescription review, drug arrangement and dispense may work in the third functional area 161, and the pharmacists (or compounding staffs) responsible for drug compounding may work in the pharmacy compounding room 143.

In the fourth functional area 163, after the pharmacists responsible for reviewing the prescription confirm the prescription, the pharmacists responsible for sorting the drugs pick up the corresponding drugs to be compounded according to the prescription and put the drugs to be compounded to the second module 121 through the two-way interlock transferring window 171. The compounding staffs in the pharmacy compounding room 143 get the drugs to be compounded and put them on the horizontal laminar flow clean workbench 155. The compounding staffs handle the pharmacy compounding on the horizontal laminar flow clean workbench 155 to finish the pharmacy compounding according to the prescriptions. After pharmacy compounding, the compounding staffs place the compounded drugs into corresponding containers (e.g. baskets, plates, packaging bags or boxes) and send the compounded drugs out of the pharmacy compounding room 143 through the two-way interlock transferring window 171. Finally, the dispensing pharmacists take the compounded drugs from the two-way interlock transferring window 171 and dispense the drugs through the drug output window 179 and complete the whole process of pharmacy compounding.

In certain embodiments, the first and the second modules have light-pervious structures at or inside the housings. For example, the light-pervious structures can be constructed as doors or windows where the light-pervious structures are made of explosion-proof glass. Preferably, the above light-pervious structures may be covered by an explosion-proof film to reduce the risk of burst of the light-pervious structures during transportation or installation, thus enhancing the safety during use.

In certain embodiments, the mobile pharmacy compounding system of the application can be made by re-configuring used containers, or constructed de novo using suitable boards. For example, the boards for constructing the side walls, the top side or bottom side of the first housing or the second housing can be made of steel, aluminum alloy or fiber glass-reinforced plastics. In addition, different numbers of dividers can be included in the housings to separate different functional areas or spaces. The dividers can have doors and/or windows that can allow people or materials moving between different functional areas. It should be noted that, for simplicity, the drawings attached hereto may not show all the openings, doors or windows on the housing walls or the dividers in the housings.

As can be seen from above, the mobile pharmacy compounding systems of the present application can be put in any environment or place with certain area such as a yard, parking lot or other places rather than fixed or constructed in a building. Moreover, as the second module can be movably accommodated in the first module and the whole size of the retracted mobile pharmacy compounding system is relatively small, the mobile pharmacy compounding system is convenient for transportation. Furthermore, the modularized mobile pharmacy compounding systems may be transformed and upgraded by replacing some modules, thus further enhancing the expansibility, usability and service life of the systems.

In practice, the internal structure and layout of the mobile pharmacy compounding system of the present application can be adaptively modified and altered in various ways according to actual needs. Figure 3 shows a plan view of a mobile pharmacy compounding system 200 in an expanded position according to another embodiment of the application.

As shown in Figure 3, the mobile pharmacy compounding system 200 includes a first module 201 have a first housing 205 defining a first inner space 203. When seen from above, the first housing 205 may be rectangular or square in shape, which is identical to the shape of its bottom side.

The mobile pharmacy compounding system 200 further includes a second module 221 having a second housing 225 defining a second inner space 223. The second module 221 is a prefabricated unit. The size of the second housing 225 is smaller than that of the first housing such that the second housing 225 can be moved into or out of the first housing 205.

The first housing 205 has a first connection opening 209 on its first wall 207, which is sized to allow the second housing 225 to pass therethrough. When the second housing 225 is completely moved into the first housing 205 or out of the first housing 205, the first connection opening 209 can be closed by the second housing 225. When the second housing 225 is in the expanded position, a second wall 233 is substantially flush to the first wall 207. In the embodiment shown in Figure 3, the width of the second wall 233 is substantially equal to that of the first connection opening 209, but the height of the second wall 233 is lower than that of the first wall 209. When in the expanded position shown in Figure 3, the second wall 233 is substantially flush to the first wall 207, and the first wall 207 and the second wall 233 are at the same level. In the plan view of Figure 3, the first wall 207 and the second wall 233 are simplified to be at the same straight line.

The second housing 225 has an opening 235 on the second wall 233. When the second housing 225 is in the expanded position, the first inner space 203 is allowed to communicate with the second inner space 223 through the opening 235. Besides the opening 235, one or more additional openings can be located on the side walls of the second housing 225, e.g. an additional opening 237 on a side wall 227. Similarly, one or more additional openings can also be disposed on the side walls of the first housing 205. For example, an additional opening 215 is disposed on a side wall 211 of the first housing 205.

In practice, the inner space of the first module 201 and the second module 221 can accommodate facilities, drugs or other materials of the mobile pharmacy compounding system 200, as well as providing working space for the operators. The second module 221 is a prefabricated unit whose internal structure and layout is pre-determined, e.g. determined when designing, producing or assembling the mobile pharmacy compounding system 200. The first module 201 is not a prefabricated unit, and its internal structure and layout can be adaptively configured and adjusted according to the actual needs. For example, the internal structure and layout of the first module 201 can be adjusted after transportation of the mobile pharmacy compounding system 200 to a hospital or other medical service places and ready for expansion, including securing the facilities or devices to the areas as needed. At least a portion of the first inner space 203 is occupied by the second housing 225 when the mobile pharmacy compounding system 200 is in the retracted position. When the mobile pharmacy compounding system 200 is in the expanded position, the second housing 225 is moved out of the first housing 205, thereby releasing the portion of the first inner space 203 originally occupied by the second housing 225. Therefore, the internal structure and layout of the first module 201 can be configured based on the actual needs after the mobile pharmacy compounding system 200 is expanded.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 3, the second module 221 includes a first functional room 241 and a second functional room 243 in the second housing 225. The cleanliness class of the first functional room 241 is equal to or higher than Class ISO 8, and the cleanliness of the second functional room 243 is usually higher than that of the first functional room 241, e.g. equal to or higher than Class ISO 7. The first functional room 241 is located between the opening 235 and the second functional room 243.

In certain embodiments, the first functional room 241 can include a first gowning room 245 and a second gowning room 247. The first gowning room 245 is adjacent to the opening 235, and the second gowning room 247 is adjacent to the second functional room 243. The second functional room 243 includes a first pharmacy compounding room 249 and a second pharmacy compounding room 251. The operators may process the non-controlled drugs in the first pharmacy compounding room 249, and process the controlled drugs in the second pharmacy compounding room 251.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 3, the first pharmacy compounding room 249 is adjacent to the first functional 241, and the second pharmacy compounding room 251 is adjacent to the additional opening 237. Preferably, the second functional room 243 may also include a buffering room 253 between the first pharmacy compounding room 249 and the second pharmacy compounding room 251, and the compounding staffs can change clothes or do other preparation work in the buffering room 253. In certain embodiments, the air pressure in the first pharmacy compounding room 249 is higher than the outside pressure to prevent the outside air with low cleanliness from entering into the first pharmacy compounding room 249. In certain embodiments, in case that the first pharmacy compounding room 249 is adjacent to the second pharmacy compounding room 251, the air pressure in the first pharmacy compounding room 249 is higher than that of the second pharmacy compounding room 251. Thus, the air (possibly containing a small amount of controlled drugs) in the second pharmacy compounding room 251 will not leak or diffuse into the first pharmacy compounding room 249. Similarly, in certain embodiments, the air pressure in the second pharmacy compounding room 251 is lower than the outside pressure to prevent controlled substances from leaking or diffusing to the outside.

For pharmacy compounding, the first pharmacy compounding room 249 can include a horizontal laminar flow clean workbench 255 secured to the walls of the second housing 225, e.g. the side wall, the bottom side and/or the top side of the second housing 225. The cleanliness class of the horizontal laminar flow clean workbench is equal to or higher than Class ISO 5. Similarly, the second pharmacy compounding room 251 can include a biological safety cabinet 257 secured to the wall of the second housing 225, e.g. the side wall, the bottom side and/or the top side of the second housing 225. For example, the bottom of the biological safety cabinet 257 can be secured by nuts to the bolts at the bottom side of the second housing 225. Furthermore, safety hooks can also be provided on the upper part of the biological safety cabinet 257 and the hooks can connect the biological safety cabinet 257 to the side walls of the second housing 225 through ropes during the transportation of the mobile pharmacy compounding system 200. Alternatively, the top of the biological safety cabinet 257 can be secured to the top side of the second housing 225 using hooks.

One or more material delivery openings 273 can be disposed on the first wall 205 and the second wall 225. The material delivery openings 273 are sized to allow the materials passing therethrough, but not to allow people to pass therethrough or at least making it difficult for people to pass therethrough. For example, the material delivery openings 273 can be shaped and sized to allow a conveyer belt passing therethrough or to install a two-way interlock transferring window for delivering materials. Thus, the material delivering openings 273 provide an independent material conveying channel, which is helpful for improving the material delivery efficiency, enhancing the flexibility of arranging the functional area in the mobile pharmacy compounding system and facilitating the installation of facilities and equipment.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 3, the mobile pharmacy compounding system 200 comprises a conveyer device 271 for transferring materials between the first module 201 and the second module 221. The conveyer device 271 is constructed as a conveyer belt passing through the second wall 233 of the second housing 225. Specifically, the conveyer belt 271 can pass through the second wall 233 via the material delivery opening 273. Preferably, an air shower can also be disposed at the material delivery opening 273 for cleaning the conveyer belt 271 and the delivered materials at the material delivery opening 273, thereby avoiding or reducing the introduction of contaminants into the second module 221 during the conveying process.

Specifically, the conveyer belt 271 includes an input channel from the first module 201 to the second module 221, and an output channel from the second module 221 to the first module 201. In the embodiments shown in Figure 3, the input channel of the conveyer belt 271 successively passes through the first module 201, the second gowning room 247, the first pharmacy compounding room 249, the buffering room 253 and the second pharmacy compounding room 251. In certain embodiments, the input channel may not extend into the second pharmacy compounding room 251 but ends at the first pharmacy compounding room 249, only delivering the controlled drugs and non-controlled drugs to the first pharmacy compounding room 249. In that case, some other conveyer devices such as a two-way interlock transferring window can be disposed between the first pharmacy compounding room 249 and the buffering room 253 and between the buffering room 253 and the second pharmacy compounding room 251, to further provide the controlled drugs or other materials to the second pharmacy compounding room 251. In the following embodiments, the input channel ends at the buffering room 253, and other conveyer devices such as the two-way interlock transferring window are disposed between the buffering room 253 and the second pharmacy compounding room 251, to provide the controlled drugs and other materials to the second pharmacy compounding room 251.

Similarly, a start point of the output channel is located in the second module 221, e.g. in the first pharmacy compounding room 249 or the second pharmacy compounding room 251. An end point of the output channel is located in the first module 201, preferably at a drug output window 279 adjacent to the end point. Thus, the operators can dispense the compounded drugs conveyed by the conveyer belt 271 directly via the drug output window 279.

Preferably, the compounded non-controlled drugs and controlled drugs are put into containers (e.g. baskets, plates, packaging bags or boxes) having different colors, shapes, marks or sizes, and are conveyed to the first module 201 through different conveyer devices. The conveyer belt used herein can be a draper conveyer belt with a traction member, a roller conveyer device without a traction member, or other suitable structures. In certain embodiments, the conveyer device may include a two-way interlock transferring window or other similar structures. The two-way interlock transferring window is disposed at the walls where the material delivery channel passes through, e.g. the walls between the first pharmacy compounding room 249 and the buffering room 253, and the walls between the buffering room 253 and the second pharmacy compounding room 251 so as to reduce the cross contamination between different areas or modules during delivery of drugs or other materials.

The space of the mobile pharmacy compounding system in the embodiments of the present application can be increased by connecting to additional modules, thus improving the pharmacy compounding capability of the system. The advantages of the embodiments of the present application will be further described below.

Figures 4 to 7 show a mobile pharmacy compounding system 300 according to another embodiment of the present application. Figure 4 shows a plan view of the mobile pharmacy compounding system 300 in an expanded position. Figure 5A and 5B are two exemplary structures of foldable plates of a third module of the mobile pharmacy compounding system 300. Figure 6 shows a plan view of the mobile pharmacy compounding system 300 in the B-B’ direction in Figure 4. Figure 7 shows a configuration of ventilation ducts of a second module used in the mobile pharmacy compounding system 300 of Figure 4.

As shown in Figure 4, the mobile pharmacy compounding system 300 includes a first module 301 having a first housing 305 defining a first inner space 303. The first housing 305 is rectangular in shape. The shape of the first housing 305 refers to the shape in the plan view, which is substantially identical to the bottom shape of the first housing 305.

The mobile pharmacy compounding system 300 also includes a second module 321 having a second housing 325 defining a second inner space 323. The second module 321 is a prefabricated unit. The size of the second housing 325 is smaller than that of the first housing 305, thus it can be moved into or out of the first housing 305. The first housing 305 has a connection opening 309 on its first wall 307, which is sized to allow the second housing 325 to pass therethrough. In certain embodiments, the second housing 325 can be slidably attached to the first housing 305 via a sliding device (not shown) so that the second housing 325 can be moved between an expanded position (as shown in Figure 4) and a retracted position. When in the expanded position, the second housing 325 is substantially moved out of the first housing 305 and connected with the first housing 305 only at the connection opening 309, thus minimizing the occupancy of the first inner space 303.

The second housing 325 has

openings

335 and 336 on a second wall 333. When the second housing 325 is in the expanded position, the connection opening 309 is hermetically closed by the second housing 325 to avoid or reduce external contaminants entering into the first inner space 303. When the second housing 325 is in the expanded position, the first inner space 303 is allowed to communicate with the second inner space 323 via the

openings

335 and 336. In certain embodiments, the

openings

335 and 336 are sized to at least allow people passing therethrough so that the operators can move between the first inner space 303 and the second inner space 323. Preferably, the

openings

335 and 336 can also be sized and shaped to allow materials (e.g. drugs to be compounded or compounded drugs, etc) passing therethrough. For example, a conveyer device may be disposed at the

openings

335 and 336 to deliver materials between the first inner space 303 and the second inner space 323.

The mobile pharmacy compounding system 300 also includes a third module 381 formed by foldable plates made of metals, fiber glass-reinforced plastics, plastics, glass, multiplexor other suitable materials. The foldable plates of the third module 381 are pivotally connected to the first housing 305 and can be folded into the first housing 305.

In certain embodiments, the third module 381 is formed by four foldable plates including one two-piece plate and three one-piece plates. As shown in Figures 5A and 5B, the one-piece plate refers to a single plate with one of its two ends pivotally connected to the first housing 305, and the single plate can rotate about a pivot relative to the first housing 305. For example,

foldable plates

84 and 94 are the one-piece plates. The two-piece plate refers to two pivotally connected plates, wherein one free end of one of the two connected plates is pivotally connected to the first housing 305. For example,

foldable plates

81 and 91 are the two-piece plates.

In certain embodiments, when all of the foldable plates of the third module 381 are expanded, at least a portion of the foldable plates extend out of the first module 301 and are positioned close to each other or lapping with each other at their edges. Preferably, the close or lapping edges of these foldable plates can be fixed together by fasteners (e.g. shackles, pins or bolts, etc) so that these fixedly connected foldable plates form a third housing 385 of the third module 381 defining a third inner space 383. The third inner space 383 is communicated with the first inner space 303, thus expanding the internal space of the mobile pharmacy compounding system 300. In certain embodiments, a divider 391 can be disposed between the third housing 385 and the first housing 305, thus separating the first inner space 303 from the third inner space 383. In addition, one or more doors, windows and/or openings can be disposed on the divider 391 so that the operators and/or materials can move between the first inner space 303 and the third inner space 383.

Figure 5A shows an exemplary structure of a portion of the foldable plates in the third module 381 of Figure 4. To simply illustrate the structure of the third module, the internal structure and devices of the mobile pharmacy compounding system are omitted in Figure 5A.

As shown in Figure 5A, the two-piece plate 81 has two

foldable plates

81A and 81B, wherein one end of the foldable plate 81A is connected to the first housing 305 via a pivot 82, the other end of the foldable plate 81A is connected to the foldable plate 81B via a pivot 83. The two-piece plate 81 can rotate subsequently in the directions of arrows a and b, thus rotating from the initial state I to the intermediate state II, further to the final state III. In the final state III, the foldable plate 81A is substantially in parallel with the horizontal plane as the top side of the third housing, and the foldable plate 81B is substantially perpendicular to the foldable plate 81A as the side wall of the third housing opposite to the first housing 305. The one-piece plate 84 is connected to the first housing 305 via a pivot 85, and it can rotate in the direction of arrow c, thus rotating from a retracted state IV to a final state V. In the final state V, the one-piece plate 84 is substantially in parallel with the horizontal plane as the bottom side of the third housing. Although not shown in the figure, in a similar manner, the other two one-piece plates of the third module are connected to the first housing 305 respectively, and can rotate to the surface perpendicular to the pivot 82 and pivot 85, forming another two side walls of the third housing 385 (i.e. left and

right side walls

387 and 389 in Figure 4) .

Figure 5B shows another exemplary structure of a portion of the foldable plate of the third module 381. To simply illustrate the structure of the third module, the internal structure and devices of the mobile pharmacy compounding system are omitted.

As shown in Figure 5B, a two-piece plate 91 comprises two

foldable plates

91A and 91B, wherein one end of the foldable plate 91A is connected to the first housing 305 via a pivot 92, and the other end of the foldable plate 91A is connected to the foldable plate 91B via a pivot 93. The two-piece plate 91 can rotate in the directions of arrows a and b in order, thus rotating from an initial state I to an intermediate state II and further to a final state III. In the final state III, the foldable plate 91A is substantially in parallel with the horizontal plane and functions as a bottom side of the third housing. The foldable plate 91B is substantially perpendicular to the foldable plate 91A and functions as a side wall of the third housing opposite to the first housing 305. The one-piece plate 94 is connected to the first housing 305 via a pivot 95, and it can rotate in the direction of arrow c, thus rotating from a retracted state IV to a final state V. In the final state V, the one-piece plate 94 is substantially in parallel with the horizontal plane and functions as a top side of the third housing. Although not shown in the figure, in a similar manner, the other two one-piece plates of the third module can be connected to the first housing 305, respectively, and can rotate to the surface perpendicular to the pivot 92 and pivot 95, thereby forming another two side walls of the third housing 385 (i. e. left and

right side walls

387 and 389 in Figure 4) .

It should be noted that the foldable plate structures shown in Figures 5A and 5B are only exemplary, and in practice, the third housing 385 can be formed by any suitable foldable plates. For example, the two-

piece plates

81 and 91 can be divided into two, three or more pieces to form the top side (or bottom side) of the third housing 385 and the side wall opposite to the first housing 305. Alternatively, the one-

piece plates

84, 94 can be divided into two, three or more pieces to form the bottom side (top side) of the third housing 385. These foldable plates can be folded into the first housing 305, and folded out of the first housing 305 to form the third housing 385 connected to the first housing when the mobile pharmacy compounding system 300 is expanded.

Yet as shown in Figure 4, in certain embodiments, one or more openings 392 can be disposed on the foldable plates of the third module 381 to allow the third module 381 to connect to one or more additional modules (not shown) . In certain embodiments, the opening 392 can also be used as a gateway for the operators and/or materials enter and exit the third inner space 383. In addition, the foldable plates of the third module 381 can have light-pervious structures, or the third housing 385 can have light-pervious structures inside. The light-pervious structures can be made of explosion-proof glass. For example, the light-pervious structure can be a door or a window. Preferably, the light-pervious structures can be coated with explosion-proof films.

When the mobile pharmacy compounding system 300 is in the expanded position as shown in Figure 4, the second module 321 and the third module 381 extend from the first module 301. Therefore, the internal space of the mobile pharmacy compounding system 300 is significantly increased, which is more convenient for arranging facilities and equipments in the mobile pharmacy compounding system 300. In addition, when the second housing 325 is accommodated in the first housing 305 and each foldable plate of the third module 381 is folded into the first module 301, the space occupied by the mobile pharmacy compounding system 300 can be significantly reduced, which is more convenient for the transportation of the mobile pharmacy compounding system 300.

When the second module 321 and the third module 381 extend from the first module 301, the internal structure and layout of the second module 321 and the third module 381 can be configured according to actual needs, e.g. its functional areas can be divided and facilities and equipment can be installed therein accordingly.

In certain embodiments, the first module 301 is mainly used as an area for preparing and dispensing drugs. The two sides of the first module 301 are connected to the third module 381 and the second module 321, respectively. The cleanliness of the first inner space 303 of the first module 301 and the third inner space 393 of the third module 381 is usually lower than that of the second inner space 323 of the second module 321. The first module 301 may include a third functional area 361 in the first housing 305 where the pharmacists or doctors can review prescription and/or dispense drugs (including preparing the drugs to be compounded and/or dispensing the compounded drugs) . Accordingly, the third functional area 361 can have tables and chairs, computers, printers or other office equipment. At least a portion of the equipment, e.g. tables and chairs, etc. , can be secured to the first housing 305.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 4, the second module 321 includes first

functional rooms

341 and 342, and second

functional rooms

343 and 344. The first functional room 341 is located between the opening 335 and the second functional room 343, and the first functional room 342 is located between the opening 336 and the second functional room 344. The two

functional rooms

343 and 344 are separated by dividers to form relatively independent spaces. In certain embodiments, the first

functional rooms

341 and 342 may include gowning rooms. Preferably, the first functional room 341 includes a first gowning room 345 and a second gowning room 347, and the first functional room 342 includes a first gowning room 346 and a second gowning room 348. Preferably, the first

functional rooms

341 and 342 can have an independent laundry and sanitary room for placing sanitary tools specifically for use in the second module 321. In certain embodiments, the second functional room 344 is used with a first pharmacy compounding room having a horizontal laminar flow clean workbench 355 for processing the non-controlled drugs. The second functional room 343 may function as a second pharmacy compounding room, and can be provided with a biological safety cabinet 357 for processing the controlled drugs.

In certain embodiments, the third module 381 is used as an area for storing drugs and other materials. The third module 381 includes a fourth functional area 393 in the third housing 385. The fourth functional area 393 may have facilities such as medicine racks, medicine cabinets or storage cabinets for storing drugs and other consumables. In the embodiments shown in Figure 4, the third module 381 includes a gowning room 395 for the operators to enter and exit the mobile pharmacy compounding system 300 to change clothes. In addition, the third module 381 also includes a drug output window 397 for the drug dispensing staffs to send the drugs out of the mobile pharmacy compounding system 300. Accordingly,

side walls

389, 390 of the third module 381 are provided with additional openings 392, which correspond to the gowning room 395 and the drug output window 397, respectively.

A second wall 327 of the second housing 325 (and/or the first wall 307 of the first housing 305) separates the first inner space 303 from the second inner space 323. Figure 6 shows an exemplary structure of the second wall 327. The

openings

335 and 336 on the second wall 327 communicate the second inner space 323 with the first inner space 303. In addition,

observation windows

351 and 352 and two-way

interlock transferring windows

353 and 354 are disposed at the locations of the second wall 327 corresponding to the second

functional rooms

343 and 344, respectively. The two-way

interlock transferring windows

353 and 354 are used for transferring the drugs to be compounded to the second

functional rooms

343 and 344 and transferring the compounded drugs to the first module 301.

In order to maintain the cleanliness of the second inner space 323, an air conditioning system is needed to regulate the air temperature and humidity in the second inner space 323 as well as filtering contaminants in the air. Figure 7 shows a configuration of ventilation ducts and air conditioning units for use in the second module of the mobile pharmacy compounding system 300 of Figure 4.

As shown in Figure 7, a ventilation system 370 includes

air inlet ducts

371, 372 and an exhaustion duct 373. The air inlet duct 371 is connected to

air conditioning units

374A and 374B, the air inlet duct 372 is connected to

air conditioning units

375A and 375B, and the exhaustion duct 373 is connected to an exhaustion unit 376. A fresh air inlet 377 of the air inlet duct 371 and a fresh air inlet 378 of the air inlet duct 372 are disposed outside the second housing as inlets of the fresh air. The

fresh air inlets

377 and 378 should be put at an outdoor place that is relatively clean. In order to avoid the influence of the ground activity on the dust concentration, the

fresh air inlets

377 and 378 should be disposed at least one meter higher than the ground, preferably at least three meters higher than the ground. When needed, the height of the

fresh air inlets

377 and 378 can be elevated through a ventilation structure like a chimney. The

air inlet ducts

371 and 372 have several air outlets in the second housing, respectively, to communicate with the second inner space and send fresh air thereinto. The exhaustion duct 373 has several air inlets in the second inner space and an air outlet 379 outside the second housing. The exhaustion unit 376 operates to exhaust air from the second inner space to the outside via the air outlet 379.

In the embodiments shown in Figure 7, the second inner space includes a first pharmacy compounding room and a second pharmacy compounding room that are relatively separated from each other. The air outlet of the air inlet duct 371 is located in the first pharmacy compounding room, the air outlet of the air inlet duct 372 is located in the second pharmacy compounding room, and the air inlet of the exhaustion duct 373 is located in the second pharmacy compounding room. Preferably, the exhausting volume per unit time of the exhaustion unit 376 is substantially equal to the air inlet volume per unit time of the air conditioning units 375A and/or 375B so that the air entering the second pharmacy compounding room is substantially exhausted to avoid the accumulation of evaporated or leaked controlled drugs or other residual substances in the second pharmacy compounding room. In certain embodiments, the ventilation system 370 may include another exhaustion duct (not shown) and an accompanying exhaustion unit (not shown) , whose air inlet is located in the first pharmacy compounding room to remove air out of the first pharmacy compounding room.

The

air conditioning units

374A, 374B and the

air conditioning units

375A, 375B regulate the air conditions in the second inner space through the

air inlet ducts

371 and 372, respectively. In some examples, the air conditions include air cleanliness, temperature, humidity and/or air pressure. For example, the

air conditioning units

374A, 374B and the

air conditioning units

375A, 375B may regulate the air cleanliness in the second inner space. Preferably, the

air conditioning units

374A, 374B and the

air conditioning units

375A, 375B can be integral air conditioning units, i. e. besides controlling the air cleanliness, the

air conditioning units

374A, 374B and the

air conditioning units

375A, 375B can further control the temperature, humidity and/or air pressure in the second inner space. In certain embodiments, the temperature within the second inner space is maintained between 18 to 26℃, and the relative humidity is maintained between 40％and 65％. The above

air conditioning units

374A, 374B and the

air conditioning units

375A, 375B can be in a master-backup configuration. For example, the

air conditioning units

374A and 375A operate as the master air conditioning units, and the

air conditioning units

374B and 375B operate as the backup air conditioning units. Typically, the master

air conditioning units

374A and 375A are activated first and used for controlling the air conditions of the second inner space. The backup

air conditioning units

374B and 375B are activated when the master air conditioning units fail to maintain the air conditions in the second housing at predetermined levels. For example, when the main

air conditioning units

374A and 375A fail to maintain one or more of the cleanliness, temperature, humidity or air pressure in the second housing at the predetermined level, the backup

air conditioning units

374B and 375B are activated. Such master-backup configuration significantly improves the reliability of the air conditioning system, and ensures the air conditions in the first inner space 103 meet the requirements of normal operation.

In certain embodiments, the second module 321 further has a filtering device (not shown in the figure) , which are placed in the

air inlet ducts

371 and 372, for example, to filter the air flowing into the second module 321； or are placed in the air outlet ducts 373 to filter the air flowing out of the second module 321, thus preventing or reducing the air contaminants of the external environment from entering into the second module 321 and preventing the drug volatiles in the second module 321 from being released into the external environment. In certain embodiments, the filtering devices may include one or more filters placed sequentially in the air flow direction, while the filtering effects of these filters may be the same or different. In an embodiment, the filters may include a primary efficiency filter, a medium efficiency filter and a high efficiency filter placed sequentially in the air flow direction.

The mobile pharmacy compounding system according to the present application may also use different layouts and internal structures. Figure 8 shows a plan view of a mobile pharmacy compounding system 400 according to another embodiment of the application. The plan view illustrates the mobile pharmacy compounding system 400 in an expanded position.

As shown in Figure 8, the mobile pharmacy compounding system 400 includes a first module 401, a second module 421 and a third module 471. The first module 401 has a first housing 405 defining a first inner space 403, and the first housing 405 having a connection opening 409 on the first wall 407. The second module 421 has a second housing 425 defining a second inner space 423. The second module 421 is a prefabricated unit. The size of the second housing 425 is smaller than that of the first housing 405 so that the second housing 425 can be moved into or out of the first housing 405 through the connection opening 409. The third module 471 is formed by a plurality of foldable plates, which can be pivotally folded into the first housing 405 of the first module 401. The specific structures of the foldable plates can be similar or identical to the mobile pharmacy compounding system 300 as shown in Figures 4 to 7 and will not be further elaborated herein.

In the embodiments shown in Figure 8, the first module 401 is mainly used for the pharmacists or the operators to review the prescription, the second module 421 is mainly used for the compounding staffs to conduct pharmacy compounding, and the third module 471 is mainly used for storing drugs or other materials and dispensing the compounded drugs. The specific internal structure and layout of the mobile pharmacy compounding system 400 of the present application is described below with reference to Figure 8.

The foldable plates of the third module 471 can be folded out to form a third housing 475 defining a third inner space 473, as shown in Figure 8. An opening 476 can be disposed on the third housing 475 for connecting to an additional module 491. The additional module 491 can be used as a material buffering channel for moving materials in and out of the third inner space 473. The third module 471 includes a material storage area 477, a gowning area 478 and a drug output window 479. The material storage area 477 is adjacent to the opening 476 and occupies one end of the third housing 475. The materials moved into the material storage area 477 from the additional module 491 through the opening 476 can be unpacked in the material storage area 477 and placed on the medicine rack or medicine cabinet 492. The gowning area 478 is adjacent to the material storage area 477 and has an opening 480 leading to the outside of the mobile pharmacy compounding system 400, and an opening 481 leading to the first inner space 403. The gowning area 478 can be used as a channel for the operators to enter or exit the mobile pharmacy compounding system 400. The drug output window 479 is adjacent to the gowning area 478 and occupies the other end of the third housing 475. One side of the drug output window 479 can be connected with the second inner space, and the other side is communicated with the outside through an opening 482, thus dispensing the compounded drugs out of the mobile pharmacy compounding system 400.

The first module 401 is separated from the third module 471 via a divider 411. A sliding window 413 is disposed on the divider 411 in a location adjacent to the material storage area 477. The materials stored in the material storage area 477 can be delivered into the first inner space 403 through the sliding window 413. The first module 401 also has a conveyer belt 415 disposed along the side wall 427 (e.g. the side wall 427 of the second housing 405 that separates the first inner space 403 from the second inner space 423) opposite to the sliding window 413. The side wall 427 is also provided with a two-way interlock transferring window 428 to communicate the first inner space 403 with the second inner space 423. The two-way interlock transferring window 428 is used for delivering the compounded drugs into and out of the second inner space 423, thus the compounded drugs delivered out through the two-way interlock transferring window 428 can be conveyed by the conveyer belt 415 to the location adjacent to the drug output window 479 in the first inner space for dispensing drugs. Optionally, the conveyer belt 415 can also extend into the third inner space 473 of the third module 471, for example, to the drug output window 479 (not shown) .

The second module 421 includes two two-stage gowning rooms 441, 442 (each two-stage gowning room has a first and a second gowning room, respectively) and two

pharmacy compounding rooms

443, 444. The two-

stage gowning rooms

441, 442 are communicated with the first inner space 403 through

openings

429 and 430 on the side wall 427, respectively, thereby allowing compounding staffs entering into the

gowning rooms

441 and 442 from the first inner space 403, and further entering into the

pharmacy compounding rooms

443 and 444. The compounding staffs can process the controlled drugs and non-controlled drugs in the

pharmacy compounding rooms

443 and 444, respectively, and send out the compounded drugs through the two-way interlock transferring window 428.

As can be seen, the mobile pharmacy compounding system 400 shown in Figure 8 is compact in internal layout, and makes full use of the internal space of each module. In addition, the circulation routes for the pharmacy compounding process are also simplified, thus significantly improving the efficiency of drug delivery and compounding.

Various embodiments of the present application are illustratively described above with reference to the drawings. It will be readily appreciated to people skilled in the art that, the connections and combinations of the modules disclosed by the embodiments may be modified or adjusted based on actual needs, the type, quantity and layout of the devices in the modules can be adjusted or changed without departing from the spirit of the application.

Other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed invention, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. Any reference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope. The scope and spirit of the present application is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

A mobile pharmacy compounding system comprising:

a first module having a first housing defining a first inner space, wherein the first housing has a first connection opening on a first wall； and

a second module having a second housing defining a second inner space, wherein the second module is a prefabricated unit having a size smaller than that of the first housing so that the second housing can be moved into or out of the first housing through the first connection opening.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 1, further comprising a third module formed of foldable plates that can be pivotally folded into the first housing.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 1, further comprising a sliding device for slidably attaching the first housing to the second housing so that the second housing can be moved between a retracted position and an expanded position； wherein the second housing is accommodated in the first housing in the retracted position, and moved out of the first housing in the expanded position.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 3, wherein the first housing has a second connection opening on a wall of the first housing adjacent to the first wall, the sliding device is configured as a bi-directional sliding device for guiding the second housing in or out of the first housing through the first connection opening or the second connection opening.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 3, wherein the second housing has a second wall facing the first housing and has an opening on the second wall, when the second housing is in the expanded position, the first inner space is allowed to communicate with the second inner space through the opening on the second wall.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 5, wherein the first connection opening is hermetically connected with the second housing when the second housing is in the expanded position.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 1, wherein the first housing has a rectangular shape, and the first connection opening is disposed at a length side or a width side of the first housing so that the second housing can be moved in or out of the first housing from the length side or the width side of the first housing.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 1, wherein both the first housing and the second housing have a rectangular shape, and the first connection opening is disposed at an end or the middle of the first housing so that the second housing can be moved out of the first housing to form an L-shaped arrangement or a T-shaped arrangement.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 1, wherein one of the first housing and the second housing has a rectangular shape and the other of the first housing and the second housing has a square shape, and wherein the first connection opening is provided at an end or the middle of the first housing so that the second housing can be moved out of the first housing to form an L-shaped arrangement or a T-shaped arrangement.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 1, wherein the first housing has one or more additional openings on one or more of its walls, and the first module can be connected with one or more additional modules through the one or more additional openings, respectively, and wherein the one or more additional openings are hermetically closed when the first module is not connected with the one or more additional modules through the one or more additional openings.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 1, wherein the second housing has one or more additional openings disposed on one or more of its walls, and the second module can be connected with one or more additional modules through the one or more additional openings, respectively, and wherein the one or more additional openings are hermetically closed when the second module is not connected with the one or more additional modules through the one or more additional openings.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 2, wherein the third module has one or more additional openings on its foldable plates, and the third module can be connected with one or more additional modules through the one or more additional openings, respectively, and wherein the one or more additional openings are hermetically closed when the third module is not connected with the one or more additional modules through the one or more additional openings.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 1, wherein the first housing and/or the second housing further comprise one or more material delivery openings for passing materials into or out of the first inner space and/or the second inner space.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the second inner space has a cleanliness class equal to or higher than Class ISO 8 under the ISO 14644-1 standard.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 1, wherein the second housing has an opening on a second wall, through which the second inner space is allowed to communicate with the first inner space, and wherein the second module has a first functional room and a second functional room in the second housing, and the first functional room is located between the opening on the second wall and the second functional room.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 15, wherein the first functional room has a first gowning room adjacent to the opening on the second wall and a second gowning room adjacent to the second functional room.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 16, wherein the first gowning room has a cleanliness class equal to or higher than Class ISO 8 under the ISO 14644-1 standard.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 16, wherein the second gowning room has a cleanliness class equal to or higher than Class ISO 7 under the ISO 14644-1 standard.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 15, wherein the first functional room comprises a gowning room.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 19, wherein the first functional room comprises an air shower device.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 15, wherein the second functional room comprises a pharmacy compounding room.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 15, wherein the first functional room has an air pressure lower than that of the second functional room.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 15, wherein the second functional room comprises a first pharmacy compounding room and a second pharmacy compounding room.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 23, wherein the first pharmacy compounding room is configured for processing non-controlled drugs and the second pharmacy compounding room is configured for processing controlled drugs.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 24, wherein the first pharmacy compounding room is adjacent to the first functional room.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 24, wherein the second functional room comprises a buffering room between the first pharmacy compounding room and the second pharmacy compounding room.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 24, wherein the first pharmacy compounding room comprises a horizontal laminar flow clean workbench.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 27, wherein the horizontal laminar flow clean workbench has a cleanliness class equal to or higher than Class ISO 5 under the ISO 14644-1 standard.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 28, wherein the horizontal laminar flow clean workbench is secured to the second housing.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 29, wherein the horizontal laminar flow clean workbench is secured to a sidewall and/or the bottom side of the second housing.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 24, wherein the second pharmacy compounding room comprises a biological safety cabinet.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 31, wherein the biological safety cabinet is secured to a sidewall, the bottom side and/or the top side of the second housing.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 24, wherein the first pharmacy compounding room has an air pressure higher than that outside the first pharmacy compounding room.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 24, wherein the second pharmacy compounding has an air pressure lower than that outside the second pharmacy compounding room.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 1, wherein the second module comprises an air filtering device for filtering air flowing into or out of the second housing.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 1, wherein the first module comprises a third functional room in the first housing, and wherein the third functional room is configured that an operator is allowed to review prescriptions and/or dispense compounded drugs therein.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 36, wherein the first module further comprises a fourth functional room configured for storage of materials.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 36, wherein the first module further comprises a fifth functional room in the first housing for training purpose.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 1, further comprising a conveyer device for conveying materials between the first module and the second module.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 39, wherein the conveyer device comprises a two-way interlock transferring window for communicating the first module with the second module.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 39, further comprising a third module formed of foldable plates, wherein the foldable plates can be pivotally folded into the first housing, and the conveyer device is configured for conveying materials between the first module, the second module and the third module.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 1, wherein light-pervious structures are disposed at or inside the first housing and the second housing, and wherein the light-pervious structures are made of explosion-proof glass.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 2, wherein the foldable plates of the third module have light-pervious structure made of explosion-proof glass.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 42 or 43, wherein the light-pervious structure is coated with explosion-proof films.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 1, further comprising an air conditioning system for controlling air conditions in the second inner space.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 45, wherein the air conditioning system comprises a master air conditioning unit and a backup air conditioning unit.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 46, wherein the backup air conditioning unit is activated when the master air conditioning unit fails to maintain the air conditions in the first inner space to predetermined levels.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 3, wherein the second housing has a second wall facing the first housing and has an opening on the second wall, when the second housing is in an expanded position, the first inner space is allowed to communicate with the second inner space through the opening on the second wall.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 48, wherein the second module comprises a first functional room and a second functional room in the second housing, and wherein the first functional room is located between the opening on the second wall and the second functional room.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 49, wherein the first functional room comprises a first gowning room adjacent to the opening on the second wall and a second gowning room adjacent to the second functional room.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 50, wherein the second functional room comprises a first pharmacy compounding room and a second pharmacy compounding room, and wherein the first pharmacy compounding room is configured for processing non-controlled drugs, and the second pharmacy compounding room is configured for processing controlled drugs.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 51, wherein the first module comprises a third functional room and a fourth functional room in the first housing, and wherein the third functional room is configured that an operator is allowed to review prescriptions and/or dispense compounded drugs, and the fourth functional room is configured for storage of materials.
The mobile pharmacy compounding system of claim 52, wherein the first housing and/or the second housing further comprise one or more material delivery openings for passing materials into or out of the first inner space and/or the second inner space.