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Wong, et al.
BVI patients who had a poorer sense of touch. this is expected to decrease lower as it continues
They also noted that if symbols were used in the its evolution to be a desk-top commodity .
[37]
3DP medication label, the BVI patients would also While Braille embossers have been used to print
need to learn and memorize the meaning of each medication information , only a small percentage
[11]
symbol at the point of dispensing and counseling of BVI patients and health-care professionals
by the pharmacist. can read Braille. Furthermore, the setting up of
Based on the feedback provided by the target a multilingual APLS system can be useful to a
[38]
users, a revised 3DP medication label design was multilingual society, but can be costly . On the
developed. In the new design, medication names other hand, the ease of transmitting and editing
[37]
were removed since these would still be reflected designs in CAD files among users , such as
on the conventional medication label provided hospitals and clinics, reduces cost and labor and
at the point of dispensing. However, medication can allow for standardization of 3DP labels across
identifiers would be enlarged and more elevated prescription and non-prescription medications.
while the dosing instructions would still retain Moreover, a 3DP label can complement face-to-
their original format as the initial label prototype face counseling, as it allows users to access the
(Figure 4). medication information independently and at will.
When complemented with appropriate training, the
4 Discussion 3DP label can be understood by the vast majority
of BVI patients and health-care professionals,
In this study, a medication label prototype for and it can be affixed securely to medication
BVI patients was designed and created through packaging. In addition, the independence regained
3DP. From our knowledge, this is the first study by BVI patients in terms of their own medication
that explores the potential of 3DP technology for management can enhance their confidence in
medication labeling for BVI patients. Feedback managing activities of daily living, strengthening
from target users showed that 3DP labels would person-centricity, and dignity.
potentially be useful for BVI patients to manage Elevation of alphabets was used for the word
their medications at home. The label could exist design on the 3DP medication label as Braille
alongside the main conventional dispensed label would not be widely understood by majority of
for medications, which contains all legally required BVI patients. To keep the formatting of words
information about the patient’s prescription, such familiar to BVI persons, the word design on the
as the patient’s name, medication name and 3DP label was adapted from the format style
strength, and dosing instructions . However, guidelines by the AFB , such as using a sans
[36]
[10]
unlike the conventional label, the 3DP label serif font of more than 18-point size, non-italicized
would only consist of the dosing instructions and and not condensed, and using black letters on a
medication identifiers. This combination would contrasting white background. Interestingly, the
allow for space optimization on the 3DP label, preferred letter case format for the 3DP label was
as well as enable it to be appropriately affixed to an all uppercase style, which differed from the
the medication packaging. If needed, additional AFB recommendation guidelines of a combination
3DP labels containing other information about the of upper- and lower-case letters. Our respondents
medications (e.g., medication name and strength) suggested that an all uppercase style was preferred
could also be provided to patients. because the lowercase style of the letters “a,” “o,”
The potential of 3DP technology was explored and “e” could be confused with each other when
for medication labeling in this project as it is relying purely on a sense of touch. However, our
a rapidly advancing field and may potentially results were similar to another study by McDonald
circumvent certain issues with auxiliary aids et al. , which also observed that their participants
[39]
for communicating medical information to BVI found it easier to interpret capitalized words
patients. 3D printers cost as low as US$1000 and through touch. There were concerns regarding the
International Journal of Bioprinting (2020)–Volume 6, Issue 2 121
