The alliance between Kiro Robotics and Onkologikoa has achieved the most advanced technology for hospital pharmacy worldwide

Health

Automatic equipment for hospital pharmacy.

When administering chemotherapy treatment there is a very subtle difference between a dose that cures and one that causes a patient problems. Administration of chemotherapy is an extremely high risk process that has now found an essential partner in the form of a robot, which after several months’ testing is now “working” as a preparer of individual chemotherapy doses at Onkologikoa, the only monographic cancer treatment centre in the Basque Country.

Jan 24, 2014

Kiro Robotics, a company created by MONDRAGON Corporation in Aretxabaleta (Gipuzkoa) and driven by MONDRAGON Health, the strategic Corporation unit dedicated to the Health Sector, manufactured this robot. Known as Kiro Oncology, it has been designed in collaboration with Onkologikoa professionals, and today represents the most advanced technology worldwide for chemotherapy preparation in hospital pharmacies. Hospitals from several countries have already declared their interest in the Kiro Robotics prototype, which may shortly be commercialised.

Dr. Gerardo Cajaraville, head of Onkologikoa Pharmacy Department, emphasises the task assigned to the robot is “extraordinarily complex”. “Given the complexity of the chemotherapy circuit and the need for each patient to be dosed individually, it is easy to make errors. The robot is an aid to minimising this risk”, as Dr. Cajaraville points out.

Precision and Accuracy
The critical requirement for a chemotherapy dose preparation is precision and accuracy. In addition, it represents the need to implement complex procedures to ensure the safety of workers performing this task. Participation of the Kiro Oncology robot also enables a substantial reduction in workers’ exposure to the pharmacological products.

The tests performed with the prototype robot during these months have been completely satisfactory. This is largely due to the sophisticated software system supporting this process at Onkologikoa, likewise the advanced manual preparation methods which were already being used.

Today Kiro Oncology has been presented at Onkologikoa with the participation of Borja Lizari, managing director of Kiro Robotics, Almudena Moreno, general delegate of Onkologikoa, and Dr Gerardo Cajaraville, accompanied by Mikel Álvarez, managing director of MONDRAGON Health.

About Kiro Robotics

Kiro Robotics is a technology based company which develops and produces automatic equipment for Hospital Pharmacy. It has a multidisciplinary team of Engineering and Hospital Pharmacy professionals for the development of new applications in this field.

KIRO was set up in July 2011 with the aim of becoming a world reference in the development and implementation of technologies to improve the efficiency and safety of chemotherapy treatments. The first KIRO machine was installed in the Pharmacy Department of Onkologikoa in June 2012.

About Mondragon Health

MONDRAGON Health is a strategic MONDRAGON Corporation unit set up to lead development in the Health Sector, driving the generation of integral solutions via inter-co-operation. It is a multidisciplinary unit becoming consolidated as a corporate driving force of MONDRAGON’s capacities in the Health Sector.

About Onkologikoa

As a southern European reference centre in relation to cancer, Onkologikoa has the latest generation of technology for cancer treatment. Its strategy is centred on fostering clinical oncological innovation and research, besides providing its patients with the most pioneering treatments in the medical field, personalised via its Advanced Therapy Unit.

The Kutxa Oncological Institute appeared as a citizen initiative in San Sebastian in 1933, as a monographic centre. It has been the Kutxa charity foundation since 1952, and has invested over 60 million euros in building a modern hospital opened in 2009.

Automatic equipment for hospital pharmacy.