Unit-Dose Cleaning Guide

Proper cleaning of your unit-dose packager is important, not just for patient safety, but for keeping your device running smoothly. Creating a cleaning schedule for your staff to follow and posting it near the machine can help with maintaining its cleanliness. Generally, each packager has recommended cleaning procedures that should be performed either daily, weekly, or monthly.

For the purposes of this article, we will be using the Auto-Print oral-solid packager from Medical Packaging Inc. as an example. Always follow the recommendations of the manufacturer of your packager.

Daily:

• Clean the top tray and feed discs by lifting them off the machine and wiping with a damp cloth or
  alcohol. The stainless steel under-tray also lifts off and should be cleaned in the same manner. The
  feed disk and the pill chutes should be kept clean to prevent product contamination.
• Clean build-up of any foreign objects from the heated sealing jaw with the brass cleaning brush while the jaw is warm. Carefully remove any foreign objects from the orange Sealing Rubber.
• With a brass brush, clean off the right hand drive rollers.

Weekly/Monthly:

• Clean the paper sensor and printhead in the Printer Module. This can be done using a non-abrasive swab lightly-dipped in isopropyl alcohol.
• Move the packager from its standard location and clean underneath it at least once a month, preferably more often.

Following a proper cleaning schedule helps you reduce the chance of product contamination and keeps your packager in optimum condition.