Data loggers are small electronic products that store and track various location-specific data with either a built-in or external series of sensors. These typically battery-powered devices are used throughout the pharmaceutical industry in the modern day to help with countless different areas that require accurate and consistent data readings.
In the pharmaceutical industry, the primary applications for data loggers are monitoring several environmental variables that could impact pharmaceutical drugs and treatments. These factors include the temperature, pressure, and humidity in which products are made, stored, and transported.
Why Pharmaceuticals Need Data Loggers
Data loggers play a crucial role in industry standards and regulations compliance. With proper implementation, they provide valuable data to either reveal hidden problems that human eyes miss that need to be addressed or to establish compliance with regulations.
A failure to use data loggers correctly, or at all, can result in several issues that significantly impact the pharmaceutical industry. It can result in time-consuming investigations to ensure the safety of products, hefty fines for the risk of damaged treatments, and lawsuits in the worst cases. Along with these direct results of a failure to use data loggers properly, there is also the loss of reputation within the pharmaceutical industry.
How A Data Logger Functions
Data loggers can primarily be used to monitor environmental conditions. The locations in the pharmaceutical industry include refrigerated or low-temperature areas, storage warehouses, and around transport containers that often hold sensitive materials. Anywhere that needs environmental controls closely monitored likely has or needs a data logger in place.
The essential function of a data logger is simple for the industry. It is all about making the collection of data more accessible.
A sensor takes regular measurements of the variables or parameters around its environment on the data loggers. The three main aspects data loggers detect with these sensors are humidity, differential pressure, and temperature. A memory chip stores the data after the data logger gathers the information.
When the data is stored, it is then available for transfer to a computer, server, or general storage device. It can also be sent directly to the cloud or downloaded. Finally, the data is analyzed, visualized, and validated if required for a specific compliance procedure.
In addition to all this data, configuration capabilities may alert or provide a warning signal to certain alarm conditions. Different types of data loggers separate other specific attributes of a data logger, how it functions, and identify its best use. Several common types of data loggers in the industry fit particular needs.
Where are Data Loggers Needed In the Industry?
In a world where all fields gather data more than ever, including the pharmaceutical industry, there are a few specific places in which data loggers are most needed. The stakes in the healthcare industry are high and call for a vast amount of data loggers of different types.
These data loggers span pharmaceutical company buildings, medical device manufacturers, hospitals, and other areas that handle sensitive material. With correct usage data, loggers can support both VFC and FDA regulatory requirements and increase the safety of patients. In addition, this reduces the risk of asset losses in storage areas, labs, and other critical areas for medical products like vaccines.
Minimizing the losses both prevents a loss of finances and also helps decrease pharmaceutical shortages for high-demand drugs. As a result, this feature benefits highly sensitive en masse administered pharmaceuticals, such as some of the earliest versions of the COVID-19 vaccine.
How Are Data Loggers Selected And Maintained?
In the pharmaceutical industry, it is of the utmost importance that the appropriate data logger is used and maintained correctly for the right job. Data is vital in all aspects of life, and gathering it can help in day-to-day life, but it requires gathering and observing specific kinds of data.
To figure out which data logger is best for a specific data task, it is often best to start by looking at what data needs to be measured. While many pharmaceutical products will need to have multiple factors tracked, it’s still essential to ensure that the selected data loggers will be up to the task.
If a data logger is needed to keep track of more extreme conditions, like ultra-low temperatures required for the COVID-19 vaccines, then it’s essential to make sure it can work long-term in those conditions. Other important questions about using the data loggers include whether they will be indoors or outdoors, what components beyond the sensors can survive in, and how often it will be possible to check the data loggers physically.
Another critical factor is that a data logger must adhere to industry standards and regulations. Other industries that gather data might be more relaxed than the pharmaceutical industry. Hence, knowing if a data logger will comply with all pharmaceutical regulations is essential, including the data loggers being appropriate for documenting storage conditions required for compliance.
Test a new data logger that is deemed appropriate and selected. Once installing the device, ensure that it’s calibrated and validated. As a result, perform these processes often to ensure no issues arise with the data loggers.
While data loggers eliminate much of the human error involved with data gathering, they are still tools people use. They must be tested, maintained, and checked regularly to prevent any issues. As long as they are kept in the right conditions and regularly maintained, data loggers help immensely with smoothing out the data-gathering process and catching problems faster than a human would ever be able to.
Also Read: PegMed: A Ray of Hope in the Biotechnology Industry
