A prospective, single-centre study of the feasibility of the use of augmented reality for improving the safety and traceability of injectable investigational cancer drug compounding.

ABSTRACT

The compounding of injectable cancer drugs for clinical trials often requires specific procedures, with limited access to the starting materials and especially the active compound. These characteristics prevent the application of qualitative or quantitative analyses and quality control techniques. Hence, for some very complex compounding operations, double visual inspection is considered to be less reliable, more time-consuming and more human-resource-intensive than other methods. The compounding team at Lille University Hospital (Lille, France) has equipped one of its preparation areas with a new device augmented reality (AR) eyewear connected to an oncology drug management system, as a support tool for compounding and quality control. The tool has been tested, adapted and improved within the unit and is now used for investigational drug compounding on a routine basis. In a prospective, single-centre study, we evaluated the feasibility of the implementation of this novel AR approach for the compounding of injectable investigational cancer drugs. During the 6-month study period, 564 clinical trial compounding operations were performed with the AR eyewear. The proportion of poor-quality photos taken with the AR eyewear fell over time, as users became more familiar with the tool. A user satisfaction survey highlighted a very high level of uptake and a wish to broaden the scope of the compounding performed with AR support. The AR eyewear constitutes an innovative, cost-effective tool that increased the level of safety without disrupting the unit's operating procedures. The tool's flexibility enabled its integration into a variety of working environments. The various improvements now being developed should help to further boost the added value of this novel device.