Manufacturers of autoinjectors and other needle-based injection systems are ramping up production to meet the rising global demand for safe and convenient forms of drug delivery. Bringing these devices from development to production is a long process with strict requirements for both functional and usability testing of the devices through each stage of product development. The CT6 is ideal for testing various design iterations of a product with minimal changeover time, reducing the burden on highly technical design engineers to stand in front of a system. With a cobot solution, the devices can be placed in the production tray directly on the test system and left, while the machine runs the necessary tests. This ultimately allows the technician to accomplish other value-added tasks. 

Break loose and glide force testing constitutes the bulk of syringe testing and is used to determine the real-world forces required to operate the syringe. Pre-filled syringes are combination devices requiring device verification testing before an NDA can be submitted. Cobots can be placed separately or in-lined to improve throughput and efficiency in both of these applications. Fully integrated manufacturing systems can even use measured break/loose glide force data to modify production settings in real time to correct for any out-of-tolerance values. The CT6 is compact enough to be placed directly in existing testing labs on tabletop systems to perform the required device evaluation, allowing engineers to focus their effort on data analysis and consolidation. 

Prefilled syringes have a wide range of closure systems including rigid need shield and screw on tip caps. ISO 11040-4 is the global standard outlining the test procedures necessary to evaluate the performance of these closures. Annex G.5 specifically assesses the removal torque of rigid tip caps used in conjunction with female luer lock connections. When used in conjunction with a torsion-enabled universal testing system, a cobot can be extremely beneficial for lab productivity - essentially functioning as a pick and place operation to reduce operator influence. The repeatability of automated specimen insertion is also ideal for improving device alignment, a significant contributor to data spread. Since prefilled syringes can come in a range of capacities, the sample racking can be customized to accommodate all potential device geometry, and the seamless integration with Bluehill Universal means test methods for new devices can be created quickly.