NP Plastibell adds ultra-miniaturised ST NFC tags to pre-filled syringes

NP Plastibell has announced a pre-filled connected syringe containing a near-field communication (NFC) tag from STMicroelectronics, a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications. Integrated inside the body of the syringe, the tag enables manufacturing, medical personnel, and patients to access important medicine-related information.

The ultra-miniaturised NFC tag is directly over-molded into the syringe by NP Plastibell. While the syringe is filled with medicine, the NFC tag can store related information to allow the patient and their doctors and nurses to validate its legitimacy, view the manufacturing history, see usage recommendations, and find any other important information or warnings.

NP Plastibell faced a broad range of challenges in developing the connected syringe. In addition to creating a manufacturing process that embeds the NFC tag in the syringe and protects it from the medical contents, ST helped NP Plastibell overcome the various constraints linked to the NFC tag and the life cycle of pre-filled syringes. These included sterilisation of the syringe at temperatures above 130°C by autoclave without damaging the electronics.