Abbott Laboratories announced the recent introduction of its LifeCare PCA3 Infusion System (PCA3) - a state-of-the-art patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) device. PCA devices are designed to allow hospital patients to control the flow of their pain medication, within carefully specified limits.

Enhancements - most significantly in the realm of bar coding - have allowed Abbott's PCA3 to register two important "firsts" in patient safety. A built-in bar code reader - one that works in concert with bar-code labeled Abbott prefilled vials that snap into the pump - makes PCA3 the first PCA pump to incorporate this integrated safety feature. The second significant advancement is that the PCA3 identifies drug name and concentration within the vial and automatically inputs the information into the pump program. These two "firsts" should help address many preventable errors as less manual programming is required.

The PCA3 also incorporates the best practices in human factors engineering and user-centered design. Human factors engineering is the scientific and systematic application of knowledge about human behavior into the design of products, which may make them safer, more efficient, and/or easier to use. The features of the PCA3, which can improve the usability of the device include:

· A therapy programming sequence using soft key buttons, a similar concept to how Automated Teller Machines operate.

· Intelligent use of colors, varying and distinctive font sizes, larger decimal points, and clearer prompts. For example, the start button is green and the red button means stop or pause.

· Forced therapy review screens to help reduce programming errors.

"The PCA3 is yet another example of Abbott's commitment to patient safety and medication management," said Christopher B. Begley, senior vice president, Hospital Products, Abbott Laboratories. "The PCA3 takes patient-controlled analgesia to the next level. It's well documented that bar coding in a hospital setting can greatly reduce medication errors. When used with Abbott bar-coded syringes, the PCA3 becomes the first pump to fully integrate bar coding into the device. No other PCA pump has that feature."

Abbott introduced patient-controlled analgesia pumps in 1984. The concept was that the patient knows best when pain is being experienced - so the pump allows the patient, within limits, to control the medication needed to combat that pain. This "patient right" has been formally embraced over the years. In 2001, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations set new national standards, formally recognizing pain as the "fifth vital sign" - in addition to pulse rate, breathing rate, temperature, and blood pressure - in assessing how a patient is faring.

Over the last 19 years, the Abbott PCA has demonstrated a strong presencein the U.S. market with more than 22 million patients and 50 million separate therapy administrations. Currently, about 70 percent of the PCA systems in use are Abbott devices - and the Abbott PCA Plus II continues to be the most widely used PCA pump today.