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The Right Prescription
09 May 2018

The Right Prescription

After a visit to a doctor, we can often pick up medication straight away from the chemist – it's fast, but it could be faster - what if we could just eat the prescription? This purple-coloured Quick Response (QR) code is printed on an edible paper-like material – the ink is mixed with a drug. In a clinical situation, prescribing the right drugs is often delayed by the necessary checks of medical records, making sure each patient receives their recommended dose. In future this could be as simple as scanning the QR code with a smart phone, then passing the piece of paper soaked in the right dose (right) to the patient to eat. Each tiny square can be stored for weeks in humid conditions, but last for months if kept dry. Pharmacoprinting may help towards personalised medicine – allowing subtle changes in dose over the course of recovery.

Written by John Ankers

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BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

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