Printing Diagnostic Results at the Patient's Bedside

When Welch Allyn wanted to offer a printer option with its new Vital Sign monitor, Able Systems Ap1300 mobile printer was shortlisted for a technical evaluation.

As a leading manufacturer of medical diagnostic equipment and healthcare products, Welch Allyn wanted to enable medical professionals to print at the patient’s bedside and directly stick the results into the patient’s notes. Able System’s engineering team assessed the possibilities of the Ap1300 printer being capable of working with linerless label stock in order to do this.

Linerless label stock is silicone coated so that it sticks to itself and peels easily (similar to a roll of adhesive tape). There is no carrier sheet, all the content of the roll is printable giving greater output and flexibility – a 2” label can be followed by a 6” label, followed by a 4” label, all from the same roll.

Initial testing suggested that the printer worked well with linerless label stock, with no apparent adhesive or other residue being deposited on the printer and Welch Allyn agreed to go ahead, provided the Ap1300 printer passed a rigorous test programme.

Five printers were used continuously, printing a series of test outputs. At regular intervals the printers and rollers were closely examined for any traces of adhesive residue transfer from the label stock, but none was found. During this process 750 rolls of linerless label stock were run through each printer. Welch Allyn printed over 30km of label without incident.