Pharmacy Isolators

Isolators (a.k.a. Barrier Isolators) are devices that provide a physical barrier between the laboratory technician and the work process. With the recent implementation of USP797, they are increasingly used in pharmacy applications. They are designed to provide an isolation of a process or the maintenance of an internal condition (sterile, aseptic). Isolators may operate at positive, negative, or ambient differential pressure. Isolators may provide personnel, product, or environmental protection (or any combination). They are used throughout industry from orange juice filling lines to cytotoxic drug compounding to electronics manufacturing. In pharmacy applications, Because people are the greatest source of contamination during aseptic manufacturing of drugs, reducing personnel interventions into the process zone has significant impact on the efficacy of the final drug product.

Major manufacturers of Pharmacy Barrier Isolators include The Baker Company, Esco Global, and Thermo-Electron Corporation.