Have you ever wondered how it is that unit dose packaging & blister packaging could possibly be efficient and environmentally friendly? After all, each unit dose is wrapped in packaging that must be individually opened and then thrown out. Actually, unless each unit dose is individually preserved in unit dose packaging & blister packaging, all the medication must be tossed away if a patient in a hospital or long-term care (for example) discontinues it. Medication encased in unit dose packaging & blister packaging can be returned to storage.

The fact that unit dose packaging & blister packaging enables more medication to be preserved is one of the reasons that unit dose packaging & blister packaging systems are used in long term care. The blister card that contains the unit dose is sealed so that each unit dose is guaranteed to be sterile and not expire too soon. Unit dose packaging also helps make medicating patients more efficient; care-givers no longer have to count individual doses. Unit dose packaging & blister packaging systems have made medical care more efficient in long-term facilities and have eliminated medication waste.

Any packaging that contains only a unit dose (or single dose) of medication is referred to as a unit dose packaging system. Over the counter cold and flu tablets are probably the most common example of unit dose packaging & blister packaging. When you open a box of cold or flu tablets, you typically pull out a card made of aluminum foil, cardboard, or plastic pockets. These cards are called "blister cards" or "blister packs," and each of the pockets is called "blister packages" or "blister pockets."

In a unit dose packaging & blister packaging system, the blister pockets contained on each blister card or blister pack are pre-formed pockets that made from a formable web. This web is usually composed of a thermoformed plastic like PVC. Like blister cards and packs, blister strips can contain more than one blister pocket. But blister strips don't necessarily have a plastic pocket. Sometimes the cavity is made from the same material as the strip itself and sealed with that same material. For example, a blister strip could be made from aluminum foil, with a hollowed out cavity in the aluminum foil, which is then sealed over by aluminum foil.

Blister packaging is often formed from a flat sheet of film. The film is then formed into a case, filled with the product and then sealed. This process is called a form fill seal process and is completed on the same machine. This is an extremely efficient method of creating unit dose packaging & blister packaging.

Another process used to make unit dose packaging & blister packaging is cold forming. To cold form a blister pack, aluminum based laminate film, or cold form foil, is stamped into a mold. The resulting blister pack is nearly impenetrable barrier to water and air. This seal means that this blister pack can extend the expiration date of the product. The fact that expiration dates can be extended makes unit dose packaging & blister packaging systems extremely valuable in pharmaceuticals.

Clamshell blisters are formed around a mold of the product. They are then sealed around the product. Clamshells are an example of a difficult to open unit dose packaging & blister packaging system, which means that they are not often used in the medical field for unit dose packaging & blister packaging.