Abbot Laboratories

Background

Abbott Laboratories combines strengths in the areas of pharmaceuticals, nutritionals, hospital products and diagnostics to provide total, integrated solutions across the health care spectrum. The company focuses on advancing medical science and the practice of health care with expertise in the therapeutic areas of diabetes, pain management, respiratory infections, HIV/AIDS, men and women's health, pediatrics and animal health.

Abbott's GemstarTM, a programmable electronic pump, is used by doctors and hospitals to manage medication delivery. GemstarTM software allows doctors to remotely monitor and regulate the pump. In order to make this breakthrough in medication management available around the world, Abbott contracted with Translations.com to localize the GemstarTM software and user interface.

Challenge

In addition to the challenges of working with custom-built software with highly specific medical language, Translations.com was called upon to design a process and documentation that would meet the requirements of the most regulated industry in the world.

• Localize custom software used in the GemstarTM device
• Enable the GemstarTM software to accommodate "double byte"-characters
• Deliver flawless translation of precise and sophisticated medical terminology
• Establish sufficient documentation and systematic review of all aspects of the project to meet the requirements of the pharmaceutical industry as established by both domestic and international regulatory agencies
• Streamline the process to complete the project in half the time of previous efforts for other languages

Solution

Abbott's software engineers trained Translations.com's technical staff on the GemstarTM software so they could assess the functional challenges of adapting the software for multiple languages.

• Translations.com tapped its network of linguists to identify individuals with degrees in medicine and with experience translating for more than 5 healthcare clients.
• Translations.com conducted a full schedule of QA testing on the GemstarTM for each localized version.
• Translations.com integrated the language production process with version control software from ASAP to provide complete risk management and regulatory documentation.