3 Fields That Require Life Science Translation Services
The life science industry has become increasingly consolidated and global. This new reality requires investment in accurate life science translation services
The life science industry has three significant sectors: pharmaceuticals, healthcare, and medical devices. Developments in these fields rely on good language translation services, as scientific information can be more easily be passed between scientists from different language groups when translated.
Additionally, without the help of translation services, life science companies cannot launch pharmaceutical products in other countries, provide medical treatment using a patient’s own language, or sell medical devices globally.
Life Science Translation and Pharmaceuticals
Before pharmaceutical companies can expand internationally, they need to conduct scientific clinical trials and market drugs in other countries. Conducting clinical trials requires careful attention to different types of documents. As a result, many life science companies need to translate documents such as signed agreements, study protocols and amendments, regulatory authority documents, and informed consent forms.
Considering that the pharmaceutical industry is heavily regulated, accuracy is paramount. Pharmaceutical companies need properly-translated terminology in order to ensure compliance with local laws and regulations. In order to adhere to strict quality standards, translators must have experience working in the life science industry. As a result, professional legal translation and clinical research translation services providers are needed for pharmaceutical development.
Life Science Translation and Healthcare
The United States is a country of great linguistic diversity. Between 350 and 430 languages are spoken in the U.S., and about one-fifth of U.S. residents speak another language at home.
When patients receive critical health information, it needs to be relayed to them in a language they can understand. In the healthcare industry, there are a number of documents that need to be well-translated, including informed consent forms, medical records, patient questionnaires, lab test results, hospital release forms, and aftercare patient instructions.
Miscommunication can have dangerous consequences. Document translation services are crucial to avoiding this by fostering communication in the healthcare industry.
Medical Device Translation
Medical device companies need to invest in medical device translation services provided by professional translation agencies in order to market medical devices and avoid costly inaccuracies.
Just like the documents needed in the pharmaceutical industry, medical device companies also need high-quality document translation services.
For medical device companies, companies often need to translate documents such as patents, maintenance and installation manuals, contracts, and legal certifications and statements.
In addition, many companies are moving their medical device manufacturing to Asia-Pacific to reduce costs in the highly competitive market. Thus, many international businesses require correct translation as a bridge of communication.
Language Connections Inc.
2001 Beacon Street, Suite 105,
Boston, MA 02135
Phone: +1-617-731-3510 Email: service@languageconnections.com
3 Ways Global Translation Is Changing The World
The world is growing more connected than ever through the internet; this interconnectivity provides interesting opportunities for global translation efforts. Around the world, various endeavors are being undertaken that utilize global translation services. Ranging from revealing propaganda in China to the halls of the New Brunswick legislative assembly, the following examples reveal the importance of global translation.
Unearthing Pro-Russian Propaganda In Chinese Media
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, China has been put in a difficult diplomatic position. While Russia and China are erstwhile allies, China has not condemned nor condoned Russia’s invasion. To the outside world, China has managed to maintain a facade of neutrality; however, heavily regulated Chinese social media tells a different story. The Twitter account, “The Great Translation Movement”, is dedicated to the cause of translating and revealing the posts of influential and other state-sponsored actors on various Chinese social media platforms.
The account acts as a crowdsourced translation service. Anonymous individuals submit translations of posts in Chinese that are clearly pro-Russian or amplify pro-Russian conspiracy theories. Even though these individuals are at great risk, they continue to submit translations in an effort to increase the transparency of Chinese social media.
Google Translate Struggles With Translation For Medicine
A new study in the Journal for General Internal Medicine shows that, while GoogleTranslate’s medical translations have improved, they are still insufficient for providing healthcare translation services to patients who don’t speak English. Unfortunately, many doctors must resort to using Google Translate due to a lack of access to professional medical interpreting. The study found that for some languages, Google Translate was 80% effective. For others, the efficacy was closer to 50-60%. This level of accuracy is insufficient for the medical field. Mistakes in medical translations can lead to serious complications for patients. Hospitals are better off relying on the professional interpreting services of a translation service company for their medical interpreting needs.
A Global Translation, 15 Years Overdue
The legislative assembly of the Canadian province of New Brunswick has fallen quite behind on one of its constitutional requirements. According to the Canadian Constitution, all of the “statutes, records, and journals” of the New Brunswick legislative assembly must be published and printed in English and French. While the transcription of legislative proceedings has been kept, no translation exists for the years 2005-2020. Professional government translation services are in high demand, and provincial underfunding for this translation effort has led to a serious backlog. The 2022-23 New Brunswick budget has allocated $220,000 dollars specifically to fund translations. However, fully translating 15 years’ worth of legislative proceedings could cost up to $4.5 million.
Language Connections Inc.
2001 Beacon Street, Suite 105,
Boston, MA 02135
Phone: +1-617-731-3510 Email: service@languageconnections.com
Top 5 Medical Document Translation Services For Clinical Trials
Medical document translation services for clinical trials are extremely important for lab research and thus for the future of science. It might sound like an overstatement, but without clinical research translation services, most experiments and discoveries would never see the light of day. Even though the scientific community is composed of exceedingly smart individuals, they don’t all speak each other’s language. As a result, life sciences translation is needed for different types of documents that are passed on from lab to lab for the different phases of clinical trials. Clinical trials usually have 3 main phases where scientists test their hypothesis and theories, and once one phase is done, the next phase usually occurs in another lab with other people in charge. If this other lab happens to be in a region that speaks a different language, all clinical trial documents involved require document translation and, in many cases, localization services.
Here are the top 5 medical documents translation services for clinical trials:
1. Informed Consent Forms Need Medical Document Translation Services
These forms are essential when results from phase 1 of clinical trials are passed on to conduct phase 2. Medical document translation services are required for informed consent forms in order to provide scientists with all the information they need to complete their study. Translation services are especially useful because they ensure every individual has their informed consent form translated in their own language and can fully understand the stakes of participating in the trials.
2. Medical Document Translation Services Are Used For Case Report Forms
This type of form contains all patient data from the trials including their language, region, and culture. This is why a professional translator is needed to make sure all forms are in agreement with lab regulations. Medical translation services provided by a translation company will ensure you that your documents are translated accurately into other languages.
3. Study Protocols Require Medical Document Translation Services
If an experiment is continuing in another lab that did not come up with the whole protocol, you have to get the study protocols translated by a professional translator. Medical document translation services can improve readability while respecting legal regulations and medical jargon.
4. Drug Study Labels
We should not forget that medical document translation services can also help translate drug labels. Patients must know what a drug is for and how it needs to be used before taking it. Therefore, having pharmaceutical translation for these labels can inform patients of the possible dangers of using certain medications and increase safety.
5. Medical Safety Reports
Finally, medical safety reports need to be addressed to every lab conducting the experiment for the well-being of both the medical community and potential patients. Medical document translation services are an essential component for these safety reports.
Language Connections Inc.
2001 Beacon Street, Suite 105,
Boston, MA 02135
Phone: +1-617-731-3510 Email: service@languageconnections.com
2 Outrageous Video Remote Interpreting Mistakes
Video remote interpreting is an important part of the services provided by interpreting companies. For many people who are deaf or hard of hearing, remote interpreting is a vital service. Often, places like hospitals don’t have access to an on-site ASL interpreter. In these situations, access to video remote interpreting is crucial so that the user can understand the information being provided to them. Remote interpreting services can be useful for others as well, not just for those individuals with hearing disabilities. Unfortunately, there can be many problems associated with this service. The following are two egregious cases surrounding the use of video remote interpreting. Hopefully, by studying these examples future tragedies can be averted.
Video Remote Interpreting And Silva v Baptist Health S. Fla. Inc.
Cheylla Silva and John Paul Jebian were two plaintiffs in a case against a healthcare organization, Baptist Health South Florida Inc. The plaintiffs, who are deaf, visited two hospitals run by this organization. They needed an ASL interpreter to provide medical interpreting services for them. Video remote interpreting in hospitals for these types of situations is standard, in addition to in-person interpreters or phone interpreter services. The plaintiffs however claimed that they were not provided with an in-person interpreter and the video remote interpreting services that was provided did not work well and caused them to miss vital medical information. The 11th circuit federal appeals court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs arguing that Baptist Health could have done more to provide adequate communications.
The Case of Tomei v Parkwest Medical Center
The case of Scott Tomei is similar to the one above. Tomei went to the emergency room at Parkwest Medical Center complaining that he was experiencing pain in his right leg. Tomei, who is also deaf, claims his request for an ASL interpreter was refused; he was given a video remote interpreting device instead. Tomei was unable to fully communicate with doctors, so he was sent home. A few days later, he was rushed to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, where part of his right leg had to be amputated due to complications that were not previously dealt with. Had Tomei been provided a specialist in medical interpreting, he would have been able to effectively communicate with the doctors and avoid this tragic outcome. At the very least, Parkwest Medical Center’s video remote interpreting services should have been working as intended.
Language Connections Inc.
2001 Beacon Street, Suite 105,
Boston, MA 02135
Phone: +1-617-731-3510 Email: service@languageconnections.com
5 Key Documents That Require Professional Medical Translation
Translation services incredibly important in the medical and life science fields. When medical translation is provided by an experienced and efficient professional translator, it can reduce bureaucratic headaches and even save lives. Luckily, language service providers have the best tools and professionals to help. There are several documents that should always be translated when going to the hospital or to a doctor’s office ranging from a patient’s information history to consent forms.
1. Medical Translation And Financial Responsibility Waivers
Even though we all wish money should not be part of the equation when it comes to health, it is a huge factor to take into account for both parties. Under the current healthcare system, if a patient does not have insurance, they must face a penalty if they do not pay for the care they are provided. As a result, medical translation should be applied to all financial responsibility waivers because it ensures compliance on the part of the patient as well as the caretaker.
2. Medical Translation And Patient Information Forms
This one should not even be questioned because it seems obvious that any patient should be given the right to complete their patient information form in their native language through life sciences translation. Having patient information forms translated into different languages can expedite the process and save lives in case of an emergency. For instance, a patient may have a special condition that does not permit them to take a certain medication. Therefore, medical translation plays an essential role in these types of cases.
3. Medical Translation Is Essential For Consent Forms
As a basic human right, consent has to be given for certain types of procedures. However, if they are not translated properly, ethical issues can arise. No matter the language you speak, you should be able to understand what you are consenting to. In a case where medical translation is badly done, the patient may understand something else from what was originally intended. Such errors might happen if you do not choose your translation company carefully.
4. Labels And Instructions
Labels and instructions also need translation. For example, medicine labels nearly always require pharmaceutical translation to ensure that all patient understand the proper dosage, side effects, and ingredients of their medication. Translation of instructions also applies to medical devices that are used by health workers that may not speak English. In some cases, medical device localization is even necessary as medical jargon and regulations vary from place to place.
5. Clinical Trial Documents
Finally, clinical research translation is critical when conducting clinical trials. Clinical trials typically involve three different phases designed to test separate hypotheses. As results from phase I are passed to another lab, the scientists involved may not speak the same language. Therefore, clinical trial translation plays an essential role by ensuring that nothing is lost in translation when transferring between phases.
Language Connections Inc.
2001 Beacon Street, Suite 105,
Boston, MA 02135
Phone: +1-617-731-3510 Email: service@languageconnections.com
5 Amazing Benefits Of Investing In A Medical Translation Service
Our health is of vital importance. All of us need healthcare on a regular basis; that’s why it’s important to ensure that no matter the language we speak, we are able to receive the best medical services for the condition we are suffering from. Medical translation services are needed more than you would think, especially in countries with large immigrant communities or great linguistic diversity. If a non-English speaker has a medical issue that forces them to go to the hospital in the US, they will need a medical translation service to both interpret for them and translate important care-related documents through healthcare translation.
Here are 5 amazing benefits of a medical translation service:
1. A Medical Translation Service Can Translate Medical Jargon
Medical and clinical terminology is specific to each language and only understandable to people with a background in the field. Medical translation services enable anyone to understand the jargon used by doctors and medical staff. It is important for a patient to understand what is going on with their medical care, especially in serious cases like surgery where they have to give their consent.
2. A Medical Translation Service Ensures Legal Compliance
The medical field is subject to many different regulations. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a professional translator familiar with them. For example, clinical trials have several phases and protocols that must be followed. Luckily, clinical research translation services can help translate documents that explain the results of a given trial as well as the appropriate procedures. Clearly, a medical translation service can help to ensure the quality and reliability of the information conveyed in these documents.
3. A Medical Translation Service Can Help With Package Inserts
We have all found ourselves reading package inserts for medical equipment or mediations and, most of the time, there are provided in several languages. This is a prime example of medical translation services at work. Patients need to understand how to operate medical equipment in a safe way in order to lead to positive health outcomes. Similarly, they also need to know any potential side effects of their medication. That is why medical device translation services and packaging translation are extremely important for healthcare institutions; they help all patients, regardless of language, understand how to self-administer care once discharged from a medical facility.
4. It Ensures Care Quality And Efficiency
The proportion of Non-English speakers is quite high in the US due to immigration and tourism. As a result, it is crucial for them to be given the understanding of their medical care as an English speaker, whether through interpreting services or through another kind of medical translation services.
5. It Can Translate A Patient’s Medical History
Finally, doctors need to understand their patients’ medical history in order to fully diagnose a condition or a disease. However, patients from another country might have their medical history written in another language. In these cases, translation services are necessary for doctors to provide the right care.
Language Connections LLC
2001 Beacon Street, Suite 105,
Boston, MA 02135
Phone: +1-617-731-3510 Email: service@languageconnections.com
How Life Science Translation Can Help Expand Your Business
The life science industry is a multi-billion dollar industry that directly affects the lives of people of millions of people. Without these innovative companies, people from around the world would be unable to receive the proper care they deserve both quickly and at affordable prices. Despite the global nature of the industry, people often forget about the integral role translation services play in getting pharmaceutical/medical products and services to market. But how exactly does life sciences translation help? Let’s take a closer look at the key role translation services play.
Key Questions to Consider Before Investing in Life Science Translation
Unless you wish for your company to remain a local business (which would be unusual considering global nature of the life-science field), life science translation services are essential. Thus, it only makes sense to ask yourself these questions: which materials need translation and/or what aspects of the industry could use interpretation? These questions will all be answered in the next paragraphs which and show how pharmaceutical translation services can make your company an international brand.
Life Science Translation Can Help Players in Many Different Industries
Life science translation can aid companies in many different industries including biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, clinical research and development, healthcare, and finally medical devices. Such industries have different needs concerning translation and interpreting services; nevertheless, all require some form of language services. For example, in the case of clinical trial translation, documents explaining the first trials need to be translated in order for the next laboratory to conduct the second phase of the trials. Since these kinds of trials have the potential to be life changing, every person involved in the research process must fully understand what has already been done as well as the steps to advance the trials to the next stage.
Life Science Translation Can Transform Promotional Materials Into Multiple Languages
However, life science translation projects are not limited to research papers; life science companies have needs ranging from website translation to packaging translation. For example, in the biotech and pharma industries, pharmaceutical localization services are essential for packaging and labelling new products intended for markets around the globe. In order to truly reach customers that speak foreign languages in different markets, all packaging and labeling must be adapted to fit their culture and even their country’s egal regulations. Website translation conducted by an experience life science translation services provider is also critical. Maintaining a digital storefront that is accessible to all regardless of language can expand the number of potential customers and facilitate transparency by helping current customers fully understand their pharmaceutical/medical provider.
Translation Services Can Aid Internal Communication
Finally, life science translation can create a better workplace for employees in the industry. For instance, manual translation of employee guidelines is a great investment for any company in order for employees to clearly understand what is expected of them It is especially important for fields where time is precious; you do not want a life changing discovery to be slowed down due to communication issues, especially if employees speak different languages. Clearly, life science translation is critical to business success in today’s globalized and multilingual world.
Language Connections LLC
2001 Beacon Street, Suite 105,
Boston, MA 02135
Phone: +1-617-731-3510 Email: service@languageconnections.com
3 Industries You Probably Didn’t Know Needed Translation Services
People tend to think that translation services only serve the publishing and movie industries. It might surprise you that nearly every field can have translation and interpreting needs.
There are several reasons for this. Some companies need language services because they facilitate global expansion; others need them in order to comply with legal regulations. As a results, drafting legal contracts, creating educational documents, conducting clinical trials and even crafting elearning content can all require translation and interpretation services.
Here are three industries that have high demand for translation:
Translation Services And The Life Sciences Industry
The life sciences industry is a big purchaser of translation services. Pharmaceutical companies conduct clinical trials and then translate the results into several languages so that they can be passed on to another foreign laboratory to replicate the trials. Because clinical trials have the potential to affect other people’s lives, accurate translation is essential and requires subject matter experts to carefully review all materials and transform them into multiple languages. Legal regulations also necessitate this investment in translation. When exporting pharmaceutical products to foreign countries, companies need to be aware of international regulations in order to avoid major legal pitfalls. As a result, pharmaceutical companies are always in need of clinical trials translation and clinical trials localization.
Translation Services And The Legal Industry
The legal industry is also in need of contract translation. Contracts often have to be translated into all of a country’s official languages to ensure that all parties involved understand the exact provisions of an agreement. Since contracts often involve sensitive matters, legal contract translation conducted by skilled translation professionals with knowledge of the legal world is a necessity. Law firms also require language services for important meetings. For example, interpretation services are frequently used for meetings between lawyers and their clients if they speak different languages. Because legal matters have the chance to radically change a person’s life, clear communication is essential for coordination between legal professionals and those they serve.
The Tech World And Language Services
The sophisticated jargon and concepts used in the tech world can be very confusing for the uninitiated. This is especially the case if a company’s target markets are part of different language groups. Consider the case of the elearning industry. Due to the rise of remote learning, technical translation is an important investment for elearning companies. Elearning translation services, when coupled with elearning localization, can help elearning companies create engaging elearning content that is both easy to understand and tailored to the customs and needs of a specific population.
Professional translation is needed in almost every field, but especially in the three mentioned above. You should not underestimate the importance of what a good translation provider can do for a specific field; it is always beneficial.
Language Connections LLC
2001 Beacon Street, Suite 105,
Boston, MA 02135
Phone: +1-617-731-3510 Email: service@languageconnections.com
What is Patent Translation And How Can It Help Your Organization?
If you’ve invented a new groundbreaking product, you might want to patent it! Your creation constitutes intellectual property (or IP). As such, you may want to protect it so that others don’t use your idea for their own gain. One of the ways to do this is by filing a patent and hiring a language service provider (LSP) for patent translation.
What Is a Patent?
A patent is a legal, government-issued license that gives one the exclusive right to access and make use of a product’s design and manufacture.
Patents often apply to scientific discoveries: a new kind of plant, chemical formula, or machine. In this case, you would ultimately need assistance from specialized biotechnology and life science translation services. Patents can also apply to business ideas, like production methods or a tool – for which you’d work with business translation services.
In the U.S., inventors can apply for patents with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Additionally, WIPO, or the World Intellectual Property Organization, is an organizational subset of the United Nations. Their goal is to promote international cooperation in the protection and administration of intellectual property.
Patents last twenty years and require the inventor’s disclosure of production secrets through the legal registration of the patent. To some, these qualities might constitute drawbacks. Therefore, they must inform the decision as to whether a filing patent is the right course of action case by case.
Patent Translation: The Process
If your goal is to protect your intellectual property, in our globalized age, it’s important to make sure that protection covers the whole of the planet. The most cost-efficient way to do this is through a skillful translation agency that works with a network of international translators.
Let’s take a look at the steps that go into the process of translating a patent.
1. The patent document is assigned to a deft translation project manager
2. The project manager coordinates linguists, translation technology, and editors who are subject-matter specialists
3. Translation and editing take place
4. Proofreading and quality feedback forms are filled out
5. Members of the assembled translation team iron out any final details
6. Final in-house quality review is completed followed by delivery
The translation process ensures your patent right will be duly observed. This protects you from incurring financial losses or extra costs through, for example, failed local or international patent applications, legal prosecution overseas, and, of course, the weakening of your business potential.
We Can Help!
Whether you need an LSP for translating a patent for target countries, translation for filing a patent in a foreign setting, or conference interpreting services – we’ve got you covered. We offer full language service, guaranteed at the highest rate of client satisfaction.
Reach out to us today! We’ll be more than pleased to be your provider of patent and IP translation services.
Language Connections Inc.
2001 Beacon Street, Suite 105,
Boston, MA 02135
Phone: +1-617-731-3510 Email: service@languageconnections.com
How Does Clinical Trial Translation Aid the Clinical Trial Process?
One of the instrumental working parts in the fields of life science and biotechnology is the development of new medical treatments that will improve the quality of life for people living with a health condition. Clinical trial translation is central to this process.
Clinical trials are medical research studies in people. The goal is to evaluate if a drug, surgical procedure, or behavioral intervention is safe and effective in humans. The process involves testing specific treatments, finding appropriates dosages and measures, and looking for side effects.
Clinical trials can be used to for:
> Studying emergent medical treatments
> Finding treatments that have fewer or less harmful side effects than currently available treatments
> Identifying new health issues
> Preventing illness eruption
Observational Studies
Clinical trials are one of two types of medical research. The other is called observational studies and serves to prompt new clinical trials. In such studies, healthcare professionals collect data through exams or questionnaires in uncontrolled environments, with the goal of detecting changes over time.
Clinical Trial Documents
The clinical trial process is shaped by procedural bureaucratic steps, represented by clinical trial documents:
> Clinical trial protocols (CTPs), which delimit the trial’s objectives and methodology
> Documents containing experiment instructions
> Consent forms
> Patient reported outcomes (PROs), which provide direct participant feedback
The 4 Phases of Clinical Trials
In the United States, there are four phases in clinical trials.
Phase I Trials
In a Phase I trial, the focus is testing a treatment on a small group of 20 to 80 healthy people. Here, the goal is to is to assess and draw an initial conclusion on safety, side effects, and appropriate drug dosages.
Phase II Trials
In Phase II trials, focus shifts to compiling preliminary data regarding treatment effectiveness on people with a particular health problem. Larger groups are used, usually between 100 and 300 people, which is part of the reason Phase II can take years.
Phase III Trials
Data collection broadens it reach in Phase III trials. Studies comprehend varying dosages, populations, and treatment combinations. Test groups are larger, from a few hundred to a few thousand people. In the USA, the FDA has to approve the results of Phase III trials in order for the study to go on.
Phase IV Trials
With Phase IV, tests continue with an even larger group, as the goal is to get more diversity and, if relevant, explore findings in targeted populations (e.g. a given age group). Testing also becomes more in-depth; for example, some applications may go on for a lifetime.
The Role of Clinical Trial Translation
Nowadays, clinical trials are a global affair, as companies tend to carry out their studies in strategic and economically-emergent countries. This implicates a direct need for clinical trial translation and localization services for the fundamental documents: the CTP, instructions, PRO, and consent forms.
In fact, language services are entrenched in several of the clinical trial stages:
Clinical trials are a significant investment, which generates further motivation to maximize chances of success. Proper clinical trial document translation ensures a functional process with minimal error and damage, culminating in the approval of regulatory bodies.
