Medicine sorting device

Abstract

To provide a bringing medicine sorting device that can sort bringing medicines per patient automatically and efficiently.SOLUTION: A medicine sorting device (1) includes: a first storage part (11) for storing a plurality of types of medicines; a plurality of sorting cups (141) for storing medicines regarded as a same type; a first camera (13) for imaging a medicine taken out from the first storage part; a transportation and sorting unit (12) for transporting the medicine to any one of the sorting cups on the basis of the feature of the medicine extracted from an image filmed by the first camera; and a collection tray (16) for storing foreign matter. The transportation and sorting unit transports a medicine that is identified by a user as a medicine that a patient cannot take or needs to refrain from taking to any one of the sorting cups or the collection tray irrespective of a feature of the medicine.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a medicine sorting device and a medicine sorting device for sorting medicines. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a drug identification system including a drug photographing device that photographs an image of a drug, and a computer that identifies drugs based on image data of the drug obtained by the drug photographing device. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2015 / 152225 Summary of the Invention

[0004] A drug sorting device according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises a first storage unit for storing multiple types of drugs, a plurality of sorting containers for storing drugs that are considered to be of the same type, an imaging unit for capturing images of drugs removed from the first storage unit, a transport unit for transporting the drug to one of the plurality of sorting containers based on characteristics of the drug extracted from the image captured by the imaging unit, and a collection tray for storing foreign objects, and for drugs identified by a user as drugs that cannot be taken by a patient or that should be avoided, the transport unit transports the drug to one of the plurality of sorting containers or to the collection tray. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0005] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a medicine sorting device. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a medicine sorting device. [Diagram 3] 4A to 4C are diagrams illustrating an example of the configuration of a first storage section. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a plan view of the second storage section. [Diagram 5]1A to 1C are diagrams illustrating an example and a modified example of packaging by a packaging mechanism. [Figure 6] A diagram showing an example of a flow of sorting and packaging of medications brought by a patient by a medicine sorting device. [Figure 7] 13A and 13B are diagrams showing another example of the first storage section. [Figure 8] 13A and 13B are diagrams for explaining an example of packaging processing in a pre-visual inspection packaging mode. [Figure 9] 13A and 13B are diagrams for explaining an example of packaging processing in a packaging mode after visual inspection; [Figure 10] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a discrimination result image displaying a brought-medicine discrimination result. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a medicine dispensing system according to a second embodiment. [Figure 12] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a control unit of the medicine sorting device of embodiment 2. [Figure 13] 11A to 11C are diagrams showing an example of a result of sorting by the medicine sorting device of the second embodiment, and an example of a medicine package containing the medicines sorted by the medicine sorting device. [Figure 14] 13A to 13C are diagrams showing another example of the result of sorting by the medicine sorting device of embodiment 2, and another example of a medicine package containing medicines sorted by the medicine sorting device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0006] [Embodiment 1] [Overview of the medicine sorting device 1] First, an overview of the medicine sorting device 1 (brought-in medicine sorting device) will be described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the medicine sorting device 1. Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the medicine sorting device 1, in which 2001 is a perspective view of the medicine sorting device 1 and 2002 is a perspective view showing the basic configuration of the medicine sorting area 2. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the medicine sorting device 1 includes a medicine sorting area 2, a touch panel 3, a print output section 4, a first RFID (Radio Frequency Identifier) ​​reader / writer unit 5, a packaging mechanism 6 (packaging section), and a second RFID reader / writer unit 18.

[0007] The medicine sorting device 1 takes an image of each of a plurality of types of medicine, and based on the image obtained as a result of the imaging, determines the type of medicine and sorts the medicine by type. This process is performed in the medicine sorting area 2. The medicine sorting area 2 (the internal configuration of the medicine sorting device 1) will be described later. After the medicines sorted by type are visually inspected by the user, they are packaged or returned to the medicine shelf or packaging machine.

[0008] In this embodiment, the multiple types of medicines are medicines that are not contained in a container or the like, or medicines that are not packaged, and an example of such medicines is a tablet or a capsule. In addition, the multiple types of medicines are described as returned medicines. The returned medicines are medicines to be prescribed to each of multiple patients, or medicines that have been prescribed to each of the patients and have been dispensed. The medicines are "brought-in medicines" that may include medicines issued by other pharmacies or hospitals in addition to the adopted medicines, which are adopted medicines (adopted medicines) that were once prescribed to a patient at a certain medical institution, and then brought to another medical institution for hospitalization or the like by the patient, and are currently being taken by the patient. After the medicines are returned, the medicine sorting device 1 can automatically perform processes from imaging to sorting.

[0009] Furthermore, the discrimination of the type of medicine is not limited to a unique discrimination of the type of medicine, but may refer to discrimination of whether or not the medicines are regarded as being of the same type based on at least one characteristic of the medicine (e.g., color, shape, size). If the medicines are regarded as being of the same type, the discrimination result may be a plurality of types having at least one characteristic that is the same or similar.

[0010] The touch panel 3 accepts various user inputs at the operation unit 31, and displays various images (e.g., an image showing the progress of drug sorting, an image for visual inspection) on the display unit 32. The print output unit 4 prints a journal showing drug data (e.g., data showing the drug name and patient name) related to the drug after visual inspection according to the user input after visual inspection. The drug data may include image data showing an image unique to the drug.

[0011] The packaging mechanism 6 packages the sorted medicines. By providing the packaging mechanism 6 to the medicine sorting device 1, the processes from sorting the returned medicines to packaging after visual inspection can be performed all at once by the medicine sorting device 1. In particular, when medicines are input to the packaging mechanism 6 by the conveying / sorting unit 12, the processes from sorting to packaging can be performed automatically, except for visual inspection.

[0012] A conventional tablet packing machine or powder packing machine may be used as the packing mechanism 6. In this case, for example, drugs in a sorting cup 141 that have been sorted for each drug type may be packed into one or more packages.

[0013] It should be noted that throughout this specification, the term "packaging" as used at least in the description of the medicine sorting device 1 includes both the meaning of "packaging medicines according to their respective taking times based on the prescription data" and the meaning of "simply packaging the medicines sorted into the second storage section 14 regardless of the prescription data."

[0014] As shown in 2002 of FIG. 2, the first RFID reader / writer unit 5 is provided on the medicine removal side of the base 19. The first RFID reader / writer unit 5 reads data related to the medicine stored in each sorting cup 141, which is stored in an RFID tag (not shown) provided at the bottom of each sorting cup 141 of the second storage section 14. Examples of the data include data indicating the number of medicines stored, medicine identification data (e.g., GS1 code) for identifying the medicine, and sorting cup identification information (identification information given to the RFID tag) for identifying the sorting cup 141. Note that the medicine data (e.g., medicine name) of the medicine stored in the sorting cup 141 and the image acquired by the imaging unit 13 are stored in the storage unit 80 in association with the sorting cup identification information.

[0015] The data may also include drug data determined by visual inspection (drug data after visual inspection). The drug data after visual inspection may also be written to the RFID tag. The drug data after visual inspection is used when the drug stored in the corresponding sorting cup 141 is (1) packaged by the packaging mechanism 6 or a packaging machine other than the drug sorting device 1, or (2) returned to the drug shelf. The drug data may also be linked to the sorting cup identification information and stored in the drug database.

[0016] The second RFID reader / writer unit 18 writes various data to the RFID tag or reads various data stored in the RFID tag, similar to the first RFID reader / writer unit 5. The second RFID reader / writer unit 18 is provided below the second storage section 14. Specifically, it is provided so as to face the bottom of each sorting cup 141 when reading or writing data related to medicines stored in the RFID tag of each sorting cup 141.

[0017] The medicine sorting device 1 may also include a barcode reader 7. The barcode reader 7 reads, for example, a barcode indicating medicine data of the medicine printed on a medicine packet (packaging paper) in which the packaging mechanism 6 packages the medicines after sorting. This allows the control unit 60a to perform processing based on the read barcode. The packaging mechanism 6 may also include a barcode printing mechanism (not shown) that prints a barcode indicating medicine data of the medicine packaged in the medicine packet on the medicine packet.

[0018] The barcode reader 7 may be any reading device capable of reading information indicating drug data printed on a drug package or the like. The drug sorting device 1 does not necessarily need to include the barcode reader 7. When the control unit 60a performs processing based on the above information, the control unit 60a may obtain the above information by communicating with an external device including the barcode reader 7.

[0019] As shown in FIG. 2 at 2001, the medicine sorting device 1 is provided with an opening / closing shutter 51 and an opening / closing door 52 that enable the medicine removal side to be opened and closed.

[0020] [Basic configuration of drug sorting area 2] Next, the basic configuration of the medicine sorting area 2 (the internal configuration of the medicine sorting device 1) will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and 2002 in FIG.

[0021] 1 and 2, the medicine sorting area 2 mainly comprises, as hardware, a first storage section 11, a transport / sorting unit 12 (sorting section), an imaging unit 13, a second storage section 14, a waiting tray 15, a collection tray 16, and a medicine insertion port 17. Each member except for the transport / sorting unit 12 is provided on a base 19.

[0022] The first storage section 11 stores a mixture of multiple types of medicines returned by users. In this embodiment, the first storage section 11 is divided into multiple storage sections. In this case, for example, when all of the medicines stored in one storage section are transported by the transport / sorting unit 12, the medicines stored in the storage section adjacent to the storage section are transported. The first storage section 11 may be provided rotatable about the Z axis (center of the cylindrical shape). In this case, the control section 60a may rotate the first storage section 11 so that the transport / sorting unit 12 can easily obtain the medicines, for example, when one storage section becomes empty.

[0023] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the first storage section 11. In the example of 3001 in FIG. 3, the first storage section 11 has four storage sections 111 to 114 having approximately the same volume. In the example of 3002 in FIG. 3, in the first storage section 11, two storage sections 111 and 113 of the four storage sections shown in 3001 in FIG. 3 are further divided into three equal parts, and each has three small storage sections 111a to 111c and three small storage sections 113a to 113c. The first storage section 11 shown in 3001 in FIG. 3 is mainly used when sorting returned medicines, and the first storage section 11 shown in 3002 in FIG. 3 is mainly used when sorting brought-in medicines. Not limited to this, for example, the first storage section 11 shown in 3001 in FIG. 3 may be used when sorting brought-in medicines. A method of using the first storage section 11 when sorting brought-in medicines will be described later.

[0024] The transporting and sorting unit 12 transports the medicines stored in the first storage section 11 to a receiving area where the imaging unit 13 receives the medicines. The transporting and sorting unit 12 includes a second camera 121, a suction and shutter mechanism 122, and a transport mechanism 123.

[0025] The second camera 121 sequentially captures images of the first storage section 11 in order to identify the medicine to be transported. The second camera 121 is provided at the end of the transport / sorting unit 12 (specifically, of a housing including at least the suction / shutter mechanism 122) facing the base 19. The second camera 121 may be provided at the tip of the suction mechanism described below.

[0026] The suction / shutter mechanism 122 includes a suction mechanism that suctions the medicine identified as the transport target, and a shutter mechanism that prevents the medicine suctioned by the suction mechanism from dropping. The suction mechanism is provided so as to be movable in the Z-axis direction. The shutter mechanism is provided in front of the end so as to be movable approximately parallel to the XY plane.

[0027] When acquiring a drug, the suction mechanism extends from the end, adsorbs the specified drug at its tip, and then returns to the position of the end. In this state, the shutter mechanism moves to a position opposite the end, and maintains the position of the shutter mechanism during drug delivery (closed state). When the suction / shutter mechanism 122 moves to a position opposite the drug placement stage 133a of the drug holding mechanism 133 arranged in the receiving area, the shutter mechanism moves to a position not opposite the end (open state). Then, after extending from the end, the suction mechanism releases the suction state, thereby placing the drug on the drug placement stage 133a.

[0028] The transport mechanism 123 moves the suction / shutter mechanism 122 in the X-axis and Y-axis directions. This transport mechanism 123 enables the movement of the suction / shutter mechanism 122 when searching for a drug to be transported on the first container 11, or transport of the drug from the first container 11 to the drug placement stand 133a. In addition, it enables transport of the drug from the drug placement stand 133a to the second container 14, the waiting tray 15, or the collection tray 16.

[0029] The imaging unit 13 is placed on the medicine placement table 133a and captures an image of a medicine placed in a placement area (imaging area) where the medicine to be imaged is placed. The imaging unit 13 includes a first camera 131 (imaging section), a rotation mechanism 132, a medicine holding mechanism 133, and an illuminator 134.

[0030] In order for the control unit 60a to identify the type of medicine, the first camera 131 captures an image of the medicine placed in the placement area facing the first camera 131. The illuminator 134 emits light to be irradiated onto the medicine when capturing an image of the medicine.

[0031] The rotation mechanism 132 rotates the first camera 131 so as to revolve around the arrangement area (the medicine placement table 133a arranged at that position) where the medicine to be imaged is arranged. The first camera 131 captures images of the medicine arranged in the arrangement area from multiple positions to which the rotation mechanism 132 has rotated it. Specifically, the imaging mechanism including the first camera 131 and the illuminator 134 is rotated so as to revolve around the arrangement area. Therefore, the first camera 131 can capture images of the medicine from multiple directions while maintaining the positional relationship of the first camera 131 and the illuminator 134 with respect to the arrangement area.

[0032] The medicine holding mechanism 133 is a mechanism for holding medicines. The medicine holding mechanism 133 includes a shaft portion that rotates about the Z axis as a rotation axis and extends substantially perpendicular to the Z axis, and two medicine placement stages (petellis) 133a provided at each tip of the shaft portion. By rotating the shaft portion, the two medicine placement stages 133a can move between the receiving area (collection tray 16 side) and the arrangement area.

[0033] Specifically, when the medicine transported from the first container 11 is placed on one medicine placement stand 133a, the medicine holding mechanism 133 moves one medicine placement stand 133a from the receiving area to the placing area. At this time, the other medicine placement stand 133a moves from the placing area to the receiving area. Thereafter, the first camera 131 captures an image of the medicine placed on one medicine placement stand 133a. Since the medicine placement stand 133a has transparency, the first camera 131 can capture an image of the medicine placed on the medicine placement stand 133a from multiple directions through the medicine placement stand 133a. When the image capture is completed, one medicine placement stand 133a moves from the placing area to the receiving area, and the other medicine placement stand 133a moves from the receiving area to the placing area. If no medicine is placed on the other medicine placing stand 133a, a medicine transported from the first container 11 can be placed on the other medicine placing stand 133a during the above-mentioned imaging. This allows the first camera 131 to continuously image the medicine.

[0034] The second storage section 14 stores medicines according to the medicines that are considered to be of the same type. The second storage section 14 is provided with a plurality of compartments (medicine storage positions) so that a plurality of medicines can be stored according to their types. Specifically, the second storage section 14 is provided with a plurality of sorting cups 141 that are detachably mounted. The control section 60a determines the type of medicine based on an image of the medicine captured by the imaging unit 13, and determines the sorting cup 141 in which to store the medicine based on the determination result. The medicine is transported by the transporting / sorting unit 12 to the determined sorting cup 141 and stored therein.

[0035] The waiting tray 15 is a temporary storage unit where medicines are temporarily placed. For example, when all of the sorting cups 141 are filled with medicines, the control unit 60a temporarily stores medicines that are determined to be of a type other than the type of medicine stored in each sorting cup 141 in the waiting tray 15. The medicines stored in the waiting tray 15 may be transported from the waiting tray 15 to the sorting cup 141 after the medicines are removed from the sorting cup 141.

[0036] The collection tray 16 is a container that stores objects whose types cannot be determined by the control unit 60a (e.g., foreign objects other than medicines). Examples of foreign objects other than medicines include pieces of PTP (Press Through Pack) sheets. The control unit 60a also stores in the collection tray 16 medicines that are registered in the medicine database as medicines to be discarded or medicines that the user wishes to discard (e.g., medicines with old manufacturing dates).

[0037] The medicine input port 17 is for transporting the medicines stored in the second storage section 14 to the packaging mechanism 6 by the transport / sorting unit 12.

[0038] [Computer Overview] 1, the medicine sorting device 1 includes a computer 60 that controls the above-mentioned components (hardware) of the medicine sorting device 1. The computer 60 includes a control unit 60a and a memory unit 80. The control unit 60a includes a transport control unit 61, a sorting control unit 62, an imaging control unit 63, a determination unit 64, a collation unit 65, an operation input unit 66, a display control unit 67, an RFID control unit 68, a print output control unit 69, and a packaging control unit 71. The processing of the determination unit 64 will be described in the section "Sorting Processing of Brought-in Medicines" below.

[0039] The transport control unit 61 controls the transport / sorting unit 12 to transport the medicines stored in the first storage unit 11 to the receiving area. Specifically, the transport control unit 61 controls the suction / shutter mechanism 122 to perform a medicine suction operation or release operation by the suction / shutter mechanism 122. The transport control unit 61 controls the transport mechanism 123 to move the suction / shutter mechanism 122 in the X-axis and Y-axis directions.

[0040] The sorting control unit 62 controls the transporting / sorting unit 12 based on the result of discrimination of the type of medicine (the result of comparison by the comparison unit 65) to transport the medicine placed in the receiving area to a specified sorting cup 141 in the second storage unit 14, a waiting tray 15, or a collection tray 16.

[0041] When the sorting control unit 62 receives the discrimination result of the medicine, it determines a sorting position to store the medicine, and associates the discrimination result with the determined sorting position and stores them in the memory unit 80. Specifically, the sorting control unit 62 determines whether or not a discrimination result identical to the above discrimination result is stored in the memory unit 80.

[0042] When the same discrimination result as the above discrimination result is stored, the sorting control unit 62 determines the sorting cup 141 linked to the stored discrimination result as the sorting position. When the sorting position linked to the stored discrimination result (e.g., estimated drug) is the waiting tray 15, the sorting control unit 62 determines the waiting tray 15 as the sorting position. On the other hand, when the same discrimination result as the above discrimination result is not stored, the sorting control unit 62 determines the sorting cup 141 in which no drug is stored (the sorting cup 141 not yet determined as the sorting position) as the sorting position. When drugs are stored in all of the sorting cups 141, the sorting control unit 62 determines the waiting tray 15 as the sorting position. Note that, for the estimated drug, the sorting control unit 62 may determine any of the sorting cups 141 of the second storage unit 14 as the sorting position instead of the waiting tray 15.

[0043] When the sorting control unit 62 determines the sorting position, it controls the transport mechanism 123 in the same manner as the transport control unit 61 to move the transport / sorting unit 12 above the receiving area. Similarly to the transport control unit 61, the sorting control unit 62 controls the second camera 121 and the suction / shutter mechanism 122 to adsorb the medicines placed in the receiving area. Thereafter, the sorting control unit 62 controls the transport mechanism 123 to transport the medicines to the determined sorting cup 141 or waiting tray 15. After transporting the medicines, the sorting control unit 62 releases the suction, thereby storing the medicines in the sorting cup 141 or waiting tray 15. In addition, the sorting control unit 62 counts the number of medicines stored in the sorting cup 141, and stores the number in the memory unit 80 in association with the sorting position.

[0044] After the sorting control unit 62 transports the medicines (medicines after identification) on the medicine placement table 133a arranged in the receiving area to the sorting position, the transport control unit 61 transports the medicines stored in the first storage unit 11 to the now emptied medicine placement table 133a and places them thereon. This allows the medicine sorting device 1 to continuously identify the types of medicines.

[0045] In addition, if the sorting control unit 62 receives a discrimination result indicating that the type of medicine could not be identified, the object placed in the receiving area after discrimination is a foreign object, and therefore the sorting control unit 62 transports the foreign object to the collection tray 16.

[0046] Data on the medicines stored in the sorting cup 141 by the sorting control unit 62 is stored in an RFID tag provided on the sorting cup 141 by the second RFID reader / writer unit 18. The sorting control unit 62 causes the RFID control unit 68 to write data on the medicines every time a medicine is stored in the sorting cup 141. The sorting control unit 62 also stores the data in the memory unit 80.

[0047] When the transport / sorting unit 12 adsorbs the medicine to be transported, the imaging control unit 63 controls the imaging of the medicine by the second camera 121. The transport control unit 61 and the sorting control unit 62 identify one of the medicines included in the image captured by the second camera 121 as the medicine to be transported.

[0048] Moreover, the imaging control unit 63 controls the imaging of the medicine in the arrangement area by the imaging unit 13, the pivoting movement of the first camera 131 and the illuminator 134, and the movement of the medicine holding mechanism 133. The imaging control unit 63 stores the image captured by the first camera 131 in the storage unit 80.

[0049] The collation unit 65 functions as a discrimination unit that discriminates the type of medicine based on the image of the medicine captured by the first camera 131. Specifically, the collation unit 65 extracts the characteristics of the medicine contained in the image by analyzing the image of the medicine. Examples of the characteristics of the medicine include size, shape, marking, print, dividing line, and representative color (color of the area with the marking or print). When OCR (Optical Character Recognition) or the like is performed, other information such as the name of the medicine represented by the marking or print (e.g., identification code) or identification information indicating the manufacturer (identification information for identifying the medicine), and expiration date are extracted as the characteristics of the medicine. The collation unit 65 stores the extracted information indicating the characteristics of each medicine in the storage unit 80 by linking it to the image of the medicine. The extraction of the characteristics of the medicine may be performed by a known technology.

[0050] The collation unit 65 identifies the type of drug by collating the characteristics of each drug with the drug database. For example, the collation unit 65 ranks candidates for drug data related to the imaged drug from the drug database based on the representative color. After that, the collation unit 65 performs type discrimination based on other characteristics according to the above ranking.

[0051] The collation unit 65 may also narrow down candidates for drug data related to the captured drug from the drug database using pattern matching or the like based on the extracted drug features. In this case, for example, the candidates for drug data are narrowed down using at least one of the above-mentioned size, shape, marking, print, dividing line, and representative color. Thereafter, the collation unit 65 performs OCR or the like to read the identification information or the like shown on the marking or print, and further narrows down the types of drugs from the candidates using pattern matching or the like. The collation unit 65 may also rank the candidates based on the degree of agreement between the extracted drug features and the drug features included in the drug database.

[0052] Furthermore, even if the medicine features (target features) extracted using pattern matching or the like are not in the medicine database, if the medicine is estimated to be a medicine (tablet or capsule) based on at least a part of the target features, the collation unit 65 determines the type of medicine as a suspected medicine. In this case, the suspected medicine can also be sorted into the second container 14 or the waiting tray 15.

[0053] The collation unit 65 may also collate at least one of the target features with at least one of the features (features for collation) of the medicine extracted up to that point, and determine the type of medicine based on the collation result. Specifically, when the image of the medicine sorted into the sorting cup 141 is used as a reference image, the collation unit 65 compares the features (target features) of the medicine included in the image acquired thereafter with the features (features for collation) of the medicine included in the reference image. This allows the above collation to be performed using the reference image instead of the medicine database, so that medicine sorting into the sorting cup 141 is possible even if the medicine is not preregistered in the medicine database.

[0054] The collation unit 65 outputs the discrimination result of the type of the medicine to the sorting control unit 62. For example, when the type of the medicine can be identified as one, or when the number of candidates is narrowed down to a predetermined number or less, the collation unit 65 outputs the medicine data of the medicine as the discrimination result. In this case, the collation unit 65 stores the medicine data of the medicine in the storage unit 80 in association with an image of the medicine.

[0055] When the collation unit 65 determines that the type of medicine is a suspected medicine, it outputs the characteristics of the medicine (the characteristics of the object presumed to be a suspected medicine) as the determination result. On the other hand, when the collation unit 65 determines that the medicine is registered in the medicine database as a medicine to be discarded, or when the object contained in the first container 11 is a foreign object other than a medicine, it outputs the fact that the medicine is not to be sorted as the determination result.

[0056] The operation input unit 66 and the display control unit 67 respectively control the operation unit 31 and the display unit 32 of the touch panel 3. The RFID control unit 68 controls the first RFID reader / writer unit 5 and the second RFID reader / writer unit 18. The print output control unit 69 controls the print output unit 4 in accordance with user input received by the operation input unit 66.

[0057] The packaging control unit 71 controls the transport / sorting unit 12 to transport the medicines stored in the sorting cups 141 to the medicine insertion port 17. In addition, the packaging control unit 71 controls the packaging mechanism 6 to package the medicines contained in each sorting cup 141.

[0058] Moreover, computer 60 includes a storage unit 80. Storage unit 80 stores in advance a drug database (drug master) that manages drug data on a plurality of types of drugs, and also stores images of drugs captured by first camera 131. Images that have been subjected to image processing by imaging control unit 63 may be stored as images of the drugs.

[0059] The various data stored in the storage unit 80 may not necessarily be managed by the storage unit 80, but may be managed by, for example, an external device. In this case, the control unit 60a may obtain the various data from the external device via a communication line such as the Internet, as necessary. The drug database may be updated by adding new drug data.

[0060] [Sorting and packaging medications brought in by patients (sorting mode set by type of medication)] In the medicine sorting device 1 of this embodiment, it is possible to set a returned medicine sorting mode in which returned medicines are automatically sorted, and a brought-person medicine sorting mode in which brought-person medicines are automatically sorted.

[0061] In the returned medicine sorting mode, as described above, the medicine sorting device 1 takes out the multiple types of medicines stored in the first storage unit 11 one by one, and determines the type of the medicine based on an image of the taken out medicine. Based on the determination result, the medicine sorting device 1 transports the medicine to any of the second storage unit 14, the waiting tray 15, and the collection tray 16. Therefore, in the returned medicine sorting mode, the first storage unit 11 may store multiple types of medicines arbitrarily, and it is not necessarily required that the first storage unit 11 has multiple storage units. In addition, in the case of returned medicines, since there is no patient waiting for the sorting process, it is not necessary to increase the efficiency of the sorting process in order to return the medicines to the patients as soon as possible.

[0062] On the other hand, the patient's own medications are necessary for the doctor to create a new prescription for the patient who brought the medications with them. The doctor, for example, considers the type of medication brought with them and the details of the surgery, and checks whether there are any medications among the medications that should be discontinued, and then creates a new prescription. In addition, in order to create this prescription, the medication brought with them is identified by a pharmacist. Therefore, the medication sorting device 1 can support the pharmacist's identification and the doctor's work of creating prescriptions by sorting the medications brought with them by type on a patient-by-patient basis. However, considering that it is preferable for the doctor to create a prescription as soon as possible after acquiring the medication brought with them, it is preferable for the medication sorting device 1 to sort the medications brought with them more efficiently than in the case of returned medications.

[0063] Here, when the patient's own medication sorting mode is selected, the medicine sorting device 1 of this embodiment can further select between a medicine type sorting mode and a medicine type discrimination mode. The medicine type sorting mode is a mode in which the patient's own medications are sorted according to the same type, and then the patient's own medications are packaged by type. The medicine type discrimination mode is a mode in which the patient's own medications are re-packaged according to the time of taking them. Here, first, the method of storing, sorting, and packaging the patient's own medications by the medicine sorting device 1 in the medicine type sorting mode will be described.

[0064] <Sorting and processing of medications brought in by patients> When the drug type sorting mode is selected, the first storage unit 11 functions as a unit for separating and storing the patient's own medicines by patient. The first storage unit 11 also functions as a unit for separating and storing at least one first brought-in medicine and the remaining second brought-in medicines among a plurality of types of brought-in medicines that were prescribed for one patient at a certain medical institution and were subsequently brought to another medical institution.

[0065] For example, in the example of 3002 in Figure 3, storage units 111 and 112 function as storage units for storing medications brought by a patient PA, and storage units 113 and 114 function as storage units for storing medications brought by a patient PB other than patient PA.

[0066] Here, patients PA and PB are prescribed medication for multiple days, and multiple dosing times are set for each day. The type of medication taken at the same dosing time on each day is the same. A specific day out of the multiple dosing days is referred to as a "predetermined dosing day." The specific dosing day is, for example, the start date of dosing, but may also be any other specific day.

[0067] Each of the small containers 111a to 111c functions as a container for storing the first brought-in medicines that are prescribed to be taken by the patient PA at each of a plurality of times on a predetermined date (predetermined time of taking). For example, the small container 111a stores the brought-in medicines for the morning of a certain day, the small container 111b stores the brought-in medicines for the afternoon of the day, and the small container 111c stores the brought-in medicines for the evening of the day. The container 112 stores the remaining brought-in medicines that are prescribed to be taken by the patient PA at the same times as the plurality of times on a day other than the predetermined date, and the brought-in medicines. The containers 113 (small containers 113a to 113c) and 114 have the same functions as the containers 111 and 112, and function as containers for the first brought-in medicines or the second brought-in medicines of the patient PB, respectively.

[0068] The number of first brought-to-pills stored in the storage section 111 is equal to or less than the number of second brought-to-pills stored in the storage section 112. Therefore, the amount of reference data (described later) created based on the image of the first brought-to-pills can be reduced, and the second brought-to-pills that exist in excess of the number of the first brought-to-pills can be sorted based on the reduced amount of reference data. Therefore, the medicine sorting device 1 can efficiently sort the brought-to-pills.

[0069] The storage section 111 of the first storage section 11 may function as a storage section for storing the first brought-in medicine that is prescribed to be taken by the patient PA on a specified date and brought in by the patient. In this case, the storage section 112 may function as a storage section for storing the remaining brought-in medicine that is prescribed to be taken by the patient PA on a date other than the specified date and brought in by the patient. For example, when prescribed to be taken in the morning and evening, the small storage section 111a stores the brought-in medicine for the morning dose on a certain date, and the small storage section 111b stores the brought-in medicine for the evening dose on the said date. The storage section 112 stores the brought-in medicine for the morning and evening doses on dates other than the said date (the remaining brought-in medicine). When a prescription is given to take the medicine in the morning, afternoon or evening of a day, the small storage section 111a stores the medicine brought by the patient for the morning, afternoon or evening on a certain day, and storage section 112 stores the medicine brought by the patient for the morning, afternoon or evening on other days (the remaining medicine brought by the patient) on other days. Similarly, storage sections 113 and 114 function to store the first medicine brought by the patient PB or the second medicine brought by the patient PB, respectively.

[0070] The storage section 111 of the first storage section 11 shown in 3001 of FIG. 3 may function as a storage section for storing a first brought-in medicine that is prescribed to be taken by the patient PA at a predetermined time (predetermined time of taking) on ​​a predetermined day and brought by the patient. In this case, the storage section 112 may function as a storage section for storing the remaining brought-in medicine that is prescribed to be taken by the patient PA at a time other than the predetermined time and brought by the patient. For example, the storage section 111 stores the brought-in medicine for the morning of a certain day of taking, and the storage section 112 stores the remaining brought-in medicine. Similarly, the storage section 113 and the storage section 114 function as storage sections for the first brought-in medicine or the second brought-in medicine of the patient PB, respectively. In this case, the number of the first brought-in medicines stored in the storage section 111 can be equal to or less than the number of the second brought-in medicines in the storage section 112. In this case, it is sufficient that at least one day's worth of medicine is prescribed for the patients PA and PB, and multiple times of taking the medicine in one day are set.

[0071] The storage locations for the medications brought by the patients PA and PB can be set arbitrarily. For example, the storage units 111 and 114 may be storage locations for the medications brought by the patient PA, and the storage units 112 and 113 may be storage locations for the medications brought by the patient PB. The small storage units may be provided in the storage units 112 and 114, and each small storage unit may store medications brought by the patient of any taking time. The first storage unit 11 may be further divided so that the first storage unit 11 can store the first and second medications brought by three or more patients on a patient-by-patient basis. However, storage data indicating the storage unit in which the first and second medications brought by a certain patient are stored and the storage unit in which the first and second medications brought by another patient are stored in advance in the storage unit 80. The first storage unit 11 may be capable of storing the first and second medications brought by one patient.

[0072] The second storage section 14 functions to store the first and second brought-to-patient medications for each patient and for each brought-to-patient medication that is considered to be of the same type. In the second storage section 14, storage areas for brought-to-patient medications are set for each patient. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the second storage section 14. As shown by the dashed dotted lines in Fig. 4, in the example of Fig. 4, storage areas AR1 to AR4 are set as storage areas for storing the brought-to-patient medications of four patients, respectively.

[0073] The storage positions of the brought-to-patient medications in the first storage section 11 (the positions from which the brought-to-patient medications are removed) and the storage positions of the brought-to-patient medications in the second storage section 14 (the sections in which the brought-to-patient medications are stored) are linked on a patient-by-patient basis and managed as storage position data. In the storage position data, for example, storage sections 111 and 112 are linked to storage area AR1, and storage sections 113 and 114 are linked to storage area AR2, and are stored in the memory section 80. The size and number of the storage areas can be set arbitrarily.

[0074] The imaging unit 13 functions to capture images of the first or second brought-to-patient medications taken out on a patient-by-patient basis from the first storage section 11. When there are multiple first brought-to-patient medications, the imaging unit 13 captures images of the first brought-to-patient medications taken out in sequence by the transporting / sorting unit 12. The same applies to the second brought-to-patient medications.

[0075] The determination unit 64 determines the reference data by, for example, one of the following two methods. The determination unit 64 stores the determined reference data in the storage unit 80.

[0076] (Method 1) The determination unit 64 determines reference data indicating information based on at least one characteristic (e.g., the above-mentioned size, shape, or representative color) of the first brought-to-patient drug extracted from an image of the first brought-to-patient drug. The determination unit 64 determines, as the reference data, a plurality of characteristics managed as drug data of the first brought-to-patient drug, which are obtained by the collation unit 65 collation of at least one characteristic of the first brought-to-patient drug with a drug database. In this case, the collation unit 65 can compare the plurality of characteristics of the first brought-to-patient drug with at least one characteristic of the second brought-to-patient drug.

[0077] (Method 2) The determination unit 64 determines at least one characteristic of the first brought-to-patient medication as reference data. For example, the determination unit 64 determines the size, shape, and representative color of the first brought-to-patient medication as reference data.

[0078] The control unit 60a only needs to use the reference data to sort the second brought-in medicine based on the characteristics of the first brought-in medicine. Therefore, even if the type of the first brought-in medicine is not accurately determined or narrowed down, the first brought-in medicine and the second brought-in medicine that are considered to be the same type can be stored in the same sorting cup 141. By comparing the characteristics of the first brought-in medicine with the medicine database, the type of the first brought-in medicine can be accurately determined or narrowed down, but since the number of medicine data managed in the medicine database is enormous, it takes time accordingly. By the determination unit 64 determining the characteristics of the first brought-in medicine as reference data using the above method 2, the processing time of the determination unit 64 (the time to create the reference data) can be shortened.

[0079] When the first container 11 contains a plurality of first brought-in medications, the collation unit 65 compares the reference data of each of the first brought-in medications to determine whether the reference data can be considered to be identical. When the degree of agreement of at least one feature of the two first brought-in medications to be compared is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the collation unit 65 may consider the reference data to be identical. The number of features for determining whether the degree of agreement is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, and the predetermined value may be set by experiment or the like. In addition, the same process may be performed when comparing at least one feature of the second brought-in medication with the reference data.

[0080] Furthermore, the matching unit 65 functions as a first matching unit that matches at least one feature of the second brought-to-patient drug extracted from an image of the second brought-to-patient drug with the reference data determined by the determination unit 64. The matching unit 65 does not match the features of the second brought-to-patient drug with the drug database, at least for the second brought-to-patient drug. Furthermore, only the number of the first brought-to-patient drugs is stored in the memory unit 80 as reference data. Therefore, the matching time can be shortened compared to the case where the features of the second brought-to-patient drug are matched with all the drug data managed in the drug database. Furthermore, by narrowing down the features of the first brought-to-patient drug included in the reference data (e.g., the size, shape, and representative color of the first brought-to-patient drug), the above matching time can be further shortened.

[0081] Furthermore, when the determination unit 64 determines the reference data by the above-mentioned method 1, the collation unit 65 functions as a second collation unit that narrows down the type of the first brought-over drug by collating at least one feature of the first brought-over drug with the drug database. In this case, the collation unit 65 can accurately determine or narrow down the type of the first brought-over drug, and therefore can accurately determine or narrow down the type of the second brought-over drug.

[0082] Although the matching unit 65 is described as having the functions of both the first matching unit and the second matching unit, the control unit 60a may be provided with the first matching unit and the second matching unit as separate functions.

[0083] The transporting and sorting unit 12 stores the first and second brought-to-patient medications in the second storage section 14 on a patient-by-patient basis.

[0084] The sorting control unit 62 controls the transport / sorting unit 12 to store the first brought-to-be-treated medicine in each sorting cup 141 of the second storage unit 14 based on the result of the comparison between the reference data by the comparison unit 65. If the reference data of the first brought-to-be-treated medicine to be stored in the sorting cup 141 is deemed to be identical to the reference data of the first brought-to-be-treated medicine already stored in the sorting cup 141, the sorting control unit 62 stores the first brought-to-be-treated medicine to be stored in the sorting cup 141 in which the first brought-to-be-treated medicine has already been stored. If the reference data of the first brought-to-be-treated medicine to be stored in the sorting cup 141 is not deemed to be identical to the reference data of the first brought-to-be-treated medicine already stored in the sorting cup 141, the sorting control unit 62 stores the first brought-to-be-treated medicine to be stored in an unused sorting cup 141. The sorting control unit 62 also stores the first brought-to-be-treated medicine that is the first target of sorting in an unused sorting cup 141. As a result, the sorting control unit 62 can sort all of the first brought-home medications stored in the first storage unit 11 into first brought-home medications that can be considered to be of the same type and store them in the second storage unit 14.

[0085] Furthermore, the transporting and sorting unit 12 stores the second brought-by medicine, which is deemed to be of the same type as the first brought-by medicine, in the same compartment as the compartment in which the first brought-by medicine is stored, based on the result of the comparison by the comparison unit 65 of at least one characteristic of the second brought-by medicine with the reference data. If the sorting control unit 62 determines that at least one characteristic of the second brought-by medicine is identical to any of the reference data, it controls the transporting and sorting unit 12 to store the second brought-by medicine in the sorting cup 141 in which the first brought-by medicine corresponding to the reference data is stored. If the sorting control unit 62 determines that at least one characteristic of the second brought-by medicine is not identical to any of the reference data, it controls the transporting and sorting unit 12 to store the second brought-by medicine in an unused sorting cup 141 (a sorting cup 141 in which the first brought-by medicine is not stored).

[0086] As described above, the number of reference data is much smaller than the number of drug data in the drug database. Therefore, the drug sorting device 1 can efficiently and quickly sort the brought-in drugs by storing the first brought-in drugs and the second brought-in drugs separately in the first storage unit 11 and sorting the second brought-in drugs based on the reference data of the first brought-in drugs.

[0087] Here, in the returned medicine sorting mode, the returned medicine is stored in any position in the first storage unit 11 regardless of the patient. The medicine sorting device 1 takes out the medicines stored in the first storage unit 11 one by one, and stores them in the second storage unit 14 according to the type determined based on the image capture result by the image capture unit 13. On the other hand, in the medicine type sorting mode of the brought-medicine sorting mode, the medicine sorting device 1 takes out the brought-medicines stored in the first storage unit 11 on a patient-by-patient basis, as described above, and sorts them in the second storage unit 14 into brought-medicines that are considered to be of the same type on a patient-by-patient basis. Therefore, the medicine sorting device 1 can package the brought-medicines stored in the second storage unit 14 on a patient-by-patient basis. In addition, the user (e.g., a pharmacist) can handle the brought-medicines sorted by the medicine sorting device 1 on a patient-by-patient basis. Therefore, the user can efficiently perform the identification work of the brought-medicines. In addition, the user can efficiently perform tasks such as reusing (repackaging) medications brought in by the patient or returning them to the patient or his / her caregiver in accordance with a new prescription (subsequent instructions for bringing in medications) from the doctor.

[0088] If the medicine brought by the patient is a half tablet, the control unit 60a does not determine the type of medicine, and stores the medicine in one sorting cup 141 all at once.

[0089] <Visual inspection> During the sorting process of the brought-to-be-treated medicines, or after the sorting process is completed, the display control unit 67 displays images of the brought-to-be-treated medicines (images captured by the first camera 131) stored in each sorting cup 141 and the types of brought-to-be-treated medicines on the display unit 32. When the characteristics of the first brought-to-be-treated medicines are compared with the medicine database, the display control unit 67 displays the types of brought-to-be-treated medicines as the comparison result (narrowing result) on the display unit 32. When the characteristics of the first brought-to-be-treated medicines are not compared with the medicine database, the comparison unit 65 compares any of the characteristics of the brought-to-be-treated medicines stored in the sorting cup 141 with the medicine database to narrow down the types of the medicines (determine the types). After that, the display control unit 67 displays the narrowed-down types of brought-to-be-treated medicines on the display unit 32. The user uniquely identifies the type of brought-to-be-treated medicine by visually checking the display on the display unit 32, and inputs the identification result via the operation unit 31 (visual inspection). The operation input unit 66 associates the input identification result with the sorting cup identification information and stores it in the memory unit 80.

[0090] <Processing of medicines brought in by patients> The packaging mechanism 6 packages the first and second brought-to-user medicines for each of the first and second brought-to-user medicines contained in the same compartment of the second storage section 14 (stored in the same sorting cup 141). Therefore, the packaging mechanism 6 can package brought-to-user medicines for each type identified by visual inspection. Furthermore, the packaging mechanism 6 packages the first and second brought-to-user medicines for each of the first and second brought-to-user medicines contained in the same compartment on a patient-by-patient basis. Therefore, the packaging mechanism 6 can provide the brought-to-user medicines packaged for each patient to the user. Furthermore, since the brought-to-user medicines are packaged together for each patient, it is easy for the user to return the brought-to-user medicines to the patient or their caregiver.

[0091] 5001 and 5002 in Fig. 5 are diagrams showing an example of packaging by the packaging mechanism 6. As a result of the above-mentioned sorting process of the patient's own medications, it is assumed that the patient's own medications (drug names: DA1 to DA4) are stored in the storage area AR1 of the second storage unit 14, and the patient's own medications (drug names: DB1 to DB4) are stored in the storage area AR2 of the second storage unit 14. 5001 in Fig. 5 is an example showing the state in which the patient's own medications PA have been packaged, and 5002 in Fig. 5 is an example showing the state in which the patient's own medications PB have been packaged.

[0092] The packaging control unit 71 controls the transport / sorting unit 12 to take out the drugs one by one from the sorting cup 141 in which the drug with drug name DA1 is stored in the storage area AR1, and transport them to the packaging mechanism 6 via the drug input port 17. Hereinafter, this will be referred to as drug DA1. The same applies to the drugs with drug names DA2 to DA4 and drug names DB1 to DB4.

[0093] The packaging control unit 71 removes all of the medications DA1 from the sorting cup 141 and transports them to the packaging mechanism 6, and then packages the medications DA1 into single packages using the packaging mechanism 6. While packaging the medications DA1 is in progress or after packaging is complete, the packaging control unit 71 controls the transport / sorting unit 12 to remove all of the medications DA2 from the sorting cup 141 and package the medications DA2 into single packages using the packaging mechanism 6. The packaging control unit 71 packages medications DA3 and DA4 in the same manner. When packaging of the medications brought by the patient in storage area AR1 (patient PA) is complete, the packaging control unit 71 packages the medications brought by the patient in storage area AR2 (patient PB) in the same manner.

[0094] 5, the packaging control unit 71 controls the packaging mechanism 6 to print information such as the patient name, drug name (type of drug), number of drugs, and sorting date on each packet. By printing the above information on each packet, the user can efficiently perform the above-mentioned tasks.

[0095] The print output control unit 69 may print the above information in a journal. In this case, too, the user can efficiently perform the above-mentioned tasks by visually checking the journal.

[0096] For example, depending on the type of surgery, there may be some medications that the patient cannot take or needs to refrain from taking before surgery (medications to be discontinued). By performing the above printing, the user can easily inform the patient or his / her caregiver of the package containing the medications that the patient cannot take or the package containing the medications that the patient can take. The patient or his / her caregiver can also easily determine whether or not the medications can be taken. This reduces the possibility that the patient will mistakenly take medications that cannot be taken. In addition, the user can separate the package containing the medications that cannot be taken and hand over only the medications that can be taken to the patient or his / her caregiver. In this way, by packaging the medications brought by the patient by type on a patient-by-patient basis, it is possible to support the user's outpatient work, such as the return of the medications brought by the patient. This support can also be used to support patients who are hospitalized before surgery, for example.

[0097] Furthermore, for a brought-in medication to be discontinued, the user may input via the operation unit 31 that the brought-in medication is to be discontinued. This allows the control unit 60a to identify the brought-in medication to be discontinued. Therefore, the control unit 60a can print information on the packet or journal indicating that the medication cannot be taken (e.g., information such as "Do not take this medication before hospitalization" or "No need to take this medication") in addition to the above information. In this case, the user, the patient, or their caregiver can more easily determine whether or not the brought-in medication can be taken.

[0098] <Modification of packaging process for medications brought in by parents> 5003 in Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a modified example of packaging by the packaging mechanism 6. Whether in the returned medicines sorting mode or the medicine type sorting mode of the brought-person medicines sorting mode, the packaging mechanism 6 packs the same type of medicines stored in the second storage unit 14 into each package Pa by crimping the horizontal crimped portion Cr1 and the vertical crimped portion Cr2 of the packaging paper. The packaging mechanism 6 crimps the horizontal crimped portion Cr1 while transporting the packaging paper and crimps the vertical crimped portions Cr2 at any intervals, for example, by a pair of roller mechanisms (not shown) extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the conveying direction of the packaging paper and arranged to sandwich the packaging paper.

[0099] In this modification, the packaging control unit 71 controls the packaging mechanism 6 to package the patient's own medicines stored in the second storage unit 14 for each taking time based on the prescription data. In this case, as shown in 5003 of FIG. 5, the packaging control unit 71 may divide each packet Pa into a first packaging area Pa1 and a second packaging area Pa2 by providing a vertical crimping part Cr3 (partition) in each packet Pa. The first packaging area Pa1 is an area for storing the patient's own medicines that can be taken by the patient, and the second packaging area Pa2 is an area for storing the patient's own medicines that cannot be taken by the patient (e.g., the patient's own medicines to be discontinued). In this way, even when the patient's own medicines are packaged for each taking time in each packet Pa, the patient's own medicines can be packaged separately according to whether they can be taken or not.

[0100] In addition, the packaging control unit 71 may print information on the packaging paper, such as "medicinal drug is OK in the first packaging area Pa1" and "medicinal drug is not OK in the second packaging area Pa2." This reduces the possibility that the patient will mistakenly take a medicine that is not OK.

[0101] The packaging control unit 71 may package ingestible brought-in medications together with ingestible brought-in medications. The packaging control unit 71 may package ingestible brought-in medications and ingestible brought-in medications in separate packages for each taking time, instead of packaging ingestible brought-in medications and ingestible brought-in medications in separate packages for each taking time, as described above. Packaging in this way can further reduce the possibility that the patient will mistakenly take an inedible brought-in medication.

[0102] <Flow of sorting and packaging medications brought in by patients> FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a flow of sorting process (a method for sorting brought-by medicines) and packaging process by the medicine sorting device 1.

[0103] The transport control unit 61 controls the transport / sorting unit 12 to take out the first brought-by-patient medications of the patient PA stored in the storage unit 111 one by one and transport them to the imaging unit 13 (S1). The imaging control unit 63 controls the imaging unit 13 to capture an image of the first brought-by-patient medication (S2; first imaging step). The determination unit 64 determines reference data using at least one feature of the first brought-by-patient medication based on the imaging result (S3; determination step).

[0104] If there is already determined reference data, the collation unit 65 collates the reference data with the reference data determined in S3. The sorting control unit 62 determines the sorting position (sorting cup 141) of the first brought-to-me medicine in the storage area AR1 based on the collation result of the collation unit 65 and the above-mentioned storage position data. If there is no already determined reference data, the sorting control unit 62 determines an unused sorting cup 141 in the storage area AR1 as the storage position of the first brought-to-me medicine based on the above-mentioned storage position data. Thereafter, the sorting control unit 62 controls the transport / sorting unit 12 to store the first brought-to-me medicine in the determined storage position in the storage area AR1 (S4; first storage step).

[0105] The control unit 60a also executes the processes of S1 to S4 on the first brought-to-be-owned medicine of the patient PB stored in the storage unit 113, thereby storing the first brought-to-be-owned medicine in the determined storage position in the storage area AR2.

[0106] When all the first brought-to-patient medications are stored in the second storage section 14, the transport control section 61 controls the transporting and sorting unit 12 to take out the second brought-to-patient medications of the patient PA stored in the storage section 112 one by one and transport them to the imaging unit 13 (S5). The imaging control section 63 controls the imaging unit 13 to capture images of the second brought-to-patient medications (S6; second imaging step). The collation section 65 collates the imaging results with the reference data (S7; collation step). The sorting control section 62 determines a sorting position for the second brought-to-patient medications in the storage area AR1 based on the collation results, and controls the transporting and sorting unit 12 to store the second brought-to-patient medications at the sorting position (S8; second storage step).

[0107] The control unit 60a also executes the processes of S5 to S8 for the second brought-by medicine of the patient PB stored in the storage unit 114, thereby storing the second brought-by medicine in the determined storage position in the storage area AR2.

[0108] When all the second brought-by medications are stored in the second storage section 14, the packaging control section 71 controls the transporting / sorting unit 12 to transport the brought-by medications stored in the storage area AR1 to the packaging mechanism 6. Before the brought-by medications are transported to the packaging mechanism 6, the user visually inspects them based on images of the brought-by medications. The packaging control section 71 controls the packaging mechanism 6 to package the transported brought-by medications. The packaging control section 71 performs the same process for the brought-by medications stored in the storage area AR2. In this way, the packaging control section 71 packages the brought-by medications stored in the second storage section 14 on a patient-by-patient basis (S9).

[0109] The control unit 60a may store the patient PA's brought-in medication stored in the storage units 111 and 112 in the storage area AR1, and then store the patient PB's brought-in medication stored in the storage units 113 and 114 in the storage area AR2. The control unit 60a may store the patient PA's brought-in medication in the storage area AR1, and then perform packaging processing of the patient's brought-in medication, and then store the patient PB's brought-in medication in the storage area AR2.

[0110] [Additional information] In the above description, the first storage section 11 is capable of storing the first and second brought-to-patient medicines separately for each patient, and the imaging unit 13 is described as capturing an image of the first or second brought-to-patient medicines taken out of the first storage section 11 for each patient. Also, the transporting and sorting unit 12 is described as storing the first and second brought-to-patient medicines in the second storage section 14 for each patient.

[0111] However, the first storage unit 11 does not need to store the first and second medicines brought by a patient. That is, the first storage unit 11 may store only the first and second medicines brought by a patient. For example, in the case of a patient whose daily dosing time is set to six, the medicines brought by the patient on a specific dosing date may be stored in the small storage units 111a-111c and 113a-113c as the first medicines brought by the patient, and the remaining medicines may be stored in the storage units 112 and 114. The medicine sorting device 1 may store the first and second medicines brought by a patient and stored in the first storage unit 11 in the second storage unit 14 through the above-mentioned process. Even in this case, the medicine sorting device 1 can efficiently and quickly perform the sorting process of the medicines brought by the patient. Furthermore, the medicine sorting device 1 can support the user to efficiently perform the above-mentioned various tasks by packaging the medicines brought by the patient by type.

[0112] Furthermore, the medicine sorting device 1 may be communicably connected to an external device in which software for creating a brought-medicine discrimination report (brought-medicine discrimination software) is installed. In this case, the external device can create a brought-medicine discrimination report by receiving the medicine data of the brought-medicine that has been sorted by the medicine sorting device 1 and the type of which has been identified by the user's visual inspection.

[0113] Furthermore, the control unit 60a may obtain the expiration date and lot information of the brought-in medication from the barcode printed on the packaging paper at the time of dispensing (when the patient first receives the medication). In this case, the control unit 60a can reprint the expiration date and lot information of the brought-in medication on the packaging paper or journal after sorting the brought-in medication.

[0114] [Sorting and packaging medications brought in by patients (drug type identification mode setting)] When set to the drug type discrimination mode, the control unit 60a determines the type of the medicine contained in each package (e.g., the first package in the multiple packages) for one day's dose among the multiple packages containing the medicines brought by each patient, and repackages each package. For example, if three dosing times, morning, afternoon, and evening, are set for one day, there will be three packages for the one day's dose. In the following explanation, it is assumed that three dosing times, morning, afternoon, and evening, are set for one day, but this is not limited to the above.

[0115] When the drug type discrimination mode is set, the user takes out the patient's own medicine from one packet (here, a packet containing the patient's own medicine for a morning dose) of the patient's daily dose and stores it in an empty sorting cup 141 (one section in the second storage unit 14). As a prerequisite, the display control unit 67 displays a selection image on the touch panel 3 for selecting the first patient's daily dose time. The selection image displays, for example, when waking up, in the morning, midday, in the evening (evening), before going to bed, or other times as selectable times for taking the medicine. Here, the user selects "morning" as the time for taking the medicine. When the operation input unit 66 accepts a user input indicating the selected time for taking the medicine via the touch panel 3, the display control unit 67 displays a first instruction image on the touch panel 3. The first instruction image is an image for prompting the user to store the patient's own medicine in the empty sorting cup 141 and then place the sorting cup 141 on the first RFID reader-writer unit 5.

[0116] When the sorting cup 141 is placed on the first RFID reader / writer unit 5, the control unit 60a writes information indicating the selected dosing time (here, "morning") based on the above user input to the RFID tag of the sorting cup 141.

[0117] The same process is performed for the remaining packets (here, packets containing patient PP's brought-in medications for daytime and evening doses) of patient PP. As a result, the control unit 60a writes information indicating the selected taking time "daytime" to the RFID tag of the sorting cup 141 in which patient PP's brought-in medications for daytime doses are stored. The control unit 60a also writes information indicating the selected taking time "evening" to the RFID tag of the sorting cup 141 in which patient PP's brought-in medications for evening doses are stored.

[0118] In this embodiment, the second storage section 14 can accommodate 40 sorting cups 141 (see FIG. 4). Therefore, in the case where there are three packets for one day's dose (three dosing times are set per day), the medications brought by 13 patients can be stored in separate sorting cups 141 for each dosing time per day. When the above process is performed for patient PQ who follows patient PP, the control section 60a identifies the medications brought by the patient stored in the sorting cup 141 as those brought by the second patient. For the medications brought by subsequent patients, the control section 60a identifies them as those brought by the third, fourth, ... patients, in that order.

[0119] The control unit 60a controls each component to take out the brought-in medications one by one from each sorting cup 141, photograph the brought-in medications, and use the photographed result and, for example, a medication database to determine the type of medication or narrow down the types. The process from photographing the brought-in medications to determining the type is as described above. The control unit 60a links the discrimination result (narrowing down result) and the photographed image to the sorting cup identification information and stores them in the memory unit 80.

[0120] The packaging control unit 71 takes out the patient's own medications for each sorting cup 141 and packages the medications. The packaging control unit 71 prints the patient's order (information indicating which patient the patient is), the time of administration, and a barcode on each packet. For example, in the case of patient PP's morning dose of medication brought by the patient, the words "First patient" and "Morning" and a barcode are printed. The patient's name may be printed instead of the patient's order.

[0121] When the barcode is read by the barcode reader 7, the display control unit 67 displays a visual inspection image on the touch panel 3 for the user to perform a visual inspection. The barcode is associated with the discrimination result and the captured image. Therefore, the display control unit 67 can display the discrimination result and the captured image together in the visual inspection image. The user identifies the type of brought-in medication contained in the packet from which the barcode was read by visually checking the visual inspection image. The visual inspection image may display candidates for the type of brought-in medication so that the user can select it, or may display an area in which the type (e.g., engraving) can be input. When the medication is identified, the print output control unit 69 prints the identification result (e.g., medication name) in a journal. The barcode reading process, visual inspection, and journal printing process are performed for each packet.

[0122] Thus, in the medicine identification mode, the medicine sorting device 1 stores the brought-in medicines in the sorting cups 141 for each patient and for each time of taking the medicine in a day. In the RFID of each sorting cup 141, information indicating the patient (or the order of the patient) and information indicating the time of taking the medicine in a day are linked and managed. Therefore, the medicine sorting device 1 can repackage the brought-in medicines for each patient and for each time of taking the medicine in a day.

[0123] [Modifications] When the first storage unit 11 shown in 3001 of FIG. 3 is used, the storage units 111-114 may function as storage units for storing different patients' brought-in medicines. In this modification, the control unit 60a may not have the determination unit 64. In this modification, the collation unit 65 collates at least one characteristic of the brought-in medicine taken out from the first storage unit 11 with a medicine database. The sorting control unit 62 stores the brought-in medicines that are considered to be of the same type in the second storage unit 14 based on the collation result of the collation unit 65. For example, the sorting control unit 62 stores the medicines determined to be of the same type in the same sorting cup 141, and stores the suspected medicines in a sorting cup 141 different from the sorting cups 141 stored by type.

[0124] For example, the medications brought by patient PA stored in storage unit 111 are stored in storage area AR1, and the medications brought by patient PB stored in storage unit 112 are stored in storage area AR2. In addition, the medications brought by patient PC stored in storage unit 113 are stored in storage area AR3, and the medications brought by patient PD stored in storage unit 114 are stored in storage area AR4.

[0125] After all of the brought-by medicines stored in the first storage unit 11 are stored in the second storage unit 14, the user visually inspects them. This uniquely identifies the types of all brought-by medicines stored in the second storage unit 14. Thereafter, the packaging control unit 71 packages the brought-by medicines for each identified type on a patient-by-patient basis.

[0126] [Another example of the first storage section] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another example of the first storage section 11. Instead of the first storage section 11 shown in 3002 in FIG. 3, the first storage section 11 shown in FIG. 7 may be used. In the example of FIG. 7, the first storage section 11 has four storage sections 111-114 having approximately the same volume. Each of the four storage sections 111-114 is further divided into four. The storage section 111 has three small storage sections 111d-111f and one medium storage section 111g. Similarly, the storage sections 112-114 have three small storage sections 112d-112f and one medium storage section 112g, three small storage sections 113d-113f and one medium storage section 113g, and three small storage sections 114d-114f and one medium storage section 114g, respectively. The first storage section 11 shown in FIG. 7 is mainly used when sorting medicines brought with the patient.

[0127] In the storage unit 111, each of the small storage units 111d to 111f functions to store a first brought-to-patient medicine, similar to the small storage units 111a to 111c shown in 3002 in FIG. 3. The medium storage unit 111g functions to store a second brought-to-patient medicine, similar to the storage unit 112 shown in 3002 in FIG. 3. The number of the first brought-to-patient medicines stored in the small storage units 111d to 111f is equal to or less than the number of the second brought-to-patient medicines stored in the medium storage unit 113g, so the volume of the small storage units 111d to 111f is smaller than the volume of the medium storage unit 113g. In consideration of the number and volume of the small and medium storage units, in the example of FIG. 7, the small storage units 111d to 111f are arranged in the circumferential direction on the outside of the storage unit 111, and the medium storage unit 113g is arranged in the remaining area (inside) of the storage unit 111. The containers 112 to 114 have the same function and structure as the container 111.

[0128] The storage units 111-114 may store, for example, first and second brought-in medications of different patients PA-PD, respectively. In this case, the first storage unit 11 can store up to four brought-in medications at a time. However, in this case, the brought-in medications of the patients PA-PD whose taking time on a given day is set to three times or less (for example, at least one of morning, afternoon, and evening) are stored in the storage units 111-114, respectively. When the taking time on a given day of a patient is set to four times or more, at least two or more storage units among the storage units 111-114 are used as the storage location for the brought-in medication of the patient. Note that, for the second brought-in medication, at least one middle storage unit among the middle storage units of the at least two or more storage units may be used. When the taking time is set to four times or more, the first storage unit 11 can store up to three brought-in medications at a time.

[0129] For example, when the dosing time of a patient on a given dosing day is set to 4 to 6 times, two storage sections (e.g., storage sections 111 and 112) are used as storage locations for the patient's brought-along medication. For example, when the dosing time of a patient on a given dosing day is set to 6 times, small storage sections 111d-111f and 112d-112f are used as storage locations for the first brought-along medication. Meanwhile, medium storage sections 111g and / or 112g are used as storage locations for the second brought-along medication.

[0130] [Another example of packaging medications brought in by patients - packaging depending on whether or not visual inspection is performed] In the above-described example of packaging processing, the medicine sorting device 1 performs packaging processing after visually inspecting each of the brought-person medicines that are regarded as the same type and that are stored in the second storage unit 14. Not limited to this, when the medicine sorting device 1 selects the medicine type sorting mode of the brought-person medicine sorting mode, it may be possible to select a packaging mode before visual inspection and a packaging mode after visual inspection.

[0131] <Pre-visual inspection packaging mode> In the packaging mode before visual inspection, the control unit 60a does not execute the process of accepting a user input to start visual inspection after the sorting process of the brought-to-pill medications, and the process of displaying the image captured by the first camera 131 on the display unit 32. After the first brought-to-pill medication and the second brought-to-pill medication are sorted into the second storage unit 14, the control unit 60a automatically executes the packaging process without executing the above process.

[0132] In the case of the pre-visual inspection packaging mode, the display control unit 67 causes the display unit 32 to display images of all the medicines stored in the sorting cup 141 specified by the user, for example, after packaging processing. This allows the user to visually inspect the medicines stored in the sorting cup 141.

[0133] Fig. 8 is a diagram for explaining an example of packaging processing in the pre-visual inspection packaging mode. In the example of Fig. 8, medications brought by a certain patient PR are sorted into five sorting cups 141a to 141e.

[0134] Sorting cup 141a stores drug DA1, and sorting cup 141b stores drug DA2. These sorting cups 141 store brought-in medicines whose type has been identified by matching based on the above-mentioned method 1. Specifically, these sorting cups 141 store a first brought-in medicine whose type has been identified based on matching using a medicine database, and then store a second brought-in medicine that is considered to be the same type as the first brought-in medicine.

[0135] On the other hand, medications brought by the patient that fall under any of the following (1) to (3) are stored (temporarily sorted) in a sorting cup 141 different from the sorting cups 141a and 141b. In the example of Fig. 8, the medications brought by the patient are stored in the sorting cups 141c and 141d.

[0136] (1) Medications brought by the patient whose type could not be identified by matching based on the above method 1. Specifically, a first resident medication whose type could not be identified based on matching using a drug database, and a second resident medication whose type was deemed to be the same as that of the first resident medication based on the characteristics of the first resident medication.

[0137] (2) A second medication brought in by the patient that is deemed to be of a different type from the first medication whose type was identified based on the above comparison.

[0138] (3) Medications brought by the patient that are stored in the second storage section 14 after matching based on the above method 2. Specifically, a first Medications brought by the patient, the type of which was not identified because a medication database was not used, and a second Medications brought by the patient that were deemed to be of the same type as the first Medications brought by the patient based on the characteristics of the first Medications brought by the patient.

[0139] In addition, when there are a plurality of second brought-in medicines that are considered to be different from the first brought-in medicines, for example, the collation unit 65 compares the characteristics of the second brought-in medicines extracted from the images captured by the first camera 131 to determine whether to store them in the same sorting cup 141. Also, in FIG. 8, the medicine in the sorting cup 141c is identified as medicine DA2 and the medicine in the sorting cup 141d is identified as medicine DA3 by visual inspection after the packaging process. Furthermore, when the collation unit 65 identifies the brought-in medicine as a half tablet or other shape (deformed shape) based on the images captured by the first camera 131, the brought-in medicine is stored in a sorting cup 141 other than the sorting cup 141 in which the brought-in medicine is stored. The brought-in medicines having other shapes refer to brought-in medicines that have a shape other than a circle or an ellipse (excluding a half tablet) when viewed in a plane, for example, a quarter tablet. In the example of FIG. 8, the brought-in medicine identified as a half tablet is stored in the sorting cup 141e.

[0140] In the pre-visual inspection packaging mode, when the transport of the brought-in medication contained in the first container 11 to the second container 14 is completed, the packaging process in the packaging mechanism 6 starts automatically. In the example of FIG. 8, the packaging mechanism 6 packages the brought-in medication into medicine packets (packets) MP1 to MP5 for each sorting cup 141a to 141e, and prints the patient name and the medicine name on each medicine packet MP1 to MP5. For medicine packets containing brought-in medication of an unspecified type, such as medicine packets MP3 and MP4, a message that identifies the type is printed instead of the medicine name. In the example of FIG. 8, "provisionally sorted" is printed as the medicine name on the medicine packets MP3 and MP4. The packaging mechanism 6 may also print other information such as the number of medicines and the sorting date.

[0141] If the number of medications brought by the patient stored in the sorting cup 141 cannot be contained in one medicine packet (if the number exceeds the specified number that can be contained in one medicine packet), the packaging mechanism 6 divides and packages the brought-by medications into multiple packets. In the example of Fig. 8, for example, the sorting cup 141a contains 28 tablets, so if the specified number is 10 tablets, the packaging mechanism 6 continuously generates three medicine packets MP1. The number of medicines printed on each medicine packet may be the total number of medicines stored in each sorting cup 141, or the number of medicines contained in each medicine packet.

[0142] The packaging mechanism 6 may also print barcodes Ba1-Ba5 on each of the medicine packets MP1-MP5. The barcodes Ba1-Ba5 contain information for reading out images for visually inspecting the medicines contained in each of the medicine packets MP1-MP5, and include, for example, sorting cup identification information indicating the sorting cup 141 from which the medicines were packaged. By having the barcode reader 7 read the barcodes Ba1-Ba5, the display control unit 67 can display, on the display unit 32, images of the medicines stored in the sorting cup 141, which are managed in association with the sorting cup identification information. This allows the user to visually inspect the medicines after packaging.

[0143] As described above, the print output control unit 69 may control the print output unit 4 to print the sorting results of each of the sorting cups 141a to 141e in the journals Jo1 to Jo5. As shown in FIG. 8, the print output control unit 69 prints information such as the sorting date of the brought-in medication in the sorting cup 141, the name of the brought-in medication, the markings on the brought-in medication, the total drug price of the brought-in medication stored in the sorting cup 141, and the number of brought-in medications, as well as a barcode. As the medication name, a medication name uniquely identified by visual inspection is printed. Also, the barcode printed in the journals Jo1 to Jo5 includes information indicating the type of brought-in medication uniquely identified by visual inspection (e.g., GS1 code).

[0144] As described above, the packaging mechanism 6 packages the patient's own medications together on a patient-by-patient basis. The packaging mechanism 6 packages the patient's own medications of a specified type separately from the temporarily sorted patient's own medications and / or the patient's own medications of a deformed shape. In this case, for example, the patient's own medications of a deformed shape are not stored in the collection tray 16, so that it is possible to reduce the possibility that the user will have to sort the patient's own medications by patient after multiple deformed medications are stored in the collection tray 16. In the example of FIG. 8, the patient's own medications are packaged as a series of medication packets.

[0145] Furthermore, the packaging mechanism 6 may form a series of medicine packets on a patient-by-patient basis by packaging the patient's own medicines with a specific type first, and then packaging the temporarily sorted or deformed medicines. In the example of Fig. 8, for the medicines brought by patient PR, the medicines DA1 and DA2 with a specific type are packaged first, and then the temporarily sorted and half-tablets of the patient's own medicine are packaged, forming a series of medicine packet groups.

[0146] The packaging mechanism 6 may package the temporarily sorted brought-in medicines and / or deformed brought-in medicines for each patient after packaging the type-specified brought-in medicines for each patient. In this case, a series of first medicine packet groups in which the type-specified brought-in medicines are packaged and a series of second medicine packet groups in which the temporarily sorted brought-in medicines and / or deformed brought-in medicines are packaged may be formed for each patient. That is, the first and second medicine packet groups may be formed for each patient.

[0147] In the example of Figure 8, the provisionally sorted brought-in medications are identified as medications DA2 and DA3 by visual inspection, but the brought-in medications may be medications whose type cannot be identified (e.g., no markings).

[0148] Furthermore, the packaging control unit 71 may package non-reusable medicines, even if the type of the medicine brought by the patient is identified, separately from the type of the medicine brought by the patient, in the same manner as for the temporarily sorted medicine brought by the patient. The packaging control unit 71 may package non-reusable medicines after packaging the type of the medicine brought by the patient, in the same manner as for the temporarily sorted medicine brought by the patient. For non-reusable medicines, for example, in the medicine database, information indicating that the medicine cannot be reused is linked to the medicine data related to the medicine. Therefore, the packaging control unit 71 can package non-reusable medicines separately from the type of the medicine brought by the patient (for example, after the type of the medicine brought by the patient is packaged) by referring to the medicine database.

[0149] <Visual inspection and packaging mode> In the packaging mode after visual inspection, the control unit 60a does not automatically execute packaging processing after the first and second brought-to-patient medications are sorted into the second storage unit 14, but waits for a user input to start visual inspection so that the user can perform visual inspection. The control unit 60a starts packaging processing of brought-to-patient medications after completing visual inspection of the brought-to-patient medications stored in each sorting cup 141 and receiving a user input to start packaging processing. In other words, the control unit 60a executes the processing until packaging processing starts as described with reference to FIG. 6.

[0150] Fig. 9 is a diagram for explaining an example of packaging processing in the packaging mode after visual inspection. In Fig. 9, similarly to Fig. 8, medications brought by a certain patient PR are sorted into five sorting cups 141a to 141e.

[0151] In the case of the visual inspection followed by packaging mode, after the sorting process of the brought-to-be medicines stored in the first storage unit 11 into the second storage unit 14 is completed, the user visually inspects the brought-to-be medicines stored in each sorting cup 141. As a result, the type of brought-to-be medicine stored in each sorting cup 141 is uniquely identified. In the example of FIG. 9, the types of brought-to-be medicines stored in the sorting cups 141a and 141b are identified as medicines DA1 and DA2 by the collation unit 65. On the other hand, the types of brought-to-be medicines stored in the sorting cups 141a and 141b are identified as medicines DA2 and DA3 by visual inspection.

[0152] Thereafter, when the packaging process is started, the packaging control unit 71 places the brought-by medications stored in different sorting cups 141 but identified by visual inspection as being the same type in the same medicine packet. When the packaging control unit 71 identifies multiple sorting cups 141 in which the brought-by medications are stored, it controls the transport / sorting unit 12 to sequentially remove the brought-by medications from these sorting cups 141 and transport them to the medicine input port 17. This allows the packaging mechanism 6 to store the brought-by medications in the same medicine packet. As in the pre-visual inspection packaging mode, if the brought-by medications cannot be contained in one medicine packet, the packaging mechanism 6 may package them into multiple packets.

[0153] In the example of Fig. 9, the patient's own medicine stored in the sorting cup 141b and the patient's own medicine stored in the sorting cup 141c are both medicine DA2. Therefore, the packaging mechanism 6 packages these patient's own medicines together into one or more medicine packets MP2. The patient's own medicine stored in the sorting cup 141d is identified as medicine DA3 by visual inspection, but the type of the patient's own medicine (medicines DA1 and DA2) is different from the types of the medicines stored in the sorting cups 141a and 141b. Therefore, the patient's own medicine stored in the sorting cup 141d is contained in a medicine packet MP4 that is different from the medicine packets MP1 and MP2.

[0154] In this way, in the visual inspection post-packaging mode, medications of the same type can be packaged together, thereby saving packaging paper.

[0155] Also, in the packaging mode after visual inspection, as in the packaging mode before visual inspection, the packaging mechanism 6 may package the brought-in medicines with a specified type with priority, and package the brought-in medicines with an unspecified type and / or the brought-in medicines with a deformed shape afterwards. However, the brought-in medicines with a specified type also include the brought-in medicines with a specified type among the temporarily sorted brought-in medicines. The brought-in medicines with an unspecified type are the brought-in medicines with a specified type among the temporarily sorted brought-in medicines. In the example of FIG. 9, the brought-in medicines of the patient PR are packaged with priority for the drugs DA1, DA2, and DA3 with a specified type, and the brought-in medicines of half tablets are packaged afterwards, forming a series of medicine packages. Also, the packaging control unit 71 may package the brought-in medicines with a specified type but not reusable separately from the brought-in medicines with a specified type (for example, after the brought-in medicines with a specified type are packaged).

[0156] Also, the packaging mechanism 6 may print barcodes Ba1, Ba2, Ba4, and Ba5 on each of the medicine packets MP1, MP2, MP4, and MP5, as in the packaging mode before visual inspection. However, in the packaging mode after visual inspection, the type of medication brought by the patient is identified by visual inspection before packaging. Therefore, unlike the packaging mode before visual inspection, the barcodes Ba1, Ba2, Ba4, and Ba5 contain information indicating the type of medication brought by the patient (e.g., GS1 code).

[0157] In the visual inspection after packaging mode, visual inspection is performed before packaging. Therefore, in the visual inspection after packaging mode, the packaging mechanism 6 may package the patient's own medicines for each time of taking them based on the prescription data, instead of packaging each patient's own medicine stored in the sorting cup 141. In this case, the packaging mechanism 6 may package the patient's own medicines that can be taken by the patient and the patient's own medicines that cannot be taken by the patient together in one medicine package, or may store the patient's own medicines that can be taken in the first packaging area Pa1 and the patient's own medicines that cannot be taken in the second packaging area Pa2, as shown in 5003 in FIG. 5.

[0158] [Example of processing not compatible with packaging] After the brought-home medications contained in the first storage section 11 are sorted into the second storage section 14, it is not necessarily necessary to package the brought-home medications contained in the second storage section 14 by the packaging mechanism 6.

[0159] As described above, there are cases where the first storage unit 11 contains a mixture of brought-in medications that are to be discontinued and brought-in medications that may be taken continuously (normally taken brought-in medications). In this case, the packaging control unit 71 may leave the normally taken brought-in medications stored in the sorting cup 141 as is, without packaging them by the packaging mechanism 6. This allows the user to freely handle the normally taken brought-in medications, for example, by removing the sorting cup 141 in which the normally taken brought-in medications are stored from the medicine sorting device 1 and using them as new medications to be prescribed to the patient who brought the brought-in medications. Information on which brought-in medications are to be discontinued (normally taken brought-in medications) may be specified by user input.

[0160] On the other hand, for the brought-in medications that are to be discontinued, the packaging control unit 71 may package them using the packaging mechanism 6 for disposal or return to the patient.

[0161] Furthermore, a medicine sorting device 1 that is not compatible with packaging processing of patient-brought medications may not be provided with the packaging mechanism 6. In this case, for example, the sorting control unit 62 may transport all patient-brought medications to be discontinued to the collection tray 16 for the purpose of disposal. Alternatively, the sorting control unit 62 may store patient-brought medications to be discontinued in the sorting cup 141, similar to normal patient-brought medications, for the purpose of disposal or return to the patient.

[0162] [Display of identification results of medications brought in by patients] 10 is a diagram showing an example of a discrimination result image displaying a brought-medication discrimination result. When the operation input unit 66 receives a user input indicating that the visual inspection of all brought-medications of a certain patient PR has been completed via the operation unit 31, the display control unit 67 may display a discrimination result image as shown in FIG. 10 on the display unit 32.

[0163] In the example of FIG. 10, the discrimination result image includes the patient's name, the times during the day when the medication is taken, and the names and images of the medications taken at each time, and this information is displayed in a list. The discrimination result image also includes a print button. When the print button is pressed, the print output control unit 69 controls the print output unit 4 to print a list of the discrimination results (e.g., the patient's name, directions for use (the names and quantities of medications taken at each time)) in a journal. When the print button is pressed, the medicine sorting device 1 can be linked to the brought-medicine discrimination software. For example, when the control unit 60a receives the press of the print button, it can transmit the medicine data of the brought-medicine, the type of which is identified by visual inspection, to an external device in which the brought-medicine discrimination software is installed, thereby causing a brought-medicine discrimination report to be created.

[0164] [About drugs subject to classification] In the above-mentioned brought-in-pill sorting mode, the medicines to be sorted are brought-in medicines. However, the medicine sorting device 1 may perform the sorting process adopted in the brought-in-pill sorting mode on the outpatient prescription medicines stored in the first storage unit 11, and may perform the packaging process after the sorting process. Outpatient prescription medicines refer to medicines (prescription medicines) prescribed for outpatients.

[0165] For outpatient prescription drugs, by packaging them by type using the drug sorting device 1, the user can separate prescription drugs to be discontinued from prescription drugs for normal use and hand them over to the patient or caregiver. Prescription drugs to be discontinued refer to, for example, prescription drugs that cannot be taken before surgery or that need to be refrained from taking due to the nature of the surgery, or prescription drugs that may be discontinued when symptoms have subsided. Prescription drugs for normal use refer to prescription drugs that may be taken continuously.

[0166] In this case, the patient or caregiver receives instructions from the user regarding the taking of the prescription drugs, which are packaged by type, while receiving the prescription drugs, making it easy for the patient or caregiver to understand the instructions regarding the taking of each prescription drug by linking them to each prescription drug.

[0167] In addition, the patient or caregiver can manage prescription drugs packaged by type in a single medicine bag, making it easier to manage prescription drugs at home. This type of management makes it easier for the user, patient, or caregiver to identify prescription drugs to be discontinued when the user provides medication instructions remotely or the patient or caregiver makes inquiries by phone. Furthermore, the possibility of incorrect or missed medication can be reduced. In addition, the possibility of unnecessary medication, such as continuing to take a drug even when symptoms have subsided, can be reduced.

[0168] Here, it is also conceivable to put the prescription drug to be discontinued and the prescription drug to be normally taken in separate medicine bags and hand them over to the patient or caregiver. However, in this case, the patient or caregiver needs to prepare both medicine bags when taking both the prescription drug to be discontinued and the prescription drug to be normally taken, such as before discontinuing the drug or until the symptoms subside. Since the patient or caregiver needs to take the prescription drug out of both medicine bags and put the prescription drug back into the medicine bag, the patient or caregiver may have a complicated management of the prescription drug. In addition, the complicated management may cause the patient or caregiver to take the prescription drug incorrectly or miss a dose. If the prescription drug to be discontinued and the prescription drug to be normally taken can be managed in one medicine bag as described above, the possibility of the prescription drug being complicated to manage and the possibility of the patient or caregiver taking the prescription drug incorrectly or miss a dose due to the complicated management can be reduced.

[0169] In addition, when handing the prescription drug to the patient or caregiver, the user can use a marker or the like to mark the medicine package containing the prescription drug to be discontinued with a letter, symbol, mark, or the like indicating that the prescription drug to be discontinued is contained therein. In this case, the patient or caregiver can more easily determine whether or not the prescription drug can be taken.

[0170] Furthermore, as with the discontinued brought-in medication, the user may input that the prescription medication is to be discontinued via the operation unit 31. In this case, the control unit 60a can print information that the prescription medication cannot be taken on the medication package (packaging paper) or journal, so that the user, patient, or caregiver can more easily determine whether or not the prescription medication can be taken.

[0171] The above-mentioned effect of the prescription drugs packaged by type can also be applied to the case where the patient's own drugs are packaged by type, and the patient's own drugs to be discontinued and the patient's own drugs that are normally taken are stored in separate drug packages. The patient's own drugs to be discontinued may include drugs that may be discontinued when symptoms are alleviated.

[0172] [Availability of drug database] The control unit 60a may temporarily not use the drug data of a drug that has not been packaged in the packaging machine for a predetermined period of time, even if the drug data of the drug is included in the drug database. The control unit 60a is communicably connected to the packaging machine and can receive information indicating the type of packaged drug and the date and time when the drug was packaged from the packaging machine. For example, when the control unit 60a determines that the drug has not been packaged for 30 days since the last time it was packaged, the control unit 60a does not use the drug data of the drug in the drug database because the drug will not be returned to the drug sorting device 1. This allows the control unit 60a to exclude drug data of drugs that are unlikely to be returned from the objects to be compared when performing the discrimination process, thereby improving processing efficiency.

[0173] On the other hand, when a drug whose drug data is marked as unused is packaged in a packaging machine, the control unit 60a allows the use of the drug data because there is a possibility that the drug will be returned to the drug sorting device 1.

[0174] Furthermore, the control unit 60a may disuse the drug data of a drug that has not been sorted for a predetermined period by the drug sorting device 1, even if the drug database contains the drug data of the drug. The drug database contains drug data of drugs (adopted drugs) used in medical institutions such as pharmacies or hospitals, but some drugs have never actually been returned. Therefore, by disuse of the drug data of the drug as described above, the control unit 60a can exclude drug data of drugs that are unlikely to be returned from the objects to be compared when performing the discrimination process, thereby improving processing efficiency.

[0175] In addition, when the operation input unit 66 receives a user input for permitting the use of unused drug data via the operation unit 31, the control unit 60a may permit the use of the drug data.

[0176] Depending on the type of drug, the drug data may be made to be always usable in the discrimination process regardless of the packaging or sorting frequency. For example, the drug data for the drug may be provided with information indicating that the drug is always to be used in the discrimination process (information indicating "absolute use"). The control unit 60a does not discard the drug data for the drug provided with the information even if the drug has not been packaged or sorted for a predetermined period of time.

[0177] Among the adopted drugs, there are some whose frequency of use varies depending on the season, for example. Such drugs are not packaged at all during certain times (e.g., summer), but are packaged more frequently during other times (e.g., winter). If there is no sorting record for the drug during the period when it is packaged more frequently, and the drug data remains unused, it becomes impossible to perform appropriate discrimination processing. To avoid such a situation, information indicating "always used" is added to the drug data for the drug.

[0178] [Method of filling medicine into a packaging machine] When loading (returning) the medicine stored in the sorting cup 141 into a cassette containing the medicine provided in the packaging machine, the packaging machine may determine whether or not to load the medicine stored in the sorting cup 141 into the cassette as follows.

[0179] For example, the user removes the cassette from the packing machine and has an RFID reader provided in the packing machine read out the data related to the medicine stored in the RFID tag of the cassette. The data related to the medicine includes, for example, information indicating the type of medicine (e.g., GS1 code). The user also carries the sorting cup 141 to the packing machine and has an RFID reader provided in the packing machine read out the data related to the medicine stored in the RFID tag of the sorting cup 141. The order in which the above two pieces of data related to the medicine are read out does not matter.

[0180] The packaging machine compares the data on the two drugs and, if it determines that the drug contained in the cassette and the drug stored in the sorting cup 141 are the same type, it allows the drug stored in the sorting cup 141 to be stored in the cassette.

[0181] [Heater Roller Preheat Control] The packaging mechanism 6 includes a pair of roller mechanisms (not shown) as described above. By pressing the packaging paper with the pair of roller mechanisms, the medicines can be packaged one by one, for example, by type or by dosing time. The roller mechanism is, for example, a heater roller that presses the packaging paper by thermal pressing. In this case, in order to enable the heating roller to perform its pressing function, it is necessary to preheat the heater roller for a predetermined time (e.g., about 10 minutes) before packaging.

[0182] When starting packaging processing after all of the medicines contained in the first container 11 are contained in the second container 14 based on the result of identifying the type of medicine, the packaging control unit 71 starts heating the heater roller, for example, when starting packaging processing. After the packaging processing is completed, the packaging control unit 71 stops heating the heater roller. This can reduce power consumption and the possibility of excess heat being released outside the device.

[0183] However, in the case of control to heat the heater roller only during the packaging process, it is necessary to wait until the temperature of the heater roller rises to a level where the pressure bonding function can be exerted before starting the packaging process. Therefore, in order to reduce the waiting time until the packaging process starts, the control unit 60a may execute, for example, the following process.

[0184] When the transport / sorting unit 12 removes medicines from the first storage unit 11, the imaging control unit 63 controls the second camera 121 to capture an image of the inside of the first storage unit 11 (e.g., the inside of one storage unit). The imaging control unit 63 analyzes the captured image to recognize the distribution of the medicines inside the first storage unit 11 and determines which of the following categories (1) to (4) the distribution falls into. When the control unit 60a starts the process of sorting all of the medicines stored in the first storage unit 11, the imaging control unit 63 executes the above process every time a medicine is removed from the first storage unit 11.

[0185] (1) “No drug”: A state in which there is absolutely no drug inside the first storage section 11.

[0186] (2) “Medicine present (small amount)”: No medicine is present near the center inside the first container 11.

[0187] (3) “Drug present (large amount)”: The drug is present near the center above.

[0188] (4) "Drug present (final)": Only one drug is left (the last tablet is left).

[0189] The transport control unit 61 identifies the medicine to be transported based on the image captured by the second camera 121. At this time, the transport control unit 61 identifies the medicine to be transported from the medicine near the center. In this case, as the medicine is removed from the first container 11, the medicine near the center disappears, and the state transitions to one in which the medicine is present only on the inner wall side of the first container 11 (the state transitions from (3) to (2) above).

[0190] When the imaging control unit 63 determines that the state is (2) above, the packaging control unit 71 starts heating the heater roller.

[0191] The inventors have determined, based on experiments and the like, that the number of remaining medicines contained in the first container 11 when the imaging control unit 63 determines that the state is (2) above is about 30. Since it takes about 30 seconds for one medicine to be taken out of the first container 11 and for the medicine to be contained in the second container 14 based on the discrimination result of the type of the medicine, it takes about 15 minutes for all the medicines to be contained in the second container 14 from the state of (2) above. On the other hand, it takes about 10 minutes for the temperature of the heater roller to rise to a level at which the pressure bonding function can be performed. Therefore, the inventors have found that by starting heating of the heater roller in the state of (2) above, it is possible to raise the temperature of the heater roller to a level at which the pressure bonding function can be performed before the start of the packaging process.

[0192] Therefore, when the packaging control unit 71 reaches the state (2) above, that is, when the number of medicines contained in the first container 11 falls below a predetermined number, the possibility of the above-mentioned waiting time occurring can be reduced by starting heating of the heater roller. This reduces the time from the start of medicine sorting to the completion of packaging. Note that the same process as above may also be performed when all medicines contained in the waiting tray 15 are contained in the second container 14 and then packaged.

[0193] [Display process indicating that the printed empty package is an unnecessary drug package] If ink runs out during packaging processing, the display control unit 67 displays a warning of ink running out, and the packaging control unit 71 temporarily stops the packaging processing. The packaging control unit 71 performs printing processing on the medicine packets before storing the medicine in the medicine packets. Therefore, when the packaging processing is stopped, the packaging control unit 71 has printed information about the medicine that was to be packaged (e.g., medicine name, number of tablets, barcode) on at least one medicine packet.

[0194] When the ink shortage condition is resolved, the display control unit 67 stops the warning display, and the packaging control unit 71 resumes the packaging process. At this time, the packaging control unit 71 ejects the medicine package that had been printed up until the packaging process was stopped as an unnecessary medicine package, and reprints information about the medicine that was to be packaged on a new medicine package.

[0195] In this way, even an empty packet is discharged with the printing on it, so a user who sees the empty packet may conclude that the medicine was not contained in the medicine packet due to a malfunction of the packaging mechanism 6. In other words, even if the empty packet was discharged due to ink shortage and not due to a malfunction of the packaging mechanism 6, the user may conclude that the empty packet was generated due to a malfunction of the packaging mechanism 6.

[0196] Furthermore, when the barcode is read by the barcode reader 7, for example, the display control unit 67 displays an image of the medicine corresponding to the medicine data linked to the barcode (for example, an inspection image for visually inspecting the sorted medicine) on the display unit 32. Therefore, the user may become anxious because the medicine displayed on the display unit 32 is not contained in the medicine packet, thinking that the medicine has been lost.

[0197] Therefore, when the barcode printed on the empty package is read by the barcode reader 7, the display control unit 67 may display a message indicating that the empty package is a medicine package that has been generated under normal usage conditions of the medicine sorting device 1 and is an unnecessary medicine package.

[0198] When the same type of medicine is contained in each of a plurality of medicine packages, the packaging control unit 71 prints the same barcode on each medicine package. However, if the packaging process is temporarily stopped, when the packaging process is resumed, the packaging control unit 71 prints a barcode on a new medicine package that will package the medicine, which is different from the barcode (barcode number) printed on the medicine package that was to package a certain medicine. In addition, the packaging control unit 71 invalidates the barcode printed on the medicine package that was to package the certain medicine. Therefore, when the barcode is read, the display control unit 67 recognizes that it is invalid and can display the above message.

[0199] Therefore, when the user has the barcode of the blank package read by the barcode reader 7, the user can confirm the above message, and can recognize that the blank package is an unnecessary drug package in the first place. Therefore, even if a printed blank package is discharged, the user can recognize that the blank package was not generated due to a malfunction of the packaging mechanism 6. This reduces the possibility that the user will have to check the cause of the blank package or search for the drug. It also reduces the possibility that the user will be worried that the drug has been lost.

[0200] [Embodiment 2] [Configuration of the drug dispensing system] Fig. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a medicine dispensing system 100. The medicine dispensing system 100 is a system that dispenses various medicines based on, for example, prescription data, and is a system installed in a medical institution such as a pharmacy or a hospital. As shown in Fig. 11, the medicine dispensing system 100 includes, for example, a medicine shelf 110, a medicine dispensing device 120, a dispensing management device 130, and a medicine sorting device 1A. The dispensing management device 130 is connected to the medicine dispensing device 120 and the medicine sorting device 1A so as to be able to communicate with them.

[0201] The medicine shelf 110 is a shelf capable of storing various medicines (i.e., various medicines to be handled by the medicine dispensing system 100) that can be used in a pharmacy, a hospital, or the like in which the medicine dispensing system 100 is installed. In other words, the medicine shelf 110 is a shelf capable of storing various medicines that can be sorted by the medicine sorting device 1A.

[0202] The medicine dispensing device 120 is a device that dispenses medicines based on, for example, prescription data. The medicine dispensing system 100 may include only one or more medicine dispensing devices 120. Examples of the medicine dispensing device 120 include a tablet packaging machine that packages tablets, a powdered medicine packaging machine that packages powdered medicine, and a PTP dispensing device that dispenses PTP (Press Through Package) sheets that contain tablets. In this embodiment, a case in which the medicine dispensing device 120 is a tablet packaging machine (also simply referred to as a packaging machine) will be described as an example. In the case of a tablet packaging machine, the medicine dispensing device 120 includes a plurality of cassettes (not shown) that contain medicines by type. The medicine dispensing device 120 can contain medicines that can be sorted by the medicine sorting device 1A in each of the plurality of cassettes.

[0203] Dispensing management device 130 accepts input of information regarding drugs prescribed to patients by doctors (e.g., type of drug (e.g., name of drug), dosage (number of drugs), and method of administration). Dispensing management device 130 issues prescription data including the input information and transmits it to drug dispensing device 120. In this way, dispensing management device 130 manages dispensing from drug dispensing device 120. When drug dispensing system 100 comprises multiple drug dispensing devices 120, dispensing management device 130 determines which drug dispensing device 120 will dispense drugs from, and issues prescription data for each drug dispensing device 120 including information regarding the drugs to be dispensed by each drug dispensing device 120.

[0204] Similar to the medicine sorting device 1, the medicine sorting device 1A is a device that sorts each of a plurality of types of medicines stored in a first storage unit 11 (see Figs. 1 and 2) by type based on images of each of the plurality of types of medicines. For example, the medicine sorting device 1A may receive medicines dispensed (packaged) by the medicine dispensing device 120 as returned medicines and sort them by type. Similarly to the medicine sorting device 1A, the medicine sorting device 1A is provided with a packaging mechanism 6 (see Figs. 1 and 2) that packages the sorted medicines.

[0205] [Lot number and expiration date management] <Management by payment management device> The dispensing management device 130 also manages the lot number and expiration date of the medicine that can be sorted by the medicine sorting device 1A. The lot number is a number that can identify the manufacturing place and manufacturing date of the medicine. The dispensing management device 130 manages information indicating the lot number and expiration date in association with information indicating the type of medicine that can be sorted by the medicine sorting device 1A (medicine identification information) in, for example, a storage unit (not shown) of the dispensing management device 130. The dispensing management device 130 may manage this information by receiving it from the medicine dispensing device 120, or may manage this information by inputting it into the dispensing management device 130 by a user. The dispensing management device 130 may also manage information indicating the lot number and expiration date in association with information indicating the type of medicine contained in the medicine dispensing device 120.

[0206] Furthermore, when the medicine dispensing device 120 is filled with medicines that can be sorted by the medicine sorting device 1A, the dispensing management device 130 updates the lot numbers and expiration dates of the filled medicines. This allows the dispensing management device 130 to update all lot numbers and expiration dates of the medicines filled in the medicine dispensing device 120 every time the medicines are filled in the medicine dispensing device 120.

[0207] When new medicines are to be filled in the medicine dispensing device 120, the dispensing management device 130 registers information indicating the type of the medicine, in association with information indicating the lot number and expiration date, received from the medicine dispensing device 120 or input by the user. The dispensing management device 130 also transmits this information to the medicine sorting device 1A. In this case, the medicine sorting device 1A registers this information in the storage unit 80. These registration processes may also be referred to as updating the lot number and expiration date.

[0208] The dispensing management device 130 transmits information indicating the lot number and the expiration date to the medicine sorting device 1A. In this embodiment, the dispensing management device 130 transmits information indicating the lot number and the expiration date to the medicine sorting device 1A at a predetermined period. The above-mentioned predetermined period can be set arbitrarily by the user, and may be set or changed appropriately depending on the medicine dispensing status in the medicine dispensing system 100, for example. In this embodiment, the dispensing management device 130 transmits information indicating the lot number and the expiration date to the medicine sorting device 1A at a certain fixed time (for example, when the information managed by the dispensing management device 130 is updated at a regular time every day or when the date is changed). Also, in this embodiment, the dispensing management device 130 transmits information indicating the lot number and the expiration date of the medicine that has been updated among the multiple lot numbers and expiration dates that it manages, together with the prescription data issued to the medicine dispensing device 120, to the medicine sorting device 1A.

[0209] The dispensing management device 130 does not necessarily need to transmit information indicating the lot number and the expiration date to the medicine sorting device 1A at predetermined intervals (at a certain fixed time). The dispensing management device 130 may transmit information indicating the lot number and the expiration date to the medicine sorting device 1A, for example, when updating the lot number and the expiration date. That is, the dispensing management device 130 may transmit information indicating the lot number and the expiration date to the medicine sorting device 1A at a fixed time or at any time. Furthermore, when transmitting information indicating the lot number and the expiration date, the dispensing management device 130 does not necessarily need to transmit the prescription data issued to the medicine dispensing device 120.

[0210] When a drug that can be sorted by the drug sorting device 1A is filled into the drug dispensing device 120, the dispensing management device 130 updates the lot number and expiration date of the filled drug, for example, by any of the methods described below.

[0211] (Method α) When a medical professional such as a pharmacist takes out medicines from the medicine shelf 110 and loads the medicines into the medicine dispensing device 120, for example, the following operations and processes are performed.

[0212] That is, a medical worker such as a pharmacist uses a barcode reader (not shown) provided in medicine dispensing device 120 to read barcode information (e.g., GS1 code) attached to the medicine taken out from medicine shelf 110. The medical worker also takes out a cassette containing the medicine from medicine dispensing device 120. Then, the medical worker causes an RFID reader (not shown) provided in medicine dispensing device 120 to read data related to the medicine (e.g., information indicating the type of medicine contained in the cassette) stored in an RFID tag (not shown) of the cassette.

[0213] Thereafter, medicine dispensing device 120 compares the barcode information attached to the medicine taken out from medicine shelf 110 with the data (information) related to the medicine attached to the cassette taken out from medicine dispensing device 120. When this comparison shows that the type of the medicine taken out from medicine shelf 110 matches the type of the medicine that the cassette is intended to store, medicine dispensing device 120 permits the medical staff to store the medicine taken out from medicine shelf 110 in the cassette. This allows the medical staff to fill the cassette with the medicine taken out from medicine shelf 110.

[0214] Moreover, the drug dispensing device 120 acquires information indicating the lot number and expiration date of the drug to be filled from the information of the barcode. The drug dispensing device 120 may accept the information indicating the lot number and expiration date by input via a touch panel (not shown) provided in the drug dispensing device 120. The drug dispensing device 120 transmits the acquired information indicating the lot number and expiration date to the dispensing management device 130. The dispensing management device 130 determines whether or not the lot number and expiration date indicated by the received information match the lot number and expiration date corresponding to the drug to be filled and managed by the dispensing management device 130. When the dispensing management device 130 determines that the two lot numbers and expiration dates do not match, it updates the lot number and expiration date of the drug to be filled to the lot number and expiration date indicated by the received information.

[0215] (Method β) When a medical professional such as a pharmacist takes out a medicine from the medicine shelf 110 and fills the medicine into the medicine dispensing device 120, for example, the following operations and processes are performed.

[0216] That is, a medical professional such as a pharmacist inputs information indicating the lot number and expiration date of the drug to be filled into the drug dispensing device 120 via an operation unit (e.g., a keyboard) provided in the dispensing management device 130. The dispensing management device 130 determines whether the lot number and expiration date indicated by the input information match the lot number and expiration date corresponding to the drug to be filled that are managed by the dispensing management device 130. If the dispensing management device 130 determines that the above two lot numbers and expiration dates do not match, it updates the lot number and expiration date of the drug to be filled to the lot number and expiration date indicated by the input information.

[0217] Furthermore, as shown in the above method α, the medicine dispensing device 120 judges whether or not the medicine taken out from the medicine shelf 110 can be accommodated in the cassette by the above collation. If the medicine is permitted to be accommodated in the cassette, the medical staff can accommodate the medicine in the cassette. This operation may be performed before or after inputting information indicating the lot number and the expiration date to the medicine dispensing device 120.

[0218] <Management using drug dispensing device> Fig. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a control unit 60Aa of the medicine sorting device 1A of the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, as shown in Fig. 12, the medicine sorting device 1A includes a computer 60A equipped with a control unit 60Aa. In this respect, the medicine sorting device 1A differs from the medicine sorting device 1 of the first embodiment. The control unit 60Aa includes a lot management unit 72 in addition to the functions included in the control unit 60a of the first embodiment (see Fig. 1). However, in the present embodiment, the control unit 60Aa does not necessarily have to include the determination unit 64.

[0219] The lot management unit 72 manages the lot number and expiration date of the medicine in association with the type of medicine that may be sorted by the medicine sorting device 1A. The lot management unit 72 stores information indicating the lot number and expiration date acquired from the dispensing management device 130 in association with information indicating the type of medicine. For example, the lot management unit 72 may associate the acquired information indicating the lot number and expiration date with medicine identification information managed in a medicine database stored in the storage unit 80. For example, the medicine database manages images (master images) of medicines captured in advance as medicine data related to multiple types of medicines that may be sorted by the medicine sorting device 1A in association with the respective medicine identification information of the multiple types of medicines.

[0220] Furthermore, the lot management unit 72 updates the lot number and expiration date managed in the memory unit 80 by receiving the lot number and expiration date from the dispensing management device 130. In this embodiment, the lot management unit 72 updates the lot number and expiration date every predetermined period when it receives information indicating the lot number and expiration date from the dispensing management device 130.

[0221] As described above, the dispensing management device 130 updates the lot number and expiration date managed by the dispensing management device 130 at the timing when the drug is filled into the drug dispensing device 120. Therefore, for the lot number and expiration date updated by the dispensing management device 130, the lot management unit 72 can update the lot number and expiration date managed in the memory unit 80 at the timing of receiving them from the dispensing management device 130.

[0222] The display control unit 67 may display the lot number and expiration date managed by the lot management unit 72 on the touch panel 3 (see Figs. 1 and 2). For example, assume that the operation input unit 66 receives a user input via the touch panel 3 to the effect that the lot number and expiration date of any one of the multiple types of medicines managed in the medicine database is to be displayed. In this case, the display control unit 67 identifies the lot number and expiration date of the medicine specified by the user input from the information indicating the lot numbers and expiration dates of the multiple types of medicines managed by the lot management unit 72, and displays the lot number and expiration date on the touch panel 3. This allows the user to check the lot number and expiration date of the desired medicine.

[0223] Furthermore, the user can change the lot number and expiration date displayed on the touch panel 3. The lot management unit 72 changes the lot number and expiration date managed by the lot management unit 72 to the lot number and expiration date accepted by user input. In other words, the lot management unit 72 can update the lot number and expiration date by user input even if the lot number and expiration date have not been received from the dispensing management device 130.

[0224] Also, the lot management unit 72, under the control of the sorting control unit 62, associates the number of medicines sorted by the conveying / sorting unit 12 with the lot number and expiration date managed by the lot management unit 72 for each type of medicine sorted by the conveying / sorting unit 12. As described in the first embodiment, the sorting control unit 62 counts the number of medicines stored in the sorting cup 141 (see FIG. 2) and stores the number in the memory unit 80 in association with the sorting position. Also, the sorting position is associated with the discrimination result of the type of medicine. That is, the sorting position is associated with the medicine identification information of the medicine stored in the sorting cup 141 at the sorting position and stored in the memory unit 80. Therefore, the lot management unit 72 can manage the medicine identification information, information indicating the lot number and expiration date, information indicating the sorting position, and information indicating the number of medicines stored in the sorting cup 141 at the sorting position in association with each other for the sorted medicines.

[0225] [Packaging by medicine sorting device] The packaging mechanism 6 also functions as a printing unit that prints the lot number and expiration date managed by the lot management unit 72 and corresponding to the medicines to be packaged by the packaging mechanism 6, on packaging paper when the packaging mechanism 6 packages the medicines sorted by the conveying / sorting unit 12. The packaging mechanism 6 prints the lot number and expiration date managed in association with information indicating the sorting position of the medicines to be packaged, on the packaging paper on which the medicines to be packaged are packaged. Every time the packaging mechanism 6 packages a medicine, it prints the lot number and expiration date of the medicine on the packaging paper on which the medicine is packaged. The printing on the packaging paper by the packaging mechanism 6 is controlled by the packaging control unit 71.

[0226] In this way, the medicine sorting device 1A manages information indicating the lot number and expiration date of medicines that can be sorted by the medicine sorting device 1A, and can print the lot number and expiration date of the medicine on each packaging paper (medicine package) containing the sorted medicine. Therefore, a user can check the lot number and expiration date of the medicine contained in the medicine package by visually checking the lot number and expiration date printed on the medicine package. For example, at the destination of the medicine to be returned (e.g., medicine shelf 110 or medicine dispensing device 120), the user can check the lot number and expiration date of the medicine. The lot number and expiration date of the medicine can also be managed at the destination of the medicine to be returned.

[0227] Therefore, since the user can check the lot number and expiration date of the medicine taken out from the medicine sorting device 1A, it is possible to increase the possibility of improving the traceability of the medicines sorted by the medicine sorting device 1A.

[0228] Although printing on the packaging paper is performed by the packaging mechanism 6, the present invention is not limited to this, and printing on the packaging paper may be performed by a printing unit provided separately from the packaging mechanism 6.

[0229] [Usage example] Reference numeral 13001 in FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a result (counting result) of sorting by the medicine sorting device 1A, and reference numeral 13002 is a diagram showing an example of medicine packets MP11 to MP15 in which medicines sorted by the medicine sorting device 1A are packaged.

[0230] For example, assume that on April 1, 2021, drugs MA to MZ with lot number "1234" and expiration date "December 2022" are filled into the drug dispensing device 120. In this case, for example, by method α or β, the dispensing management device 130 updates the information indicating the lot numbers and expiration dates of the drugs MA to MZ and transmits the information to the drug sorting device 1A. When the lot management unit 72 receives the information, it updates the information indicating the lot numbers and expiration dates of the drugs MA to MZ stored in the memory unit 80.

[0231] Assume that the medicine sorting device 1A sorted medicines MA to ME on the same day after the update by the lot management unit 72. The lot management unit 72 manages, in the memory unit 80, information indicating the number of medicines stored in the sorting cup 141 for each of the medicines MA to ME, and information indicating the lot number and expiration date. Therefore, as shown by reference numeral 13001 in Fig. 13, the display control unit 67 can display, as the sorting result, the number of medicines stored in the sorting cup 141, the lot number "1234", and the expiration date "2022 / 12" for each of the medicines MA to ME on the touch panel 3.

[0232] The packaging control unit 71 also controls the packaging mechanism 6 to package each of the medicines MA to ME contained in the sorting cup 141, and discharges the medicine packets MP11 to MP15, as shown by reference numeral 13002 in FIG. 13. Before packaging the medicines MA to ME, the packaging control unit 71 refers to the memory unit 80 to obtain information indicating the lot numbers and expiration dates of the medicines MA to ME. Therefore, as shown by reference numeral 13002 in FIG. 13, the packaging control unit 71 controls the packaging mechanism 6 to print the lot number "1234" and expiration date "2022 / 12" of the medicines MA to ME on each of the medicine packets MP11 to MP15.

[0233] Reference numeral 14001 in FIG. 14 is a diagram showing another example of the result (counting result) of sorting by the medicine sorting device 1A, and reference numeral 14002 is a diagram showing one example of medicine packets MP21 to MP23 in which medicines sorted by the medicine sorting device 1A are packaged.

[0234] For example, on April 2, 2021, the medicine dispensing device 120 is filled with medicines MF to MJ with a lot number "5678" and an expiration date of "April 2023". The filling of the medicines MF to MJ is performed, for example, when all of the medicines MF to MJ with a lot number "1234" and an expiration date of "December 2022" filled into the medicine dispensing device 120 on April 1, 2021 are dispensed from the medicine dispensing device 120. When this filling is performed, the dispensing management device 130 updates information indicating the lot numbers and expiration dates of the medicines MF to MJ by, for example, method α or β, and transmits the information to the medicine sorting device 1A. When the information is received, the lot management unit 72 updates the information indicating the lot numbers and expiration dates of the medicines MF to MJ stored in the storage unit 80.

[0235] That is, after the update, the dispensing management device 130 and the medicine sorting device 1A manage the medicines MA-ME and MK-MZ with the lot number "1234" and the expiration date "2022 / 12". On the other hand, the dispensing management device 130 and the medicine sorting device 1A manage the medicines MF-MJ with the lot number "5678" and the expiration date "2023 / 4".

[0236] Assume that the medicine sorting device 1A sorts medicines MA, MC, and MF on the same day after the update by the lot management unit 72. In this case, as shown by reference numeral 14001 in Fig. 14, the display control unit 67 causes the touch panel 3 to display the number of medicines stored in the sorting cup 141, the lot number "1234", and the expiration date "2022 / 12" as the sorting results of the medicine MA and MC. Similarly, the display control unit 67 causes the touch panel 3 to display the number of medicines stored in the sorting cup 141, the lot number "5678", and the expiration date "2023 / 4" as the sorting results of the medicine MF.

[0237] The packaging control unit 71 also controls the packaging mechanism 6 to package the drugs MA, MC, and MF stored in the sorting cup 141, and discharges the drug packages MP21 to MP23, as shown by reference numeral 14002 in FIG. 14. Also, as shown by reference numeral 14002 in FIG. 14, the packaging control unit 71 controls the packaging mechanism 6 to print the lot number "1234" of the drugs MA and MC and the expiration date "2022 / 12" on each of the drug packages MP21 and MP22 before discharging them. Also, the packaging control unit 71 controls the packaging mechanism 6 to print the lot number "5678" of the drug MF and the expiration date "2023 / 4" on the drug package MP23 before discharging it.

[0238] In this manner, the medicine sorting device 1A manages information indicating the updated lot number and expiration date, and is thereby able to print the updated lot number and expiration date on the packaging paper.

[0239] [About lot numbers and expiration dates] In the present embodiment, the information indicating the lot number and the expiration date is transmitted and received, updated, and printed on the packaging paper in the medicine dispensing system 100. However, either the information indicating the lot number or the information indicating the expiration date may be transmitted and received, updated, and printed on the packaging paper. In this case, the medicine dispensing device 120, the dispensing management device 130, and the medicine sorting device 1A manage either the information indicating the lot number or the information indicating the expiration date, and print it on the packaging paper. In the medicine dispensing device 120, the dispensing management device 130, and the medicine sorting device 1A, the information indicating the lot number and the expiration date may be managed by calculating the expiration date from the lot number, or calculating the lot number from the expiration date.

[0240] [Software implementation example] The control blocks of the medicine sorting devices 1 and 1A (particularly the control unit 60a and each part of the control unit 60Aa) may be realized by a logic circuit (hardware) formed in an integrated circuit (IC chip) or the like, or may be realized by software.

[0241] In the latter case, the medicine sorting device 1 includes a computer that executes instructions of a program, which is software that realizes each function. The computer includes, for example, one or more processors, and a computer-readable recording medium that stores the program. The computer reads the program from the recording medium and executes it, thereby achieving the object of the present invention. The processor can be, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The recording medium can be a "non-transient tangible medium", such as a ROM (Read Only Memory), a tape, a disk, a card, a semiconductor memory, a programmable logic circuit, or the like. The device may further include a RAM (Random Access Memory) that expands the program. The program may be supplied to the computer via any transmission medium (such as a communication network or a broadcast wave) that can transmit the program. One aspect of the present invention may also be realized in the form of a data signal embedded in a carrier wave, in which the program is embodied by electronic transmission.

[0242] [Additional information] The medicine discrimination system of the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 is not necessarily suitable for an operation in which medicines brought by a plurality of patients are sorted by type.

[0243] One aspect of the present invention aims to realize a patient-brought medication sorting device that can automatically and efficiently sort patient-brought medications on a patient-by-patient basis.

[0244] In order to solve the above problems, a patient-brought-in medication sorting device according to one embodiment of the present invention separates and stores at least one first patient-brought-in medication, which is a medication prescribed for one patient and is subsequently brought to a medical institution, and the remaining second patient-brought-in medications, and includes a first storage unit that separates and stores the first patient-brought-in medication and the second patient-brought-in medication by patient, a second storage unit that stores the first patient-brought-in medication and the second patient-brought-in medication by patient and for each patient-brought-in medication that is considered to be of the same type, and a second storage unit that stores the first patient-brought-in medication and the second patient-brought-in medication taken out of the first storage unit. The device comprises an imaging unit that images the first or second medicine brought by a person, a determination unit that determines reference data indicating at least one characteristic of the first medicine extracted from the image of the first medicine, or reference data indicating information based on the characteristic, a first matching unit that compares at least one characteristic of the second medicine extracted from the image of the second medicine with the reference data, and a sorting unit that stores the first medicine in the second storage unit and stores the second medicine that is deemed to be of the same type as the first medicine in the same compartment as the compartment in which the first medicine is stored based on the matching result of the first matching unit.

[0245] Furthermore, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a patient-brought-in medication sorting method according to one embodiment of the present invention is a method for sorting patient-brought-in medications, which is executed by a patient-brought-in medication sorting device including a first storage unit for separately storing at least one first patient-brought-in medication, which is a medication prescribed for one patient and to be taken at a predetermined time among a plurality of types of patient-brought-in medications that have been subsequently brought to a medical institution, and the remaining second patient-brought-in medications, and a second storage unit for storing the first patient-brought-in medication and the second patient-brought-in medication of the patient for each type of patient-brought-in medication that is considered to be the same type, the method including a first imaging step of imaging the first patient-brought-in medication taken out of the first storage unit, and an extraction step of the first patient-brought-in medication from the image of the first patient-brought-in medication. The method includes a determination step of determining reference data indicating at least one characteristic of the first brought-home drug taken out, or reference data indicating information based on the characteristic; a first storage step of storing the first brought-home drug in the second storage section after determining the reference data; a second imaging step of imaging the second brought-home drug taken out of the first storage section; a comparison step of comparing at least one characteristic of the second brought-home drug extracted from an image of the second brought-home drug taken out of the second storage section with the reference data; and a second storage step of storing a second brought-home drug that is deemed to be of the same type as the first brought-home drug in the same compartment as the compartment in which the first brought-home drug is stored based on the comparison result of the comparison step.

[0246] A patient's own medication sorting device according to one embodiment of the present invention has a first storage unit having a section in which at least one first patient's own medication, which is a medication prescribed for one patient and is subsequently brought to a medical institution, is stored by a person, and a section in which the remaining second patient's own medications, which are prescribed for taking at a time other than the prescribed time, are stored by a person; a second storage unit for storing the first patient's own medication and the second patient's own medication, for each patient's own medication that is deemed to be of the same type; and a storage unit for storing the first patient's own medication and the second patient's own medication, which are removed from the first storage unit. the first brought-by-drug image capturing unit capturing an image of the first brought-by-drug or the second brought-by-drug captured by the patient; a determination unit determining reference data indicating at least one characteristic of the first brought-by-drug extracted from the captured image of the first brought-by-drug or reference data indicating information based on the characteristic; a first comparison unit comparing at least one characteristic of the second brought-by-drug extracted from the captured image of the second brought-by-drug with the reference data; and a sorting unit storing the second brought-by-drug in the second storage unit based on a comparison result of the first comparison unit. All the first brought-by medicines taken out from the compartments where the first brought-by medicines are stored are sorted into the second storage section for each of the first brought-by medicines that are considered to be of the same type, and then the second brought-by medicines taken out from the compartments where the second brought-by medicines are stored in the first storage section are stored in the same compartment as the compartments where the first brought-by medicines are stored based on the collation result of the first collation section, and the first storage section contains the first brought-by medicines and the second brought-by medicines sorted by patient by patient. The first and second brought-by-patient medications are stored in a memory unit, and storage position data linking the storage positions of the first and second brought-by-patient medications in the first storage unit to the storage area in the second storage unit in which the first and second brought-by-patient medications are stored on a patient-by-patient basis is stored in a memory unit, the imaging unit images the first brought-by-patient medication or the second brought-by-patient medication taken out of the first storage unit on a patient-by-patient basis, and the sorting unit determines the sorting position of the first brought-by-patient medication on a patient-by-patient basis based on the storage position data, and stores the second brought-by-patient medication in the second storage unit on a patient-by-patient basis based on the comparison result of the first comparison unit.

[0247] A patient-brought medication sorting device according to one embodiment of the present invention is provided with a second matching unit that narrows down the type of the first patient-brought medication by matching at least one characteristic of the first patient-brought medication with a medication database that manages medication data for multiple types of medications, and the determination unit may determine, as the reference data, multiple characteristics that are obtained by matching by the second matching unit and are managed as medication data for the first patient-brought medication in the medication database.

[0248] In one aspect of the present invention, in the brought-by-patient medication sorting device, the determination unit may determine at least one characteristic of the first brought-by-patient medication as the reference data.

[0249] In one embodiment of the present invention, the first patient-brought medication sorting device may be a medication that is prescribed and brought by the patient to be taken by the patient on a specified taking date, which is the specified taking time, and the second patient-brought medication may be a medication that is prescribed and brought by the patient to be taken by the patient on a taking date other than the specified taking date.

[0250] In one embodiment of the present invention, in a patient-brought medication sorting device, the first patient-brought medication may be a medication prescribed and brought by the patient to be taken by the patient at a specified time on a specified date, which is the specified taking time, and the second patient-brought medication may be a medication prescribed and brought by the patient to be taken by the patient at a time other than the specified time.

[0251] A patient-brought-in medication sorting device according to one embodiment of the present invention may be provided with a packaging section that packages the first patient-brought-in medication and the second patient-brought-in medication for each of the first patient-brought-in medication and the second patient-brought-in medication stored in the same compartment of the second storage section.

[0252] In one embodiment of the present invention, in a patient-brought medication sorting device, the sorting unit may store the first patient-brought medication and the second patient-brought medication in the second storage unit on a patient-by-patient basis, and the packaging unit may package the first patient-brought medication and the second patient-brought medication on a patient-by-patient basis.

[0253] A patient-brought-in medication sorting method according to one embodiment of the present invention is a patient-brought-in medication sorting method performed by a patient-brought-in medication sorting device including a first storage unit having a section in which at least one first patient-brought-in medication, which is a medication prescribed for one patient and is subsequently brought to a medical institution, is stored by a person, and a section in which the remaining second patient-brought-in medications prescribed for a patient to be taken at a time other than the specified time are stored by a person, and a second storage unit for storing the first patient-brought-in medication and the second patient-brought-in medication of the patient, for each type of patient-brought-in medication considered to be the same. A medicine sorting method, comprising: a first imaging step of imaging the first brought-to-person medicine taken out of the first storage section; a determination step of determining reference data indicating at least one characteristic of the first brought-to-person medicine extracted from the image of the first brought-to-person medicine, or reference data indicating information based on the characteristic; a first storage step of storing the first brought-to-person medicine in the second storage section after determining the reference data; a second imaging step of imaging the second brought-to-person medicine taken out of the first storage section; and The method includes a comparison step of comparing the characteristics of the brought-by-drug with the reference data, and a second storing step of storing the second brought-by-drug in the second storage unit based on the comparison result of the comparison step, in which, in the second storing step, all the brought-by-drugs taken out from the compartment in the first storage unit in which the brought-by-drugs are stored are sorted into first brought-by-drugs considered to be of the same type and stored in the second storage unit, and then, for the brought-by-drugs taken out from the compartment in the first storage unit in which the brought-by-drugs are stored, the brought-by-drugs are sorted into the same type as the compartment in which the brought-by-drugs are stored based on the comparison result of the comparison step. a second brought-by-patient medicine considered to be of the same type as the first brought-by-patient medicine contained in said compartment is contained in said compartment, the first brought-by-patient medicine and the second brought-by-patient medicine are stored in said first storage section by dividing them into groups by patient, storage position data linking the storage positions of the first brought-by-patient medicine and the second brought-by-patient medicine in said first storage section with storage areas in said second storage section in which the first brought-by-patient medicine and the second brought-by-patient medicine are stored in a memory section, and in said first imaging step and said second imaging step, an image of the first brought-by-patient medicine or the second brought-by-patient medicine taken out of said first storage section on a patient-by-patient basis is captured,In the first storing step, a sorting position of the first brought-by-patient medicine is determined for each patient based on the storing position data, and in the second storing step, the second brought-by-patient medicine is stored in the second storing section for each patient based on the collation result in the collation step.

[0254] [Additional Notes] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims. Embodiments obtained by appropriately combining the technical means disclosed in different embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0255] 1. Medicine sorting device (medicine sorting device for patients brought with them) 6 Packaging mechanism (packaging section) 11 First storage section 12 Conveying and sorting unit (sorting section) 14 Second storage section 13 Imaging unit (imaging section) 64 Decision Section 65 Collation unit (first storage unit, second storage unit)

Claims

1. A first storage section that stores a plurality of types of medicines; A plurality of sorting containers containing medicines that are considered to be of the same type; an imaging unit that images the medicine taken out of the first storage unit; a transport unit that transports the medicine to one of the plurality of sorting containers based on the characteristics of the medicine extracted from the image captured by the imaging unit; A collection tray for accommodating foreign objects; A drug sorting device in which the transporting unit transports a drug identified by a user as a drug that a patient cannot take or should refrain from taking to one of the multiple sorting containers or to the collection tray, regardless of the characteristics of the drug.

2. The plurality of types of medicines contained in the first container are medicines prescribed for a patient and then brought to a medical institution, The conveying unit is Regarding the medication brought by the user that is identified by the user as a medication that the patient cannot take or needs to refrain from taking, the medication is transported to the collection tray regardless of the characteristics of the medication brought by the patient; The medicine sorting device according to claim 1 , wherein a patient's own medicine specified by a user as a medicine that the patient may continue to take is transported to one of the plurality of sorting containers.

Images