Drug inspection system and program

Abstract

Efficiently inspect each individual drug in multiple drug packets. [Solution] The drug inspection system comprises: an image acquisition unit that acquires drug package images of each of the multiple drug packages in which drugs are packaged according to a prescription; an inspection unit that inspects whether the drugs in each of the multiple drug packages match the prescription based on the drug package images of each of the multiple drug packages; an output unit that outputs the inspection results of the inspection unit; and a drug extraction and display unit that extracts and displays drug package images containing a specified drug from the drug package images of the multiple drug packages.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a drug inspection system and a program.

Background Art

[0002] A plurality of prescribed drugs are packaged one dose at a time in individual drug packages and provided to patients. In this case, it is inspected whether each drug in each drug package conforms to the prescription. A system that supports this inspection work collates the captured image of each drug package with a master image of the drug to recognize the drug in each drug package, and determines whether the recognized drug matches the prescription. The system displays the determination result and the image of each drug package on a screen, thereby enabling visual inspection by an inspector (for example, a pharmacist).

[0003] For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2020-121057 (Patent Document 1) discloses a drug inspection device that derives appearance information related to the appearance of drugs in divided packaging bags based on images obtained by an imaging unit, and inspects whether the type of drug conforms to the prescription based on the appearance information. This document describes that as drug inspection processing, inspections from various viewpoints, such as inspection of the type of drug divided into the divided packaging bags (drug type collation inspection) and inspection of the quantity of drugs packaged in the divided packaging bags (quantity collation inspection), are performed either singly or in combination of a plurality thereof.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] When a computer uses an image of a drug package to determine whether the medication in the package matches the prescription, multiple determination methods may be prepared to address various aspects of the assessment, as in the conventional technology described above. The inventors considered a system in which the user can select a determination method from among several pre-prepared methods. During the investigation, it was found that it is difficult for the user to understand what information the computer uses and what kind of determination process it performs for each of the multiple determination methods.

[0006] Therefore, this application discloses an inspection system and program that makes it easier for users to understand the computer processing in each determination method when setting up a method for determining the chemicals in a drug package. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The drug inspection system in the embodiment of the present invention is An image acquisition unit that acquires images of multiple drug packets, each containing a drug packaged according to a prescription, A determination unit that determines whether the medicine in each of the multiple drug packets is as prescribed, based on the image of each drug packet of the multiple drug packets, The system includes a setting reception unit that displays a setting screen for setting the determination method of the determination unit to at least one of a predetermined set of determination methods, and accepts the setting of the determination method from the user. The setting reception unit displays information indicating the characteristics of the drug in the drug packet image used for each of the multiple determination methods, along with each determination method, and accepts the user's setting of the determination method. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] This is a functional block diagram showing an example configuration of the drug inspection system in this embodiment. [Figure 2] Figure 1 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the drug inspection system 10. [Figure 3] Figure 3 shows an example of a settings screen displayed by the settings reception unit 5. [Figure 4] Figure 4 shows an example of the settings screen that appears when tool B2 of "Automatic Inspection Level Switching" in Figure 3 is selected. [Figure 5] Figure 5 is a table showing the characteristics of the chemicals used for each of the determination methods shown in Figure 4, and how they are indicated. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] (Composition 1) The drug inspection system in the embodiment of the present invention is An image acquisition unit that acquires images of multiple drug packets, each containing a drug packaged according to a prescription, A determination unit that determines whether the medicine in each of the multiple drug packets is as prescribed, based on the image of each drug packet of the multiple drug packets, The system includes a setting reception unit that displays a setting screen for setting the determination method of the determination unit to at least one of a predetermined set of determination methods, and accepts the setting of the determination method from the user. The setting reception unit displays information indicating the characteristics of the drug in the drug packet image used for each of the multiple determination methods, along with each determination method, and accepts the user's setting of the determination method.

[0010] In the drug inspection system of Configuration 1 described above, when the user sets the judgment method used by the judgment unit from a predetermined set of judgment methods on the settings screen, information indicating the characteristics of the drug in the drug package image used for each judgment method is displayed along with each judgment method. This allows the user to intuitively understand what information of the drug is used to perform the judgment for each judgment method. Therefore, when the user sets the judgment method for the drug in the drug package, it becomes easier to understand the computer processing for each judgment method.

[0011] The determination method of the determination unit can be described as a determination process that the determination unit performs on each individual drug packet image. At least one of a predetermined set of determination methods is set as the determination method to be performed by the determination unit. The multiple determination methods can be, for example, multiple determination processes that are different from each other. As an example, multiple determination methods may be multiple determination processes with different determination criteria (for example, the number of drugs or the type of drug).

[0012] (Configuration 2) In the above configuration 1, the characteristics of each drug may include the color, shape, or a combination thereof. This allows the user to easily understand whether each determination method is performed using (or not using) the shape, color, or a combination thereof of the drug. Therefore, it becomes easier for the user to understand the computer's determination process.

[0013] (Composition 3) In the above configuration 1 or 2, the multiple determination methods may include a quantity determination that determines whether the number of drugs in the drug packet is as prescribed, and a drug type determination that determines whether the type of drug in the drug packet is as prescribed. This provides multiple determination methods with different determination levels. At least one of the quantity determination and drug type determination may further include classified determination methods. For example, the quantity determination may include a quantity determination that includes drug color determination and a quantity determination that does not include color determination.

[0014] (Composition 4) In any one of the above configurations 1 to 3, the setting reception unit may display the setting screen so that the user can set the determination method or the feature of the medicine for each dispensing method of the medicine in each medicine package in the packaging machine. This makes it possible to set the determination method according to the dispensing method. The packaging machine is a device that dispenses medicines based on a prescription and divides them into a plurality of medicine packages. The packaging machine includes, for example, a dispensing unit that dispenses the prescribed medicine one package at a time, and a packaging unit that wraps the dispensed medicine in packaging paper. The dispensing unit includes, for example, a plurality of dispensing units that dispense medicines by different dispensing methods. The dispensing method may be represented by, for example, a medicine dispensing unit in the packaging machine. For example, the dispensing unit includes, for example, a manual dispensing unit that accepts manual loading of medicines, a cassette that automatically dispenses a specified number of medicines, and the like. The manual dispensing unit has, for example, a manual dispensing tray on which a plurality of cells each allowing loading of medicines for one package are arranged. By opening and closing the bottom surface of each cell, the medicine in each cell, that is, the medicine for each package, can be dispensed. The specific configuration of the packaging machine is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-100911, which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0015] (Configuration 5) In any one of the above configurations 1 to 4, the setting reception unit may display the setting screen so that the user can set the determination method or the feature of the medicine for at least one part among a plurality of parts in a plurality of medicine packages of one prescription. Thereby, the user can set the determination method for each part of the plurality of medicine packages of one prescription. The plurality of parts of the plurality of medicine packages of one prescription may include, for example, at least one of the first package, the middle package, and the last package.

[0016] (Configuration 6) In any one of the above configurations 1 to 5, the setting reception unit displays the setting screen so that the user can make a setting for automatically switching the determination method or the feature of the medicine according to the dispensing method of the medicine in each medicine package in the packaging machine. Thereby, the user can specify a setting for automatically switching the determination method according to the dispensing method.

[0017] (Configuration 7) In any one of the above configurations 1 to 6, when the dispensing method in the packaging machine for the medicine in each medicine package is dispensing by manual loading, the setting reception unit uses the shape and color of the medicine as the features of the medicine as the determination method, and when the dispensing method is automatic dispensing from a cassette, the setting reception unit can display the setting screen so that the user can make a setting to automatically switch the determination method so that the determination method does not use the shape of the medicine as the feature of the medicine. Thereby, it is possible to perform determination on the manually loaded medicine using the shape and color of the medicine, and perform determination on the automatically dispensed medicine without using the shape of the medicine. Therefore, it is possible to perform strict determination on manually loaded medicines, and perform simple determination on automatically dispensed medicines. As a result, for example, it is possible to suppress false NG determination results caused by performing strict determination on automatically dispensed medicines.

[0018] (Configuration 8) A program that executes at least part of the processing of the medicine inspection system described above, and a non-transitory storage medium storing the program are also included in the embodiments of the present invention. The medicine inspection program according to the embodiment of the present invention is an image acquisition process of acquiring images of a plurality of medicine packages each containing a medicine packaged based on a prescription, a determination process of determining, based on each medicine package image of the plurality of medicine packages, whether or not the medicine in each of the plurality of medicine packages matches the prescription, a setting reception process of displaying a setting screen for setting the determination method for each of the plurality of medicine package images in the determination process to one of a plurality of predetermined determination methods, and receiving a setting of the determination method from a user, and causing a computer to execute these processes, In the setting reception process, as the information on the plurality of determination methods, information indicating the features of the medicine in the medicine package image used in each determination method is displayed together with each determination method, and the setting of the determination method is received from the user.

[0019] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0020] (System Configuration Example) Figure 1 is a functional block diagram showing an example configuration of the drug verification system in this embodiment. The drug verification system 10 shown in Figure 1 is a system that verifies whether tablets dispensed based on a prescription match the prescription. The drug verification system 10 acquires images of each of the multiple drug packets from an imaging device 21 that photographs each packet, and determines whether the drug recognized in the drug packet image matches the prescription. The drug verification system 10 is implemented by a computer built into or connected to a verification device equipped with an imaging device 21. The drug verification system 10 can access a recording unit 11 that stores master data.

[0021] In the example shown in Figure 1, the inspection device includes an imaging device 21 and a transport device 22. The transport device 22 transports a series of multiple drug packets (package bags) P. The imaging device 21 photographs each drug packet P transported by the transport device 22. As shown in Figure 1, the inspection device may also include a display 23 and an input device 24. The drug inspection system 10 can display drug packet images and inspection results on the display 23. The drug inspection system 10 can receive input from the user via the input device 24. The input device 24 may consist of, for example, at least one of the touch panel of the display 23, a keyboard, a mouse, buttons, or other controls.

[0022] The drug inspection system 10 comprises an image acquisition unit 1, a determination unit 20, an output unit 4, a setting reception unit 5, a learning instruction reception unit 6, and a determination result monitoring unit 7. The determination unit 20 includes, for example, a drug recognition unit 2 and a prescription determination unit 3. The determination unit 20 uses images of each individual drug packet from multiple drug packets, each containing drugs packaged according to a prescription, to determine whether the drugs in the packets match the prescription. The determination unit 20 can also be called a determination processing unit. The image acquisition unit 1 acquires drug packet images obtained when the imaging device 21 photographs the drug packets. The image acquisition unit 1 makes the drug packet image data available for use by the computer of the drug inspection system 10. For example, the image acquisition unit 1 receives drug packet image data from the imaging device 21 and stores it in the computer's memory. In the example in Figure 1, the imaging device 21 photographs each of the multiple drug packets transported by the transport device 22. The image acquisition unit 1 acquires a drug packet image for each drug packet.

[0023] The drug recognition unit 2 recognizes drugs in the drug packaging image. The drug recognition result can be, for example, the type of drug in the drug image or at least one of the number of drugs. For example, the drug recognition unit 2 recognizes drugs included in the drug packaging image using master data. The master data is recorded in the recording unit 11 in advance. The drug recognition unit 2 may also recognize drugs included in the drug image using master information of the drugs to be reviewed (i.e., the prescribed tablets). The master data includes, for example, master information for each drug that may be reviewed. The master information includes information indicating the conditions for recognizing the drug. The drug recognition unit 2 obtains master information of the drugs included in the prescription to be reviewed. The master information may be, for example, a master image of the drug. The master image includes, for example, at least one piece of information such as the shape, size, color, markings, identification code, and printing of the drug (tablet). The data format of the master information is not particularly limited. The master information may be, for example, image data (a set of pixel values) showing the appearance of the drug, or values ​​showing the characteristic quantities of the drug.

[0024] The drug recognition unit 2 recognizes areas in a drug image that match the conditions indicated by the master information as the drug indicated by that master information. For example, the drug recognition unit 2 performs a matching process on a drug packaging image using the master image, and if it detects an area that matches the master image, it determines that the drug in that master image exists. The drug recognition unit 2 can determine at least one of the number of tablets or the type of drug in the target image.

[0025] The drug recognition unit 2 recognizes the drug in the drug packet image using one of several predetermined determination methods. In the multiple determination methods, for example, the combination of drug characteristics used in the recognition process of the drug recognition unit 2 and the information obtained as a recognition result may be predetermined. The drug recognition unit 2 can switch the determination method of the determination unit 20 by switching, for example, the drug characteristics used in the recognition process and the information of the drug obtained as a recognition result. As an example, the drug characteristics used in the recognition process can be switched to shape, color, or both shape and color. Also, the recognition result can be switched to the number of drugs or the type of drug. In this way, the determination method may be determined by the combination of drug characteristics used in the recognition process and the information of the drug to be used as the recognition result. Note that the switching of drug characteristics used in the recognition process and the switching of the recognition result may be linked. For example, the drug characteristics used in the recognition process may be predetermined in order to obtain a certain recognition result. In this case, data showing the correspondence between the recognition result and the drug characteristics used in the recognition process may be recorded in the recording unit 11.

[0026] The prescription determination unit 3 determines whether the drugs recognized by the drug recognition unit 2 match the prescription. The prescription determination unit 3 performs this prescription determination using one of several predetermined determination methods. In the multiple determination methods, for example, the determination criteria may be predetermined. The prescription determination unit 3 can switch the determination method by, for example, using the number of drugs or the type of drug as the determination criterion.

[0027] The prescription determination unit 3 performs this determination by comparing the recognized drug with the drug indicated in the prescription data. The prescription data is recorded in the recording unit 11 in advance. The prescription data is data that includes at least one of the quantity and type of drug prescribed. For example, the prescription data may include information indicating at least one of the quantity and type of drug prescribed in each drug image (for example, each dose). The prescription determination unit 3 compares either the quantity or type of drug of the recognized drug, or both, with the prescription data. The prescription determination unit 3 may determine whether the quantity of the drug is as prescribed, or whether both the quantity and type of drug are as prescribed. In this embodiment, as will be described later, the setting reception unit 5 receives a setting from the user to determine whether the prescription determination unit 3 determines only the quantity of the drug, or whether it determines both the quantity and type of drug.

[0028] The output unit 4 outputs the judgment result of the prescription judgment unit 3, i.e., the inspection processing result. The output unit 4 may display on the display 23 information indicating whether the drugs in each drug packet image match the prescription as determined by the prescription judgment unit 3. The output unit 4 may also display the judgment result of each drug packet, i.e., each drug packet image, together with the drug packet image on the display 23. The output unit 4 may also display the recognition result of the drug recognition unit 2 for each drug packet image. Note that the output unit 4 is not limited to displaying images on the display 23. For example, the output unit 4 may output sound to a speaker or the like, or print the results to a printer or the like. Alternatively, the judgment result may be output by recording data to a recording medium or transmitting data to another system.

[0029] The output unit 4 may output each drug packet image in association with the prescribed drug and the judgment result from the prescription judgment unit 3. In this case, the drug inspection system 10 may accept input from the user of the results of a visual inspection of each drug packet image. In this case, the results of the visual inspection of each drug packet are associated with each drug packet image and recorded in the recording unit 11.

[0030] The setting reception unit 5 accepts the user's setting of the judgment method. The judgment unit 20 displays a setting screen to the user to set the judgment method for the judgment process to be executed to one of several predetermined judgment methods. In other words, the setting screen accepts the user's setting of the judgment method. As an example, the multiple judgment methods include a quantity judgment to determine whether the number of drugs in the drug package matches the prescription, and a drug type judgment to determine whether the type of drug in the drug package matches the prescription. In the case of a quantity judgment, the drug type is not judged.

[0031] The setting reception unit 5 displays information on multiple judgment methods on the setting screen, including information indicating the characteristics of the drug in the drug packet image used for each judgment method, along with each judgment method. For example, information indicating the characteristics of the drug used in the recognition process of each judgment method of the drug recognition unit 2 is displayed in association with each judgment method. As an example, the characteristics of each drug include the shape, color, or a combination of shape and color of the drug.

[0032] The setting reception unit 5 can accept user settings for the judgment method or drug characteristics for each drug dispensing method in the drug packaging machine on the setting screen. This allows the user to set the judgment method or the drug characteristics used for judgment for each dispensing method on the setting screen. Dispensing methods can be broadly divided into two types: one where drugs are manually loaded into a manual dispensing tray and dispensed one packet at a time, and another where a specified amount of drugs is automatically dispensed from a cassette. The dispensing method may differ depending on the type of cassette.

[0033] The setting reception unit 5 may accept settings from the user on the setting screen for the determination method or drug characteristics for each of the multiple parts of the multiple drug packets in a single prescription. This allows the user to set the determination method or the drug characteristics used for determination for each part of the multiple drug packets in a single prescription on the setting screen. For example, the multiple parts of the multiple drug packets may be the first packet, the middle packet, the last packet, and the other packets.

[0034] The setting reception unit 5 can accept settings for automatic switching of the judgment direction from the user on the setting screen. Automatic switching is a function that automatically switches the judgment method by the judgment unit 20 or the characteristics of the drug used for judgment depending on the dispensing method. In this case, the judgment unit 20 obtains the dispensing method of the drug in each drug package image from the prescription data and performs the judgment process using the judgment method corresponding to the dispensing method of each drug package image or the characteristics of the corresponding drug.

[0035] As an example of automatic switching, a mode can be set to simplify the method of determining medications other than those dispensed by hand. In this mode, the determination unit 20 performs a drug type determination on the package image of a package containing a hand-dispensed medication, determining whether the type of medication in the package matches the prescription. For package images of packages that do not contain a hand-dispensed medication, it performs a process to determine whether the number of medications in the package matches the prescription, without using the shape of the medication. Since it is preferable to strictly check medications dispensed by hand, this mode allows for strict determination through drug type determination. On the other hand, for medications other than hand-dispensed medications, the packaging machine's checking mechanism suppresses packaging errors. If the determination unit 20 performs a strict determination even though there are almost no packaging errors, the overall inspection speed will decrease, and there is a possibility of many false negatives as a result of the determination, which may burden the operator. In this mode, for package images of packages that do not contain a hand-dispensed medication, the shape of the medication in the image is not judged, and it is determined whether the total number of medications in the package matches the prescription information. This improves the overall speed of the inspection process and reduces the number of false rejections in the judgment results.

[0036] The learning instruction receiving unit 6 receives a learning instruction from the user to reflect the image of the drug captured by the camera 21 into the master image of the drug in the master data. The learning instruction receiving unit 6 displays the image of the drug captured by the camera 21 and information indicating the drug to the user and accepts the learning instruction. The learning instruction receiving unit 6 can output a notification to the user asking for a learning instruction if the judgment result of the judgment unit based on the drug package images of multiple drug packages in one prescription meets predetermined conditions. This increases the opportunities for learning to be performed in the flow of a series of inspection operations by the user. For example, the number of cases in one prescription where the judgment result of the judgment unit is NG but the user's visual inspection result is OK may be used as a condition for the learning instruction inquiry notification. For example, the number of cases where the judgment result is a color mismatch but the visual inspection result is OK may be a condition. In addition, the number of times the drug has been learned in the past may also be included as a condition. For example, notifications may not be output for drugs that have already been learned a predetermined number of times (e.g., 2 times) in the past.

[0037] The judgment result monitoring unit 7 stores the judgment results from the judgment unit 20 for each drug in the recording unit 11 and monitors the stored judgment results. For example, if there is a drug whose stored judgment result exceeds a predetermined condition, the judgment result monitoring unit 7 outputs information about that drug as a monitoring result. Alternatively, data aggregated from the stored judgment results for each drug may be output as a monitoring result. The form of output of the monitoring results is not particularly limited, but may include, for example, transmission to another system, display on a display, or recording in the recording unit 11 or other recording device.

[0038] For example, if the appearance of a drug changes, the judgment result of the judgment unit 20 becomes NG. The judgment result monitoring unit 7 can aggregate and record the number of NG judgment results for each drug. In this case, drugs whose rate of increase in the number of NG judgment results exceeds a threshold in the most recent predetermined period may be extracted as candidates for drugs whose appearance has changed, and the information of those drugs may be output as a monitoring result.

[0039] The drug detection system 10 can be composed of one or more computers. The processes of the image acquisition unit 1, the determination unit 20, the output unit 4, the setting reception unit 5, the learning instruction reception unit 6, and the determination result monitoring unit 7 can be realized by the computer's processor executing a predetermined program recorded in memory. The program for causing the processor to execute each of these processes and the non-transitory recording medium on which it is recorded are also included in embodiments of the present invention. The recording unit 11 may be composed of memory or storage accessible by the computer. The drug detection system 10 may further have functional units. For example, the computer constituting the drug detection system 10 may function as a controller for controlling the imaging device 21 and the transport device 22.

[0040] (Example of operation) Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the drug inspection system 10 shown in Figure 1. In Figure 2, the drug inspection system 10 acquires prescription data indicating the prescription of the tablets to be inspected (S1). The prescription data may be acquired, for example, by having the inspection device 21 or other reader (e.g., barcode reader, IC tag reader, etc.) on the inspection device read the information attached to the packaging bag, or the drug inspection system may acquire it from another system (e.g., packaging machine, prescription system, or claims computer, etc.). The acquired prescription data may be recorded, for example, in the recording unit 11.

[0041] The drug inspection system 10 acquires master data (S2). Master information of the drugs indicated in the prescription data is acquired as master data. The master data is recorded, for example, in the recording unit 11.

[0042] The image acquisition unit 1 acquires an image of each of the multiple drug packets captured by the imaging device 21 (S3). For example, a series of drug packets, each containing medicine packaged according to one or more prescriptions, are transported by the transport device 22 and each packet is photographed by the imaging device 21. The image acquisition unit 1 acquires images of the drug packets corresponding to one or more prescriptions and records them in the recording unit 11 in association with prescription information. In a series of drug packets, the packet corresponding to the start of one prescription may be marked with a next prescription mark indicating the start of the prescription. The drug inspection system 10 can recognize the range of one prescription in a series of drug packets by reading the next prescription mark on the drug packet. In this example, in S3, each drug packet image is acquired as an image to be processed in a series of drug packets. The image acquisition unit 1 may also acquire information indicating the medicine to be packaged in the drug packet image from prescription data (for example, packaging data supplied from the packaging machine) along with the drug packet image. The packaging data includes, for example, information indicating the medication to be packaged in each individual packet.

[0043] The determination unit 20 determines whether one of the drug packet images acquired in S3 is empty or not (S4). If it determines that it is empty, it skips the drug determination process for that drug packet image. If it determines that it is not empty, the determination unit 20 executes the next determination method determination process (S5) and determination process (S6). The determination of whether or not it is empty is made, for example, based on the drug information of each drug packet. If one drug packet is empty, the drug information of that drug packet indicates that it is empty. For example, if the drug information of the drug packet in the target drug packet image is a specific drug code, or if the drug name is a predetermined dummy, then it is determined that the drug packet in the drug packet image is empty.

[0044] For example, if some of the prescribed medications are supplied in PTP sheets, the dispensing machine cannot dispense the medications in PTP sheets. Therefore, the medication packets corresponding to the PTP sheets can be left empty, and information about the medication can be printed on those empty packets. For example, the empty packets can be printed with a statement indicating that there is a medication in a PTP sheet, or the name of the medication in the PTP sheet. In such cases, the judgment unit can skip the judgment processing for the image of the empty medication packet. This reduces the likelihood of the judgment unit issuing a false "NG" judgment for the image of the empty medication packet.

[0045] In S5, the determination unit 20 determines a determination method for one drug package image acquired in S3. The determination method is determined, for example, based on the determination method setting received from the user by the setting reception unit 5. For example, if a determination method is set for each dispensing method, the determination unit 20 determines the determination method for the drug package image of each drug package based on the dispensing method of the medicine to be packaged in each drug package. The dispensing method of the medicine in each drug package can be obtained, for example, from prescription data. If a drug package contains medicines with different dispensing methods, the determination method set for the dispensing method with the highest priority is determined as the determination method for that drug package according to the predetermined priority of dispensing methods. For example, the priority of dispensing by the manual dispensing unit can be set higher than dispensing by cassette. The setting reception unit 5 may also receive the setting of dispensing method priority from the user.

[0046] For example, if a determination method is set for at least one of the multiple parts of multiple drug packets in a single prescription, the determination unit 20 determines the determination method for the drug packet image of each drug packet based on information indicating which part each drug packet belongs to, i.e., drug packet location information. The location information of each drug packet can be obtained, for example, from prescription data. Alternatively, a determination method may be set for each dispensing method and for each part of the multiple drug packets (for each drug packet location). In this case, the determination method for each drug packet is determined based on both the drug dispensing method and the drug packet location of each drug packet.

[0047] The determination unit 20 determines whether the drug in one drug packet image matches the prescription (S6). The determination process in S6 is performed using the determination method determined in S5. The processes in S3 to S6 are repeated for all drug packets in the multiple drug packets, that is, until NO is determined in S7. The determination process includes the drug recognition unit 2 recognizing the drug in each drug packet image using master data, and the prescription determination unit 3 determining whether the drug recognized in each drug packet image matches the prescription.

[0048] Output unit 4 outputs the judgment result of the judgment process in S6 (S8). For example, each drug package image may be displayed in association with the judgment result. As an example, a list screen displaying drug package images of multiple drug packages and an individual screen displaying the drug package image of each drug package individually may be displayed as the inspection result. If one drug package is selected on the list screen, the individual screen for that drug package may be displayed. On the individual screen, in addition to the drug package image, prescription information, the judgment result, and a button to accept input of the visual inspection result are displayed. The prescription information includes information indicating the drugs that should be contained in that drug package. Input of the visual inspection result is accepted on the individual screen for each drug package (S9). The user can visually check the individual screen for each drug package and input the visual inspection result.

[0049] The user visually checks each drug packet by looking at the displayed prescription information, judgment result, and drug packet image, and then inputs the visual inspection result (for example, by pressing the Visual OK button). Once the user has finished inputting the visual inspection results for all drug packets of the target prescription, the user inputs "Inspection Complete" (for example, by pressing the "Inspection Complete" button). When "Inspection Complete" is input (YES in S10), the learning instruction receiving unit 6 determines whether the judgment results for the multiple drug packets meet the conditions for the learning instruction inquiry notification (S11). As an example, these conditions may be that the drug packets judged to be visually OK by the user's visual inspection meet any of the following conditions (1) to (3). (1) Color inconsistencies have occurred in all drug packets in the prescription in question. (2) The prescribed medication is of one type, with only one tablet per packet, and a color mismatch of 50% or more (threshold) has occurred. (3) In prescriptions, a color mismatch of 50% or more (threshold) occurs in transparent medications.

[0050] If the answer to S11 is YES, the learning instruction receiving unit 6 displays a screen (for example, a pop-up) to receive learning instructions (S12). When the user enters a learning instruction on this screen (for example, by pressing the OK button), the learning process is started and executed. For example, the color of the drug packet image of a drug that was determined to have a color mismatch from a visually inspected drug packet, i.e., the image captured by the imaging device 21, is reflected in the master image of that drug in the master data.

[0051] (Example of a settings request screen) Figure 3 shows an example of a settings screen displayed by the settings reception unit 5. In the example in Figure 3, the settings screen includes an area Y1 for selecting the judgment method to be executed by the judgment unit 20. In this area, tools B1 and B2 for selecting the judgment method and information K2 indicating the characteristics of the drug used in the selected judgment method are displayed. In the example in Figure 3, three types of "matching" ("matching all packages", "matching hand-distributed", "matching controlled drug"), "quantity", and "automatic inspection level switching" can be set as judgment methods. The three types of "matching" are examples of drug type judgment. "Quantity" is an example of quantity judgment, and "automatic inspection level switching" is an example of automatic switching of the judgment method.

[0052] Figure 4 shows an example of the settings screen displayed when tool B2 of "Automatic Inspection Level Switching" in Figure 3 is selected. In the example in Figure 4, the judgment method is displayed in the setting area Y2 for each row corresponding to the drug dispensing method: manual dispensing, variable UC, fixed UC, VC, and fixed cassette. In addition, each row in the setting area Y2 displays the judgment method for each part of the multiple drug package (first package, middle package, last package, and other packages). The judgment methods include "Quantity" to indicate quantity judgment and "Matching" and "Matching Management Drug" to indicate drug type judgment. To the right of each judgment method, the characteristics of the drug used in each judgment method ("Shape", "Color", or "Shape and Color") are displayed. In this example, in the case of quantity judgment, the drug quantity judgment process can be performed using only the shape of the drug, without using the color of the drug in the drug package image, so only "Shape" is displayed, for example, in blue. In the case of matching (drug type judgment), both the color and shape of the drug in the drug package image must be matched with the master data, so both "Color" and "Shape" are displayed, for example, in blue. Characteristics of drugs not used in the judgment method will be displayed as a state such as "inactive," for example, in "gray." In area Y2, clicking on a judgment method will display a screen that allows you to change that judgment method.

[0053] In the example shown in Figure 4, the dispensing methods include manual dispensing, variable UC, fixed UC, VC, and fixed cassette. Manual dispensing is a manual dispensing unit that receives and dispenses one packet of medicine by manually placing it into each cell. UC is a cassette with an adjustable dispensing path and / or drive mechanism, capable of dispensing medicines of various shapes and sizes. Users can store any medicine in the UC and register the medicine information. UC is a cassette capable of dispensing any medicine. Variable UC is a UC used by changing the medicine stored in it, for example, for each prescription. Fixed UC is a UC used by fixing the relationship between the medicine and the cassette, for example, across multiple prescriptions. Fixed cassette is a cassette in which the relationship between the medicine and the cassette is fixed, and the medicine stored in the cassette remains constant. VC is a cassette in which the medicine stored in the cassette can be changed, and it operates with the same drive mechanism as a fixed cassette. Thus, the dispensing method may be determined according to the dispensing device in the packaging machine or its usage method.

[0054] In this example, the characteristics of the drugs used in each determination method are predetermined. Figure 5 is a table showing the characteristics of the drugs used in the determination and their display methods for each of the determination methods shown in Figure 4. In the example in Figure 5, in the drug type determination methods shown as "Matching" and "Matching / Managed Drug," both the shape and color of the drug are used in the determination process. The quantity determination method shown as "Quantity" includes determinations that involve color determination and determinations that do not involve color determination. Correspondence data showing the relationship between the determination method and the characteristics of the drugs used in each determination method, as shown in Figure 5, may be recorded in advance in the recording unit 11. The setting reception unit 5 can use this correspondence data to display each determination method along with the characteristics of the drugs used in each determination method on the setting screen.

[0055] Note that the settings screen is not limited to the examples shown in Figures 4 and 5. For example, in Figures 4 and 5, the system is configured not to accept settings from the user for the characteristics of the chemicals used in each judgment method, but the settings screen may accept settings from the user for the characteristics of the chemicals used in at least one judgment method. For example, as shown in Figure 5, if the count judgment method includes a judgment method that uses color and a judgment method that does not use color, the settings screen may be displayed so that the user can set whether or not to use these colors.

[0056] The present invention is not limited to the above examples. For example, in addition to the drug type determination method and the quantity determination method, other determination methods may be included as determination methods. Furthermore, in addition to shape and color, the characteristics of the drug used in the determination may include markings, printing, codes, and other external characteristics of the drug.

[0057] The embodiments described above are examples of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to these examples. Furthermore, the configurations and processing functions described in the embodiments above can be selected and combined as desired. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0058] 1: Image acquisition unit, 2: Drug recognition unit, 3: Prescription determination unit, 4: Output unit, 5: Drug extraction and display unit, 6: Master management unit, 10: Drug inspection system, 21: Imaging device, 22: Transport device, P: Drug package group

Claims

1. An image acquisition unit that acquires images of multiple drug packets, each containing a drug packaged according to a prescription, A determination unit that determines whether the medicine in each of the multiple drug packets is as prescribed, based on the image of each drug packet of the multiple drug packets, The system includes a setting reception unit that displays a setting screen for setting the determination method of the determination unit to one of a predetermined number of determination methods, and accepts the setting of the determination method from the user. The aforementioned setting reception unit displays information indicating the characteristics of the drug in the drug packaging image used for each of the multiple determination methods, along with each determination method, and accepts the user to set the determination method, in a drug inspection system.

2. A drug inspection system according to claim 1, A drug detection system in which the characteristics of each drug include the shape, color, or combination thereof of the drug.

3. A drug inspection system according to claim 1 or 2, The aforementioned multiple determination methods include a quantity determination, which determines whether the number of drugs in a drug package is as prescribed, and a drug type determination, which determines whether the type of drug in the drug package is as prescribed, and is part of a drug inspection system.

4. A drug inspection system according to claim 1 or 2, The aforementioned setting reception unit displays the setting screen so that the user can set the determination method or the characteristics of the drug for each drug dispensing method in the drug packaging machine for each drug package, as part of the drug inspection system.

5. A drug inspection system according to claim 1 or 2, The aforementioned setting reception unit displays the setting screen so that the user can set the determination method or drug characteristics for at least one of the multiple parts of multiple drug packets in a single prescription.

6. A drug inspection system according to claim 1 or 2, The aforementioned setting reception unit displays the setting screen so that the user can set the determination method or drug characteristics to be automatically switched depending on the dispensing method of the drug in each drug packet from the drug packaging machine, thereby enabling drug inspection.

7. A drug inspection system according to claim 6, The aforementioned setting reception unit displays a setting screen so that the user can set the system to automatically switch the determination method, such that when the dispensing method of each drug packet in the drug packaging machine is manual dispensing, the determination method uses the shape and color of the drug as characteristics of the drug, and when the dispensing method is automatic dispensing from a cassette, the determination method does not use the shape of the drug as characteristics of the drug.

8. Image acquisition process to obtain images of multiple drug packets, each containing a drug packaged according to a prescription, A determination process is performed to determine whether the medication in each of the multiple drug packets matches the prescription, based on the image of each drug packet of the multiple drug packets. The computer is instructed to perform a setting acceptance process, which involves displaying a setting screen to allow the user to set the method for determining each of the multiple drug packets' images, based on the aforementioned determination process, to one of a predetermined set of determination methods, and accepting the user's setting of the determination method. The aforementioned setting acceptance process displays information indicating the characteristics of the drug in the drug packaging image used for each of the multiple determination methods, along with each determination method, and accepts the user's setting of the determination method as part of the drug inspection program.

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