Drug inspection device and drug inspection method

Abstract

To make it possible to add a mechanism which is capable of directly moving medicament to a discharge part not via an inspection processing part after a discharge part receives medicament when inspection processing is unnecessary depending on medicament.SOLUTION: A medicament inspection apparatus includes: a carrying inspection processing part having an inspection imaging part capturing an image of medicament; an inspection pre-storage part 200A and a transfer processing part to be a charge part transferring charged medicament to the carrying inspection processing part; a discharge part discharging medicament after imaging with the inspection imaging part outside the apparatus; and an inspection control part which controls operation of the carrying inspection processing part, the charge part and the discharge part, and inspection processing of the medicament on the basis of an image captured by the inspection imaging part. The charge part is configured so that a storage case 203 to be a first component for transferring medicament is removable.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 23

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a drug inspection apparatus and a drug inspection method, and is suitable for application to a drug inspection apparatus and a drug inspection method for inspecting dispensed drugs.

Background Art

[0002] In hospitals and pharmacies, dispensing is performed according to prescriptions, and drug inspections to confirm that the dosage and the like of the prepared drugs are not incorrect are generally carried out by pharmacists. In particular, when a plurality of drugs are combined and packaged as a single dose for one administration and prescribed, it is necessary to distribute the drugs and inspect the drug contents for each single dose. Various methods have been proposed for automation technologies and efficiency improvement technologies to assist in this work.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique in which a drug is dropped onto a disk-shaped member for inspection and rotated and conveyed about a predetermined axis. Patent Document 1 states that "in the drug packaging apparatus of the present invention, a plurality of the receiving portions are arranged in the circumferential direction on a rotating body that is rotatable about a predetermined axis position, and the delivery portion is preferably capable of performing the delivery operation on the drug in the receiving portion arranged within a predetermined operating region. According to such a configuration, while sequentially preparing the drugs supplied from the drug preparation dispensing portion side in the plurality of provided receiving portions, the rotating body is moved toward the operating region of the delivery portion and the delivery operation is performed, whereby the drugs can be successively supplied to the pre-packaging imaging portion side. Thereby, the operation of individually supplying the drugs one by one to the pre-packaging imaging portion side in the individual supply portion can be efficiently performed."

[0004] Also, as a technique similar to that of Patent Document 1, Patent Document 2 discloses that an inspection apparatus moves solid drugs discharged from a hopper to a plurality of inspection containers arranged on the upper surface of a turntable for each single dose, and moves the turntable to a photographing position where the solid drugs in the inspection containers are photographed by a photographing apparatus.

[0005] In addition, as a technology of an apparatus for assisting in the inspection of a medicament packaged as a single dose, Patent Document 3 can be cited. Patent Document 3 describes that "by imaging the subpackage in which the medicament is enclosed between two films from the side of one of the two films while illuminating the subpackage from the side of one of the two films, a transmitted light image which is an image of the subpackage is obtained, and by imaging the subpackage from the side of the other film while illuminating the subpackage from the side of the other film, a reflected light image which is a color image of the subpackage is obtained, detecting a medicament region indicating the region of the medicament enclosed in the subpackage using the transmitted light image, creating a medicament image which is a color image by cutting out the image of the region of the reflected light image corresponding to the medicament region, and displaying the medicament image on a display unit."

[0006] In addition, as a technology using two cameras for photographing a medicament, Patent Document 4 can be cited. Patent Document 4 describes that "the image acquisition unit 20 is composed of two cameras (imaging units) 22A and 22B for photographing a medicament as shown in FIG. 2, an illumination unit 24 having a plurality of light sources, and an imaging control unit 26 for controlling the cameras 22A and 22B and the illumination unit 24."

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0007]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Patent Document 3

Patent Document 4

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0008] However, the drug dispensing device described in Patent Document 1 has a problem that the processing mechanism from the input of the drug to be audited to the discharge of the drug after the audit becomes complicated, and it takes time for the audit process for each dose. In addition, since the imaging of the drug is performed one tablet at a time, when the number of drugs for one dose is large, it takes even more time. Also, there is a problem that the processing time accumulates and becomes long for a plurality of consecutive prescriptions, and the mechanism becomes complicated and large-sized.

[0009] In addition, in the audit device (drug supply device) disclosed in Patent Document 2, when a large number of drugs are included in one dose, it is assumed that a situation may occur where a plurality of drugs overlap in the audit container, and imaging and auditing cannot be performed accurately. In such a situation, since it is necessary to stop the audit container to perform imaging by the imaging unit, there is a problem that the operation takes time. Also, in Patent Document 2, the image processing for auditing one tablet at a time from the captured image also has a problem of taking time.

[0010] In addition, in the devices disclosed in Patent Documents 3 and 4, when a large number of drugs are included in one dose, the drugs are likely to be in a biased state within the packaged packaging sheet, and it is assumed that a situation may occur where imaging and auditing cannot be performed accurately due to the overlap of the drugs. Also, the imaging unit is not configured in consideration of the continuous supply of drugs for multiple doses, and there are also problems with the processing capacity.

[0011] The present invention provides a drug inspection device and a drug inspection method capable of adding a mechanism that can directly move the drug to the discharge unit without passing through the inspection processing unit after the input unit receives the drug when the inspection processing is not required for some drugs.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0012] In order to solve such problems, in the present invention, there is provided an inspection processing unit having an inspection imaging unit for imaging a drug, a loading unit for transferring the loaded drug to the inspection processing unit, a discharging unit for discharging the drug after imaging by the inspection imaging unit outside the apparatus, an inspection control unit for controlling the operations of the inspection processing unit, the loading unit, and the discharging unit, and performing inspection processing of the drug based on an image captured by the inspection imaging unit, wherein the loading unit is characterized in that a first component for transferring the drug is configured to be detachable.

[0013] Further, in order to solve such problems, in the present invention, there is provided a drug inspection method by a drug inspection apparatus for inspecting a dispensed drug, wherein the drug inspection apparatus includes an inspection processing unit having an inspection imaging unit for imaging the drug, a loading unit for transferring the loaded drug to the inspection processing unit, a discharging unit for discharging the drug after imaging by the inspection imaging unit outside the apparatus, an inspection control unit for controlling the operations of the inspection processing unit, the loading unit, and the discharging unit, and performing inspection processing of the drug based on an image captured by the inspection imaging unit, wherein the loading unit is configured to be capable of mounting either a first component for transferring the drug or a second component for transferring the loaded drug directly to the discharging unit without passing through the inspection processing unit, and when performing the inspection processing, the first component is mounted, and when not performing the inspection processing, the second component is mounted.

Effect of the Invention

[0014] According to the present invention, when inspection processing is not required for some drugs, a mechanism can be added that enables the loading unit to directly move the drug to the discharging unit without passing through the inspection processing unit after receiving the drug.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0015]

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Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0016] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0017] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration example of a drug inspection device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The drug inspection device 10 includes a pre-audit storage unit 20, a transfer processing unit 30, a conveyance and inspection processing unit 40 having an inspection imaging unit 50, a discharge processing unit 60, and a post-audit storage unit 70. These units are continuously arranged to form a movement path for a plurality of drugs M received by the drug inspection device 10. Further, in addition to the above-described units, the drug inspection device 10 includes an inspection control unit 80 that controls the movement, imaging, and inspection of the drug M. The inspection control unit 80 is realized by software when hardware (for example, a processor, a storage element, various interfaces, etc.) constituting a computer performs execution of a predetermined program, storage of data, etc., but part or all of it may be realized by hardware.

[0018] In the drug inspection device 10, when each individual drug among the plurality of drugs M received is denoted as m, in the inspection control process, for each group of drugs (referred to as drug M), individual inspection processing is performed on each individual drug m included in the drug group to determine whether it matches the pre-registered drug information. The inspection result for the drug m is, for example, "normal" if it is determined to match, and "unknown" if it cannot be determined to match.

[0019] The drug inspection device 10 aggregates the inspection processing results for the above individual drugs m for each drug M, and performs an inspection process for the drug M composed of a plurality of received drugs m. The inspection processing result for the drug M is "normal" if the inspection processing results of all the included drugs m are normal, and "unknown" if there is an unknown inspection result for at least some of the drugs m.

[0020] Furthermore, the drug inspection device 10 can receive another drug M (hereinafter referred to as M1, M2, M3,...) continuously after the drug M, and continuously perform inspection processing on a plurality of drugs M1, M2, M3,... Then, the drug inspection device 10 aggregates the inspection results of the drugs M1, M2, M3,... that are continuously handled, and outputs a processing result such as whether all are "normal" or there is at least a part that is "unknown". In this specification, "drugs M are continuously input / another drug M is received continuously after the drug M" means that between the preceding drug group (for example, drug M1) and the subsequent drug group (for example, drug M2), their input periods (or reception periods) are continuously executed without overlapping, which means that a predetermined time is sandwiched between the end of the input (or reception) of drug M1 and the start of the input (or reception) of drug M2 (that is, drugs M are intermittently and continuously input (or received)).

[0021] Describing the flow of the specific drug M, the plurality of drugs M received by the drug inspection device 10 are temporarily held in the pre-inspection storage unit 20. Thereafter, the plurality of drugs m included in each drug M are sequentially dropped and moved to the subsequent transfer processing unit 30 arranged below at a predetermined interval for each drug M. Further, the subsequent conveyance inspection processing unit 40 transfers the drug M (a plurality of drugs m) from the transfer processing unit 30 onto the conveyance means by a conveyance means that operates continuously in the horizontal direction (for example, a conveyance belt in FIG. 1 and a rotating disk in FIG. 3 described later). Here, an inspection imaging unit 50 configured with a camera and illumination is arranged above and below the conveyance means at the subsequent stage on the conveyance means, and this inspection imaging unit 50 images the drug M moving on the conveyance means from the upper and lower surfaces. Although details will be described later, an inspection process is executed on each individual drug m constituting the drug M using this captured image. Then, in the discharge processing unit 60 arranged at the end point of the conveyance means, the drug M is moved from the conveyance means to the post-inspection storage unit 70, and when the inspection process of the drug M is completed, the drug is discharged from the post-inspection storage unit 70.

[0022] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration example of a drug packaging device 101 equipped with the drug inspection device 10. The drug packaging device 101 is a device that packages drugs in units of drug M according to a plurality of drugs (agreed with drug M) instructed by a prescription from a doctor. As shown in FIG. 2, it is composed of a drug storage unit 102, a drug supply unit 103, a drug inspection device 10, and a drug packaging unit 104. The drugs (for example, packaged drugs 105) packaged by the drug packaging unit 104 of the drug packaging device 101 are taken out by a pharmacist 108, the contents are confirmed, and then handed to the patient. For example, the packaged drug 105 shown in FIG. 2 is a single-dose prescription drug 107 in which one or more individual drugs 106 for one dose are packaged in one bag, and are connected for the number of times of taking the drug to be handed to the patient.

[0023] Since the configuration of the drug packaging device 101 excluding the drug inspection device 10 (the drug storage unit 102, the drug supply unit 103, and the drug packaging unit 104) is shown in the documents cited in the above-mentioned prior art documents, etc., a detailed description will be omitted, but each configuration of the drug packaging device 101 has the following functions.

[0024] The medicine storage unit 102 stores a plurality of different medicines (medicine m). When receiving an output instruction for the dispensed medicine according to a prescription instruction from a doctor, it discharges the specified medicine m by the specified quantity and number. The medicine supply unit 103 is in the shape of a chute. Utilizing the gravitational force of the falling medicine m discharged from the medicine storage unit 102, it aggregates a plurality of medicines m as medicine M and delivers it to the medicine inspection device 10. As shown in FIG. 1, the medicine inspection device 10 is disposed below the chute of the medicine supply unit 103. When receiving a plurality of medicines M, it performs an inspection process to inspect whether the specified medicine has been discharged in the specified quantity. Then, the medicine packaging unit 104 packages and discharges the medicine M for which the inspection process in the medicine inspection device 10 has been completed.

[0025] Prescription data indicating the prescription details of the medicine is input into the medicine packaging device 101. In the prescription data, for example, the medicine name and the quantity of each medicine to be taken in the morning, noon, and evening for one week are specified. The medicine packaging device 101 discharges a specified number of medicines M from the medicine storage unit 102 where the relevant medicines are separately stored, according to the medicine name indicated in the prescription data, to the medicine supply unit 103. The medicine to be taken at one time may be one type or one piece, but in many cases, there are multiple types or multiple pieces. The medicine packaging device 101 continuously processes the above-mentioned processes based on the prescription data to create, for example, packaged medicines for a total of 21 times in the morning, noon, and evening for one week. Therefore, the medicine inspection device 10 is also continuously input with medicines M1, M2, M3... (a total of 21 packaged medicines). Accordingly, the medicine inspection device 10 performs inspection processes on a plurality of medicines M while synchronizing the ID numbers attached to the medicines M1, M2, M3... with the medicine packaging device 101. The inspection process by the medicine inspection device 10 is executed for all of the medicines M1, M2, M3..., and as described above, an inspection result of "normal" when all are normal or "unknown" when there is at least some uncertainty is obtained. Then, the medicine packaging device 101 (for example, the medicine inspection device 10) can obtain inspection result data based on the inspection result and display it on a display means (not shown) to convey information to the pharmacist 108. The pharmacist can easily confirm the content of the medicine M by collating and checking the packaged medicine and the inspection result data.

[0026] Note that in FIG. 2, an example is shown in which the medicine inspection device 10 of the present invention is built-in and mounted in the medicine packaging device 101, but the usage method of the medicine inspection device 10 is not limited to this. The medicine inspection device 10 can perform individual inspection processes on each individual medicine m among the plurality of received medicines M to determine whether they match the pre-registered medicine information (medicine master data or medicine database) through inspection control processing. Therefore, for example, regarding the medicine M after being prescribed in a packaged form, it can also be utilized as a means to know which medicine among the registered medicine information each individual medicine m is.

[0027] As the drug inspection device 10 for realizing the above object, various configurations can be proposed. Therefore, hereinafter, as a plurality of embodiments of the drug inspection device 10, the drug inspection device 11 will be described in Example 1, and the drug inspection device 12 will be described in Example 2.

Embodiment

[0028] FIG. 3 is a front view and a top view of the drug inspection device 11 according to Example 1. Compared with the drug inspection device 10 shown in FIG. 1, the conveying means of the conveying inspection processing unit 40 in the drug inspection device 10 is a conveying belt, while the conveying means of the conveying inspection processing unit 400 in the drug inspection device 11 is a rotating disk 401, which is very different, but there are also many common configurations.

[0029] Therefore, hereinafter, for each component of the drug inspection device 11, the same name will be used to describe the components corresponding to those of the drug inspection device 10. Specifically, for example, the conveying inspection processing unit 400 included in the drug inspection device 11 is a configuration corresponding to the conveying inspection processing unit 40 included in the drug inspection device 10. Also, the unification of such names is the same for the drug inspection device 12 shown in Example 2.

[0030] The drug inspection device 11 temporarily holds a plurality of received drugs m (drugs M) in the pre-inspection storage unit 200. The drug M in the pre-inspection storage unit 200 drops and moves downward to the transfer processing unit 300 arranged below by opening the input partition plate 202.

[0031] Then, in the transfer processing unit 300, the drug M is pushed out by the transfer extrusion plate 302 and transferred to the rotating disk 401 that constitutes the subsequent conveying inspection processing unit 400.

[0032] The rotating disk 401 is a disk with a diameter of about 250 mm and rotates at a constant rotational speed of 15 rpm. In the conveyance inspection processing unit 400, the drug M is placed in an elongated space with a width of about 20 mm formed by the rotating disk 401 that continuously rotates in the horizontal direction and an inner peripheral guide 403 arranged on the inner peripheral surface of the rotating disk. When this drug M moves together with the rotating disk 401, it is imaged from the upper and lower surfaces in the inspection imaging unit 500 where the camera 501 and the illumination (reflection illumination) 502 arranged downstream in the conveyance are arranged vertically. Further, when the rotating disk 401 rotates about 180 degrees, the drug M moves in the outer peripheral direction along the inner peripheral guide 403 on the rotating disk 401, is pushed out from the rotating disk 401 to the discharge processing unit 600, and further, when the discharge lever 602 of the discharge processing unit 600 operates in the direction of the rotating disk 401, the drug M moves to the post-inspection storage unit 700. And in the post-inspection storage unit 700, it is imaged by a storage unit camera (not shown) to confirm that the drug M is stored.

[0033] After the inspection process of the drug M is completed through the above process, the post-inspection storage unit 700 discharges the drug M by opening the discharge partition plate 702, and then, after closing the discharge partition plate 702, images the post-inspection storage unit 700 with the storage unit camera to confirm that no drug M remains.

[0034] Note that the rotating disk 401 used in this embodiment has its outer peripheral portion on the rotating disk 401 divided into four sections, and a circumferential partition plate 404 that divides the sections is arranged at the boundary of each section (see FIG. 7). When a plurality of drugs M received by the pre-inspection storage unit 200 are continuous (for example, when drugs M1, M2, M3, and M4 are continuously received), the above operation is repeatedly executed. However, since the rotating disk 401 is divided into four sections, the drugs M1, M2, M3, and M4 can be placed in each section in order and continuously imaged and inspected.

[0035] FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the drug inspection device 11 centered on the inspection control unit 800. The inspection control unit 800 corresponds to the inspection control unit 80 of the drug inspection device 10, and has a function of processing the conveyance, imaging, and inspection of the received drug M in the drug inspection device 11. As shown in FIG. 4, the inspection control unit 800 is configured to include an inspection result processing unit 802, an imaging / inspection processing unit 803, and a drug operation control unit 804 under the inspection overall processing unit 801 that performs overall control processing.

[0036] The overall audit processing unit 801 is connected to the upper-level prescription drug instruction device 902 that holds data on prescribed drugs (drug prescription data). It acquires the drug prescription data of drug M to be received and outputs the audit processing results to and from the upper-level prescription drug instruction device 902. Also, the overall audit processing unit 801 is connected to the server 903 that holds basic data on various drugs (drug master data). It acquires the master data of the prescribed drugs from the server 903 and stores it in the drug database 904 of the imaging and audit processing unit 803. Further, based on the drug prescription data acquired from the upper-level prescription drug instruction device 902, for example, the overall audit processing unit 801 determines the operation method of the drug audit device 11, instructs the audit result processing unit 802, the imaging and audit processing unit 803, and the drug operation control unit 804 to perform operation processing, and outputs the audit result of drug M to the audit result display screen 901 and the upper-level prescription drug instruction device 902. The audit result display screen 901 is a screen that displays the audit result of the drug in the drug audit device 10 for the pharmacist. For example, using a GUI (Graphical User Interface), it is displayed on the display device of an external terminal connected to the drug audit device 10 (for example, the display of a user terminal connected via a network). Also, the audit result display screen 901 may be displayed on a display device such as a display provided in the drug audit device 10, or may be included in the output to the upper-level prescription drug instruction device 902. Further, the audit result display screen 901 is not limited to screen display on a display device, and at least a part of it may be replaced by other output methods (for example, data output to an external storage medium or printing) and executed. More specifically, the audit selection initial screen, the audit processing screen, and the audit correction screen described later are displayed on the audit result display screen 901.

[0037] The drug operation control unit 804 controls the operations of the drug operation unit 805 (specifically, the pre-audit storage unit 200, the transfer processing unit 300, the conveyance audit processing unit 400, the discharge processing unit 600, and the post-audit storage unit 700) for the drug M received by the drug audit device 11 according to the operation method determined by the overall audit processing unit 801.

[0038] The imaging and inspection processing unit 803 acquires images of individual drugs m of the drug M captured by the inspection imaging unit 500 of the conveyance inspection processing unit 400, and uses the images and the master data of individual drugs m included in the drug prescription data read from the drug database 904 to perform comparison and determination of the outer size and color information of the drug m, and image matching of the engraved information, thereby calculating the similarity between the captured image and the master data. Based on the calculated similarity, the inspection result of each individual drug m is determined and output. As this inspection result, for example, three types, "normal", "confirmation required", and "unknown", can be defined.

[0039] The "normal" inspection result indicates that the drug inspection device 11 has determined that the drug m to be inspected is the drug specified in the drug prescription data. For example, it is determined when the similarity with one of the master data of the drug master data included in the drug prescription data exceeds a predetermined threshold. The "confirmation required" inspection result is part of the "normal" inspection result (although it is presumed to be the drug specified in the drug prescription data), and although the drug inspection device 11 has determined that there is no problem with the drug m to be inspected, it is recommended that a person (such as a pharmacist) confirm it just in case. The "confirmation required" inspection result is determined, for example, when the similarity has not reached the threshold, but it can be determined that it is similar to one of the master data of the drug master data included in the drug prescription data. The "unknown" inspection result indicates that the drug inspection device 11 has determined that it is unknown whether the drug m to be inspected is the drug specified in the drug prescription data. For example, it is determined when the similarity is low and it is not similar to any of the master data of the drugs included in the drug prescription data, or when it is determined that it is similar to multiple drug master data. Then, the imaging and inspection processing unit 803 combines the inspection results of individual drugs m to generate the inspection result of the drug M.

[0040] The audit result processing unit 802 generates a screen for the pharmacist 108 to confirm from the results of the audit of drug M performed by the imaging / audit processing unit 803 and displays it on the audit result display screen 901. That is, the audit result processing unit 802 has a function of outputting information representing the audit result of drug M in the drug inspection device 11.

[0041] In addition, when the drug inspection device 11 of this embodiment is installed and used inside the drug packaging device 101 like the drug inspection device 10 shown in FIG. 2, the upper prescription drug instruction device 902 is in agreement with the control part of the drug packaging device 101. And the audit control unit 800 is configured such that the internal audit result processing unit 802, imaging / audit processing unit 803, and drug operation control unit 804 can execute processes individually or in parallel under the control of the overall audit processing unit 801, thereby realizing high-speed and high-precision audit processing, realizing audit processing that is easy for pharmacists to use, and realizing easy software connection processing with the upper device.

[0042] As described above, the configuration and functions of the drug inspection device 11 according to the first embodiment have been described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. Hereinafter, in more detail, the configurations of the pre-audit storage unit 200, transfer processing unit 300, conveyance audit processing unit 400, audit imaging unit 500, discharge processing unit 600, and post-audit storage unit 700, the operations on drug M, and the control method of the drug operation unit 805 by the drug operation control unit 804 will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0043] FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of the pre-audit storage unit 200. FIG. 5(A) is a perspective view of the pre-audit storage unit 200, and FIGS. 5(B) to 5(D) show the movement of drug M in the pre-audit storage unit 200 in chronological order.

[0044] As shown in Fig. 5(A), before the inspection, the storage unit 200 is equipped with an input vibration alignment unit 201 inside the storage case 203 for receiving the drug M to be input, and an input partition plate 202 rotatably supported by the input vibration alignment unit 201. The input vibration alignment unit 201 reciprocates about 5 mm in the direction of arrow 204 by a drive source (not shown), thereby spreading the accumulated drug M. The input partition plate 202 is a door installed between the input vibration alignment unit 201 and the transfer processing unit 300. When the input partition plate 202 rotates and opens in the direction of arrow 205 around the rotation axis 206 by a drive source (not shown), the drug drops from the input vibration alignment unit 201.

[0045] Fig. 5(B) shows a state where the drugs M (a plurality of drugs m) have fallen from the input vibration alignment unit 201 and the plurality of drugs are overlapping. The input vibration alignment unit 201 and the input partition plate 202 form a V-shaped valley. This V-shaped valley has a slope of about 45 degrees for the individual drugs m falling under the influence of gravity to easily spread along the elongated V-shaped valley. In the length direction, it is about 100 mm considering the size and number of the drugs m.

[0046] Fig. 5(C) shows a state where the plurality of drugs m shown in Fig. 5(B) are spread by the vibration operation in the direction of arrow 204. In order to spread the stacked drugs m by a horizontal vibration operation, it is effective to apply different accelerations to each drug. Therefore, by making the portions of the input vibration alignment unit 201 and the input partition plate 202 in contact with the drug on the V-shaped valley surface into a groove shape, a larger acceleration than that of the stacked drugs can be given to the drugs in contact with the V-shaped groove by the horizontal vibration operation (in the direction of arrow 204) by the drive source, and the stacked drugs m can be spread at high speed.

[0047] Figure 5(D) shows the state where the drug M has fallen downward by rotating the charging partition plate 202 in the direction of arrow 205 around the rotation axis 206. In the pre-audit storage unit 200, by arranging the rotation axis 206 connected to the charging partition plate 202 above the V-shaped groove, when the rotation axis 206 is rotated in the direction of arrow 205, the charging partition plate 202 can be shifted from the state where it was in substantial contact with the charging vibration alignment unit 201 and formed a V-shaped groove with a slope of about 45 degrees in Figure 5(C) to an open state at high speed. As a result, the drug M that was held in a scattered state on the charging partition plate 202 in Figure 5(C) can be reliably dropped at high speed while maintaining its scattered state as shown in Figure 5(D).

[0048] Figure 6 is a configuration diagram of the transfer processing unit 300. Figure 6(A) is a perspective view of the transfer processing unit 300, and Figure 6(B) is a cross-sectional view of the transfer processing unit 300. Also, Figures 6(C) to 6(E) show the movement of the drug M in the transfer processing unit 300 in chronological order.

[0049] The transfer processing unit 300 is disposed inside the storage case 203 that constitutes the pre-audit storage unit 200. More specifically, as shown in Figures 6(A) and 6(B), the transfer processing unit 300 includes, inside the storage case 203, a transfer guide 301 for guiding the falling drug M, a transfer extrusion alignment unit 303 for holding the drug M that has fallen in a scattered state, a transfer extrusion plate 302 that performs an operation of extruding the drug M on the transfer extrusion alignment unit 303 in the direction of the next rotating disk 401, and a transfer unit shutter 304 that is disposed between the transfer extrusion plate 302 and the rotating disk 401 and opens and closes by vertical movement.

[0050] As shown in Figures 5(C) to 5(D), when the drug M falls from the pre-audit storage unit 200 in a scattered state, the drug M is guided by the transfer guide 301 and the slope of the transfer extrusion plate 302, and while maintaining the scattered state, a plurality of drugs m are scattered and held in a slender shape without overlapping on the upper surface of the transfer extrusion alignment unit 303 on the plane partitioned by the transfer unit shutter 304.

[0051] Thereafter, as shown in Fig. 6(C), the transfer unit shutter 304 is moved upward to the open state, and further, as shown in Fig. 6(D), the transfer extrusion plate 302 is moved on the transfer extrusion alignment unit 303 in the direction of the transfer unit shutter 304. As a result, the drug M is extruded and moved onto the rotating disk 401 while maintaining the scattered state. After extruding the drug M onto the rotating disk 401, as shown in Fig. 6(E), the transfer extrusion plate 302 is returned to its original position.

[0052] Here, the transfer unit shutter 304 is formed in an arc shape so as to be in contact with the circumference of the rotating disk 401, and the tip of the transfer extrusion plate 302 is also formed in an arc shape, so that a plurality of drugs m can be simultaneously extruded onto the rotating disk 401 while maintaining the scattered state. Further, when transferring the drug M from the transfer guide 301 to the rotating disk 401, if the gap is large or the step is large, it will have an adverse effect on the scattered state of the drug. Therefore, it is preferable to minimize the horizontal gap and the falling direction step within the possible range.

[0053] Fig. 7 is a configuration diagram of the conveyance inspection processing unit 400, the discharge processing unit 600, and the storage unit 700 after inspection.

[0054] The conveyance inspection processing unit 400 shown in Fig. 7 has a rotating disk 401 with a diameter of about 250 mm that continuously rotates horizontally at a constant rotational speed of 15 rpm by a drive motor (not shown). The rotating disk 401 divides the outer peripheral portion on the rotating disk 401 into four sections, and arranges four circumferential partition plates 404 (individually, circumferential partition plates 404A to 404D) that divide the four sections. By arranging four inner peripheral guides 403 (individually, inner peripheral guides 403A to 403D) on the inner peripheral surface of the rotating disk 401, a circumferential placement plate 402 (section-by-section, circumferential placement plates 402A to 402D) with an elongated surface having a width of about 20 mm for placing individual drugs m of the drug M is formed and rotates on the support frame 406.

[0055] The circumferential placement plate 402 is made of a transparent material (transparent body) such as an acrylic plate or a glass plate. As will be described later, the drug m placed on the circumferential placement plate 402 can be photographed from both the upper and lower surfaces. Further, above the support frame 406, the transfer processing unit 300 is arranged at a position in contact with the rotating disk 401.

[0056] Hereinafter, the conveyance of the drug corresponding to the rotation of the rotating disk 401 will be described. To make this explanation easier to understand, among the four sections divided on the rotating disk 401, the quadrant including the position where the transfer processing unit 300 is arranged is defined as "quadrant 1", and along the downstream in the rotation direction from quadrant 1, every 90 degrees, they will be called "quadrant 2", "quadrant 3", and "quadrant 4". Also, on the drawing, corresponding to these quadrants 1 to 4, each member on the rotating disk 401 described above can be called by associating it with the symbols A to D. For example, the circumferential placement plate 402A corresponds to the circumferential placement plate 402 in quadrant 1, the circumferential placement plate 402B corresponds to the circumferential placement plate 402 in quadrant 2, the circumferential placement plate 402C corresponds to the circumferential placement plate 402 in quadrant 3, and the circumferential placement plate 402D corresponds to the circumferential placement plate 402 in quadrant 4.

[0057] When the four sections divided on the rotating disk 401 are in the state shown in FIG. 7, in quadrant 1, at the timing when the circumferential placement plate 402A passes through the position facing the transfer unit shutter 304 due to the rotation of the rotating disk 401, the transfer unit shutter 304 is opened, and the transfer extrusion plate 302 is operated to extrude, so as to move the drug M onto the circumferential placement plate 402A. Then, the drug M moved onto the circumferential placement plate 402A is rotated together with the inner circumferential guide 403A and the circumferential partition plates 404A and 404D.

[0058] In this description, when the drug M is transferred onto the circumferential placement plate 402A in quadrant 1, it is assumed that the drug M is already placed on the circumferential placement plates 402B, 402C, and 402D in the other quadrants 2, 3, and 4, respectively.

[0059] At this time, in Quadrant 2, the drug M placed on the transparent circumferential placement plate 402B is conveyed between the rotating inner circumferential guide 403B and the fixed outer circumferential guide 405. At this time, the inspection imaging unit 500 performs the imaging process described later. Although the details will be described later, the inspection imaging unit 500 arranges a camera 501A and a reflection illumination 502A for imaging from above the circumferential placement plate 402 and a camera 501B and a reflection illumination 502B for imaging from below in Quadrant 2.

[0060] On the other hand, in Quadrant 3, the drug M is conveyed while being placed on the circumferential placement plate 402C.

[0061] On the other hand, in Quadrant 4, the inner circumferential guide 403D is pushed out in the outer circumferential direction by a movable mechanism (not shown) using a rotary cam mechanism, so that the drug M on the circumferential placement plate 402D is discharged from the rotating disk 401.

[0062] As described above, in the conveyance inspection processing unit 400 of FIG. 7, in accordance with the rotation of the rotating disk 401, a series of operations from transfer to conveyance and then to discharge are carried out in parallel with the timing shifted for each quadrant, so that up to a maximum of four drugs M can be continuously conveyed at the same time.

[0063] The operation after the drug M is discharged from the conveyance inspection processing unit 400 will also be described with reference to FIG. 7.

[0064] As shown in FIG. 7, in Quadrant 4, a discharge processing unit 600 for receiving the drug M discharged from the rotating disk 401 is arranged. The discharge processing unit 600 includes a discharge guide 601 for holding the drug M pushed out from the rotating disk 401 and a discharge lever 602 that operates by a drive source (not shown) in the rotation direction of the rotating disk 401 on the discharge guide 601. The drug M pushed out from the rotating disk 401 in Quadrant 4 is held by the discharge guide 601 of the discharge processing unit 600 and then pushed out by the operation of the discharge lever 602 and moves to the post-inspection storage unit 700.

[0065] The post-inspection storage unit 700 is a plate that holds the drug M pushed out by the discharge lever 602, and includes a discharge partition plate 702 that opens and closes horizontally by a drive source (not shown), and a storage unit camera that images the drug M on the discharge partition plate 702. The storage unit camera images that the drug M is stored on the discharge partition plate 702. When the inspection process of the drug M is completed, the discharge partition plate 702 of the post-inspection storage unit 700 moves to the open state, so that the drug M is discharged from the drug inspection device 11. Then, after closing the discharge partition plate 702, the storage unit camera images the upper surface of the discharge partition plate 702 to confirm that no drug remains.

[0066] Figure 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure of the control process by the drug operation control unit 804. Figure 8 shows the operation flow from when the drug is input into the drug inspection device 11 until the alignment of the drug, the taking of the inspection image of the drug, the inspection of the drug, and the discharge of the drug are performed. As described above, the drug operation control unit 804 controls the operations of the pre-inspection storage unit 200, the transfer processing unit 300, the conveyance inspection processing unit 400 (including the inspection imaging unit 500), the discharge processing unit 600, and the post-inspection storage unit 700 for the drug M received by the drug inspection device 11 according to the operation method determined by the overall inspection processing unit 801. Hereinafter, each process shown in the processing flow of Figure 8 will be described, but for simplicity, the description that the control subject of each process is the drug operation control unit 804 will be omitted.

[0067] According to Figure 8, first, when the inspection of the drug M received by the drug inspection device 11 is started, the rotation of the rotary disk 401 of the conveyance inspection processing unit 400 is started (step S110).

[0068] And, until the rotation of the rotary disk 401 is stopped in step S130 described later, while conveying the drug M through a predetermined flow path passing through the pre-inspection storage unit 200, the transfer processing unit 300, the conveyance inspection processing unit 400, the discharge processing unit 600, and the post-inspection storage unit 700 in order, alignment, imaging, and inspection of the drug are performed (step S120). In step S120, specifically, the processes of steps S121 to S129 are executed as described below.

[0069] First, as described in detail with reference to FIG. 5, the drug M is introduced into the pre-audit storage unit 200 (step S121), and the drug M (a plurality of drugs m) is dispersed by vibrating the input vibration alignment unit 201 in the pre-audit storage unit 200 (step S122).

[0070] Furthermore, in the pre-audit storage unit 200, the input partition plate 202 is opened, and the drug M in the dispersed state is dropped onto the transfer processing unit 300 (step S123).

[0071] Next, as described in detail with reference to FIG. 6, the drug M is transferred onto the rotating disk 401 of the conveyance inspection processing unit 400 by operating the transfer extrusion plate 302 of the transfer processing unit 300 (step S124).

[0072] As described in detail with reference to FIG. 7, the drug M transferred onto the rotating disk 401 (for example, quadrant 1) in step S124 moves along with the rotation of the rotating disk 401. Then, during the movement (for example, quadrant 2), the upper and lower surfaces of the drug M are photographed by the camera 501 and the illumination 502 arranged in the inspection imaging unit 500 (step S125). After that, when the drug M moves near the discharge processing unit 600 (for example, quadrant 4) due to the rotation of the rotating disk 401, the inner peripheral guide 403 is pushed out in the outer peripheral direction to move the drug M to the discharge processing unit 600 (step S126).

[0073] Next, in the discharge processing unit 600, the discharge lever 602 is operated in the rotation direction of the rotating disk 401 to move the drug M to the post-audit storage unit 700 (step S127). Next, in the post-audit storage unit 700, the drug M is discharged from the drug inspection device 11 by the opening operation of the discharge partition plate 702 (step S128). Then, after the discharge partition plate 702 performs a closing operation, it is confirmed by photographing with the storage unit camera that the drug M does not remain in the post-audit storage unit 700 (step S129).

[0074] The above is the detailed process in step S120. When the processes in steps S121 to S129 are completed and it is confirmed that all of the drugs M to be inspected have been discharged from the drug inspection device 11, the drug operation control unit 804 stops the rotation of the rotating disk 401 (step S130), and the inspection of the drug M ends.

[0075] Note that the process of step S120 described above is the process for one-time input of the drug M into the drug inspection device 11. The drug inspection device 11 is configured to be able to handle continuous input of a plurality of drugs M. When the input of the drug M is continuous, as described using quadrants 1 to 4 in the description of FIG. 7, the process of step S120 corresponding to each input needs to be executed in parallel.

[0076] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the process transition of the inspection process when a plurality of drugs are continuously input. In FIG. 9, a plurality of continuously input drugs M are represented as drugs M1 to M7 in the input order, and the process transition of the inspection process for each drug M is shown. The numbers [1] to

[11] shown in FIG. 9 correspond to the numbers assigned to each process of the inspection process shown in FIG. 8. In the description of FIG. 9, the processes are denoted using the numbers [1] to

[11] above. That is, in FIG. 9, the process of step S110 in FIG. 8 is referred to as "process 1", the process of step S121 is referred to as "process 2", ···, and the process of step S130 is referred to as "process 11". Also, in FIG. 9, the timing at which process 2 starts for the drug Mn input at the nth time is defined as "time Tn".

[0077] According to FIG. 9, for the first drug M1, process 2 starts at time T1, and process 10 ends midway between time T4 and time T5. During this period, the operation of transferring the drug M1 to the rotating disk 401 by the transfer and extrusion plate 302 in process 5 is executed in synchronization with the rotation position of the rotating disk 401. And at the timing linked with the operation of this process 5, the operation of process 2 for the next drug M2 starts. Such linkage of the start of the operation is the same for the subsequent drugs M3 and later.

[0078] Here, the difference between the time T2 when the treatment 2 of the drug M2 starts and the time T1 is the treatment cycle Ts. Since the rotating disk 401 is divided into four parts, the rotation cycle of the rotating disk 401 may be set to four times that of Ts. For continuous treatment of the drug M, for example, at time T4, while performing treatment 9 on the drug M1, treatment 6 is performed on the drug M2, treatment 5 is performed on the drug M3, and treatment 2 is performed on the drug M4 in parallel. By doing so, the drug inspection device 11 can periodically perform inspection processing by parallel processing control on the continuously input drug M.

[0079] Furthermore, in FIG. 9, the drugs M1 to M7 are input at periodically synchronized timings. However, if the timing of inputting the drug M is delayed for some reason, for example, if the drug M4 is not input at the timing of time T4, then for a series of inspection processes for the drug M4, it is delayed by one treatment cycle Ts and starts at time T5. In this way, the execution of processes 2 to 10 can be synchronized with the processes for other drugs M.

[0080] FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram of the inspection imaging unit 500. FIG. 10(A) is a top view of the inspection imaging unit 500, and FIG. 10(B) is a cross-sectional view of the inspection imaging unit 500 as viewed from the direction of the arrow in FIG. 10(A).

[0081] The inspection imaging unit 500 arranges a camera 501 and a lighting 502 above and below the circumferential placement plate 402 in quadrant 2, respectively. When the transport inspection processing unit 400 transports the drug M held in a scattered state on the circumferential placement plate 402 counterclockwise at a constant speed, continuous shooting is performed at regular intervals in the order of the upper camera 501 (upper camera 501A) and the lower camera 501 (lower camera 501B). Assuming that the drugs M1, M2, M3, and M4 are continuously input, the inspection imaging unit 500 performs shooting processing on the drugs M1, M2, M3, and M4 held on the circumferential placement plates 402A, 402B, 402C, and 402D shown in FIG. 7 when each of them is transported in quadrant 2.

[0082] As shown in Fig. 10(A), while the upper camera 501A is arranged above the circumferential mounting plate 402, the lower camera 501B is arranged below the circumferential mounting plate 402 and images the drug M through the transparent circumferential mounting plate 402. The upper camera 501A and the lower camera 501B are optically arranged symmetrically up and down with a predetermined shift in the rotation direction of the rotating disk 401, so that the image processing in the auditing process can be made common.

[0083] Both the upper camera 501A and the lower camera 501B arrange the camera element 511 and the lens 512 so that they can photograph the four sides without distortion in an imaging area of 25 to 30 mm in consideration of the width dimension of the elongated circumferential mounting plate 402 (about 20 mm) and the size of the drug M, and in order to minimize the mounting dimensions, they are imaged by reflecting on the mirror 513 to form an L-shaped optical path structure.

[0084] The reflection illumination 502A arranged for the shooting of the upper camera 501A and the reflection illumination 502B arranged for the shooting of the lower camera 501B both adopt an annular illumination that can irradiate individual drugs m from the oblique side surface in order to clearly photograph the images of the drugs (especially the marks and imprints on the surface). Also, in order to reduce the unevenness in the directionality of the illumination, it is desirable not only to make the circumferential mounting plate 402 transparent, but also to make the inner circumferential surface of the inner circumferential guide 403 and the outer circumferential guide 405 made of a transparent material.

[0085] In addition, in this embodiment, in order to enable imaging of special drugs such as transparent tablets, the auditing imaging unit 500 implements external shape imaging by transmitted illumination. Specifically, as a combination with the upper camera 501A, the transmitted illumination 515 and the semi-transparent sheet 516 are arranged on the side opposite to the upper camera 501A of the circumferential mounting plate 402, that is, on the back side of the drug m. Similarly, as a combination with the lower camera 501B, the transmitted illumination 515 and the semi-transparent sheet 516 are also arranged.

[0086] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram for explaining the imaging operation by the inspection imaging unit 500. In FIG. 11, taking the upper camera 501A as an example, the arrangement relationship of the engineering components such as the camera and lighting is shown. However, the lower camera 501B may be considered in the same way. While referring to FIG. 11, the operation of alternately switching between the transmitted illumination 515 and the reflected illumination 502 and performing imaging of the drug by the camera 501 in the inspection imaging unit 500 will be described.

[0087] First, during the upper-side imaging, the upper camera 501A turns on the reflected illumination 502A arranged around it and images the drug on the rotating disk 401 (circumferential mounting plate 402) from above, thereby obtaining a front-lit image 522 of the surface of the drug. At this time, the transmitted illumination 515 is turned off.

[0088] Next, during the lower-side imaging, the transmitted illumination 515 under the semi-transmissive sheet 516 is turned on, and the upper camera 501A images from above while the drug on the rotating disk 401 (circumferential mounting plate 402) is irradiated from below through the semi-transmissive sheet 516 and the rotating disk 401, thereby obtaining a back-lit image 521 of the outer shape (shadow) of the drug. At this time, the reflected illumination 502A is turned off. The semi-transmissive sheet 516 is a sheet member that is non-reflective to the irradiation from the reflected illumination 502A and transmits the irradiation from the transmitted illumination 515, and may be, for example, a black attenuation filter. Also, as will be described later, it is preferable that the surface of the semi-transmissive sheet 516 on the side of the circumferential mounting plate 402 is black or a color similar thereto.

[0089] As described above, the upper camera 501A alternately repeats the upper-side imaging by transmitted light and the lower-side imaging by reflected light to obtain the front-lit image 522 and the back-lit image 521. As a result, a color image (front-lit image 522) of both the upper and lower surfaces of the drug and an outer shape image of the shadow (back-lit image 521) can be obtained. Note that the lower camera 501B also performs upper-side imaging and lower-side imaging in the same procedure as the upper camera 501A (however, the up and down are reversed).

[0090] In the repetition of the upper-side imaging and the lower-side imaging, the illuminating lights (the reflection illumination 502 and the transmission illumination 515) that are turned on are periodically switched at a cycle of several 10 ms, and while the light irradiating the drug is periodically switched between the reflected light and the transmitted light, the camera images are continuously captured in synchronization therewith, so that the backlight images 521 and the frontlight images 522 of the rotating and moving drug M can be continuously captured. Also, as described above, since the upper camera 501A and the lower camera 501B are arranged with a predetermined shift in the rotation direction of the rotating disk 401, a time difference occurs in the captured images of the drug M by both cameras. Therefore, when the upper-side imaging and the lower-side imaging are respectively performed by the upper camera 501A and the lower camera 501B, the captured images at different times can be obtained for each of the frontlight image 522 and the backlight image 521, and an effect of improving the identification accuracy of the drug can be expected.

[0091] Then, for the images of the drug M captured by the upper camera 501A and the lower camera 501B, the imaging and inspection processing unit 803 compares the images cut out for each drug m (hereinafter also referred to as drug images) with the information such as the color, outer shape, and engraving of the master data for each drug m registered in advance, and based on the comparison result, determines for each drug m which of "normal", "confirmation required", or "unknown" the inspection result of the drug corresponds to. The detailed processing procedure of the process (inspection result determination process) in which the imaging and inspection processing unit 803 determines the inspection result of the drug m will be described later with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14.

[0092] In the above-described inspection imaging unit 500, by arranging the transmission illumination 515 and the black semi-transparent sheet 516 close to each other, when imaging by transmitted light (for example, lower-side imaging by the upper camera 501A), the white color, which is the illumination light color of the transmission illumination 515, passes through the semi-transparent sheet 516 and the rotating disk 401 (circumferential mounting plate 402) to become the background color of the drug m, and the drug m itself is imaged in black or gray in a silhouette state. As shown in FIG. 11, the backlight image 521 captured in this way makes it easier to see the outlines of transparent objects and drugs that look black.

[0093] On the other hand, in the case of photographing by reflected light (for example, upper-side photographing by the upper camera 501A), since the reflected illumination 502 and the semi-transmissive sheet 516 are separated, the light from the reflected illumination 502 does not pass through the semi-transmissive sheet 516, and the black color on the surface of the semi-transmissive sheet 516 becomes the background color of the drug m. When the background color of the front-lit image 522 is black in this way, since most of the drug m looks white, it becomes easier to identify the photographed drug m. Also, as described above, in order to clearly photograph the shadows of the marks and imprints on the surface of the drug m, the reflected illumination 502 irradiates the drug m from an oblique side surface.

[0094] In this way, by the inspection imaging unit 500 switching the illumination to acquire inspection images, the imaging / inspection processing unit 803 can be used to perform inspections using images in which the drug m is easy to see, or to track the movement of the drug m respectively and cut out the images individually. Also, a black attenuation filter may be used for the semi-transmissive sheet 516.

[0095] As described so far, in the drug inspection device 11 according to the present embodiment, inspection images are photographed and image-analyzed while the received drug M (a plurality of drugs m) are aligned and conveyed, so as to perform inspections on the individual drugs m included in the drug M, and the inspection results for the individual drugs m can be combined to obtain the inspection result for the drug M. The inspection result obtained in this way is displayed on the inspection result display screen 901 by the inspection result processing unit 802 and presented to the pharmacist 108.

[0096] Then, the pharmacist 108 operates the inspection result display screen 901 that displays the inspection results to confirm whether the sub-packaged drugs M1, M2,... match the prescription information (drug prescription data), and to correct the inspection results when the inspection results are unclear or different from the prescription information, thereby completing the drug inspection. Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 12 to 22, the screen output displayed on the inspection result display screen and the operations by the pharmacist will be described.

[0097] FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of an initial audit selection screen. The initial audit selection screen is a screen that a pharmacist operates when selecting drug M to be audited from now on, and a specific example thereof is shown in FIG. 12.

[0098] The initial audit selection screen 1500 shown in FIG. 12 displays a button 1501 for selecting drug M, a prescription ID 1502 that is key information for selection, a patient name 1503, a subcontracting machine ID 1504, the total number of subcontracts 1505 included in the prescription information of each drug M, the number of usage types 1506 indicating the number of types of usage times such as "after breakfast" and "before going to bed", an audit level 1507, an audit result 1508, and a pharmacist audit 1509.

[0099] The audit level 1507 is information for distinguishing between a case where drug m, which is an individual tablet included in drug M, is a drug that requires strict auditing such as a high-risk drug and a case where it is a normal drug. By setting restrictions on the person to be audited according to this level (requiring a pharmacist to audit, requiring multiple pharmacists to audit, allowing a clerk to audit, etc.), it is also possible to conduct strict drug audits.

[0100] In the audit result 1508, as the audit result for individual drug m by the drug audit device 11, three types, namely "normal", "confirmation required", and "unknown", are defined, and the breakdown of the total number of subcontracts for each prescription ID 1502 is displayed. Here, "normal" means that it can be identified and audited as a tablet as specified in the prescription information (drug prescription data). "Confirmation required" means that although sorting can be done as per the prescription information (and it is determined that there is no problem with the drug audit device 11), the similarity with the master data of the tablet is low, and it is judged that confirmation by a pharmacist is desirable. "Unknown" means that sorting could not be done as the tablet specified in the prescription information.

[0101] Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14, two example processing procedures will be described for the "audit result determination process" in which the imaging / audit processing unit 803 of the drug audit device 11 determines the audit result ("normal", "confirmation required", "unknown") of individual drug m.

[0102] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a first processing procedure of an audit result determination process. The process shown in FIG. 13 is an example of an audit result determination process for auditing a drug in consideration of the imprint of a tablet, and is referred to as a first audit result determination process.

[0103] According to FIG. 13, the imaging / auditing processing unit 803 first acquires an image of an individual drug m (drug image) from the images of the drug M captured by the upper camera 501A and the lower camera 501B (step S201). Then, the processes after step S202 are performed for each individual drug m. Note that the plurality of drugs m included in the drug M are drugs specified in the drug prescription data, and master data for each of them is prepared.

[0104] Next, the imaging / auditing processing unit 803 performs image analysis on the drug image acquired in step S201, and acquires information indicating the presence or absence of an imprint, size information, and color information about the drug m to be audited shown in the drug image (step S202).

[0105] The information indicating the presence or absence of an imprint is information obtained by analyzing the presence or absence of an imprint on the drug m to be audited, and is different from the information indicating the content of the imprint (a character string including numbers, etc.) (imprint information described later). That is, in step S202, it is not necessary to acquire the imprint information. Note that in the present embodiment, the process is performed paying attention to the imprint of the tablet, but the same process may be performed according to the presence or absence of an imprint for drugs other than tablets (for example, capsules, etc.).

[0106] The size information is information indicating the outer shape (size) of the drug m to be audited. Specifically, the size information is, for example, the length in the vertical or horizontal direction, the aspect ratio, the area, the perimeter, etc. The color information is information indicating the color of the drug m to be audited. Specifically, the color information is, for example, the average color of the entire drug or the number of colors included in the drug.

[0107] Next, based on the information indicating the presence or absence of the imprint obtained in step S202 (alternatively, the master data of the drug m to be audited may be referred to), the imaging / audit processing unit 803 determines whether the drug m to be audited is a tablet with an imprint (step S203).

[0108] If in step S203 the drug m to be audited is a tablet with an imprint (YES in step S203), the imaging / audit processing unit 803 additionally acquires the imprint information of the drug m by image analysis of the drug image, and then analyzes whether the imprint, size, and color match by collating with the master data of the drug m together with the size information and color information obtained in step S202 (step S204). Note that "match" in the first and second audit result determination processes means that the matching rate of the two pieces of information to be collated (the information obtained from image analysis and the master data) exceeds a predetermined threshold (the first threshold). Since the calculation of the matching rate by collation may use known image analysis (image analysis) methods, detailed description is omitted.

[0109] Next, based on the analysis result of step S204, the imaging / audit processing unit 803 determines whether the imprint, size, and color all match (step S205). If an affirmative result is obtained in step S205 (YES in step S205), the imaging / audit processing unit 803 determines that the audit result of the drug m to be audited is "normal" (step S206), and ends the audit result determination process.

[0110] If a positive result is not obtained in step S205, that is, if at least one of the imprint, size, and color does not match (NO in step S205), the imaging / inspection processing unit 803 checks whether the size and color match and only the imprint is approximate (step S207). Note that "the imprint is approximate" means that the imprint information in the captured image does not match (or further, is approximate) the master data of the drug m to be inspected. Specifically, for example, when the matching rate between the imprint information and the master data is less than the first threshold (the threshold used as the criterion for matching), it can be determined as approximate (non-matching). Note that instead of considering all non-matching ones as "approximate", if it is desired to limit the degree of approximation, the second threshold described later can be used, etc.

[0111] And if a positive result is obtained in step S207 (YES in step S207), the imaging / inspection processing unit 803 determines the inspection result of the drug m to be inspected as "to be confirmed" (step S208) and ends the inspection result determination process. On the other hand, if a positive result is not obtained in step S207 (NO in step S207), the imaging / inspection processing unit 803 determines the inspection result of the drug m to be inspected as "unknown" (step S209) and ends the inspection result determination process.

[0112] Also, if the drug m to be inspected in step S203 is not a tablet with an imprint (NO in step S203), the imaging / inspection processing unit 803 analyzes whether the size and color match by comparing the size information and color information obtained in step S202 with the master data of the image m (step S210).

[0113] As a result of the analysis in step S210, if both the size and color match (YES in step S210), the imaging and auditing processing unit 803 determines that the audit result of the drug m to be audited is "normal" (step S212), and ends the audit result determination process. On the other hand, if at least either the size or the color does not match in the determination in step S210 (NO in step S210), the imaging and auditing processing unit 803 determines that the audit result of the drug m to be audited is "unknown" (step S213), and ends the audit result determination process.

[0114] As described above, in the first audit result determination process, information regarding the size and color is analyzed and acquired for all drug images of the drug m cut out from the captured image of the drug M, while the engraved information is analyzed and acquired only when the drug m is a tablet with an engraving. There are not only tablets that are not engraved in the first place, but also tablets with small characters, tablets with concave marks that are difficult to visually observe, and tablets with engravings on the surface of capsule shapes, cylinders, and spheres that are difficult to observe visually. Therefore, the first audit result determination process classifies into the case of analyzing and acquiring the engraved information by analyzing the presence or absence of the engraving from the image information acquired in step S202 immediately after starting the process, and the case of not acquiring the engraved information (step S203), and then divides the audit result determination method. According to such a first audit result determination process, for tablets that do not require engraving matching determination, since image analysis regarding the engraved information is not performed, an effect of shortening the audit time can be expected.

[0115] Also, according to the first audit result determination process, for tablets with an engraving, not only "normal" and "unknown", but also a new classification of "confirmation required" becomes possible when the engraving matching rate is insufficient. Thus, the pharmacist can distinguish between tablets that only the engraved part needs to be reconfirmed (audit result is "confirmation required") and tablets that need to be confirmed from the correctness of the tablet type (audit result is "unknown"), enabling efficient work.

[0116] Incidentally, as a modified example of the first audit result determination process, in the image analysis in step S202, the imprint information may be acquired in advance, and in step S204, the process may be such that the imprint information is not acquired. In the case of such a modified example, although there is a risk that the audit time will be lengthened in that the image analysis of the imprint information is performed for all drug images, the effect of simplifying the internal processing can be obtained by reducing the number of times the program for performing the image analysis is called.

[0117] Also, as a modified example of step S207 for confirming unclear imprints, the imaging / auditing processing unit 803 may set a second threshold value lower than the first threshold value as a determination criterion for the imprint information of the captured image being clearly inconsistent with the master data, and determine that the imprints are approximate only when the coincidence rate between the imprint information and the master data is equal to or higher than the second threshold value and less than the first threshold value (if it is less than the second threshold value, it is determined as NO in step S207). Alternatively, without using the second threshold value, it may be determined that the imprints are approximate when the coincidence rate between the imprint information and the master data is within 90% of the first threshold value. When these modified examples are adopted, cases where the imprints shown in the drug image are clearly different from the imprints of the master data (that is, cases where there is a clear inconsistency) are excluded, and a case having a certain degree of consistency but not being definitely consistent is determined as approximate, and the audit result can be determined as "confirmation required" in the subsequent step S208. As a result, while maintaining high accuracy of the audit by the drug inspection device 11, cases that require confirmation by a pharmacist can be narrowed down.

[0118] FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a second processing procedure example of the audit result determination process. The process shown in FIG. 14 is an example of an audit result determination process for performing drug inspection without considering the imprint of the tablet, and is referred to as the second audit result determination process. The difference from the first audit result determination process shown in FIG. 13 is that the second audit result determination process shown in FIG. 14 does not analyze and acquire the imprint information from the drug image.

[0119] According to FIG. 14, the imaging / inspection processing unit 803 first obtains an image of an individual drug m (drug image) from the images of the drug M captured by the upper camera 501A and the lower camera 501B (step S301). Then, for each individual drug m, the processing after step S302 is performed. The plurality of drugs m included in the drug M are the drugs specified in the drug prescription data, and master data for each of them is prepared. Step S301 is the same as step S201 in FIG. 13.

[0120] Next, the imaging / inspection processing unit 803 performs image analysis on the drug image obtained in step S301 to obtain size information and color information about the drug m to be inspected shown in the drug image (step S302).

[0121] Next, the imaging / inspection processing unit 803 analyzes whether the sizes and colors match by comparing the size information and color information obtained in step S302 with the master data of the drug m (step S303).

[0122] Next, the imaging / inspection processing unit 803 determines whether all the sizes and colors match based on the analysis result of step S303 (step S304). If an affirmative result is obtained in step S304 (YES in step S304), the imaging / inspection processing unit 803 determines that the inspection result of the drug m to be inspected is "normal" (step S305), and ends the inspection result determination process.

[0123] If a positive result is not obtained in step S304, that is, if at least one of the size or color does not match (NO in step S304), the imaging / inspection processing unit 803 determines whether the colors match and the sizes are approximate (step S306). As for "whether the sizes are approximate", for example, a second threshold lower than a first threshold (criterion for matching) is set as the criterion for determining that the sizes are completely different. It may be determined that the sizes are approximate only when the matching rate between the size information and the master data is equal to or higher than the second threshold and lower than the first threshold (if it is less than the second threshold, it is not regarded as approximate and a NO determination is made in step S306).

[0124] If a positive result is obtained in step S306 (YES in step S306), the imaging / inspection processing unit 803 determines that the inspection result of the drug m to be inspected is "confirmation required" (step S307), and ends the inspection result determination process. On the other hand, if a positive result is not obtained in step S306 (NO in step S306), the imaging / inspection processing unit 803 determines that the inspection result of the drug m to be inspected is "unknown" (step S308), and ends the inspection result determination process.

[0125] As described above, the second inspection result determination process does not acquire the imprint information, making the determination process easy and also expected to have an effect of shortening the processing time. By the way, when simply comparing only the size and color match in the inspection of drug m with the master data, reconfirmation by a person (pharmacist) is required for drugs that are difficult to identify, and it is assumed that the frequency will increase. For this reason, in the second inspection result determination process, when at least either the size information or the color information does not match the master data (NO in step S304), instead of determining all as an inspection result of "unknown", by performing the determination in step S306 as to whether the color information matches and the size information is approximate, cases resulting in an inspection result of "confirmation required" are added. The size information being approximate was defined as being equal to or greater than the second threshold and less than the first threshold in the above description, but other definitions may also be used, for example, when the matching rate between the size information and the master data is within 90% of the first threshold. According to such a second inspection result determination process, by distinguishing between "confirmation required" and "unknown", the pharmacist can distinguish between drugs for which only the size (shape) needs to be reconfirmed (inspection result is "confirmation required") and drugs for which the correctness of the drug type needs to be confirmed (inspection result is "unknown"), enabling efficient work.

[0126] Also, in the second inspection result determination process described above, although the approximation of the size information is used as the determination condition in step S306, as a modification, the approximation of the color information may be used as the determination condition. The color of the drug may be expected to change slightly depending on the lighting conditions, the position of the shadow, etc. By adopting such a modified inspection result determination process, the fluctuation of the color in the drug image can be determined as an inspection result of "confirmation required", enabling visual assistance by the pharmacist.

[0127] The above has described the first and second inspection result determination processes. However, which inspection result determination process is to be executed in the drug inspection device 11 may be set according to the hardware configuration of the drug inspection device 11, or may be arbitrarily set by the user when the hardware configuration satisfies sufficient conditions. Examples of conditions based on the hardware configuration include cases where the resolution of the camera 501 is not sufficiently high to identify the engraving. In this case, it is preferable to execute the second inspection result determination process. By executing the second inspection result determination process, it becomes possible to determine the inspection result of "require confirmation" even with a hardware configuration that cannot identify the engraving. Also, when it can be set by the user, for example, a normal mode and a specific mode for improving the processing speed may be provided, and the first inspection result determination process may be executed in the normal mode, and the second inspection result determination process may be executed in the specific mode, and such an implementation is conceivable.

[0128] Also, the inspection result determination process executed by the drug inspection device 11 according to this embodiment is not limited to the example of the processing procedure shown in FIG. 13 or FIG. 14. For example, a processing procedure for preventing the inspection result of "require confirmation" from being issued by setting the inspection result to either "normal" or "unknown" is also executable. In this case, specifically, for example, when it is determined as NO in step S205 of FIG. 13 or step S304 of FIG. 14, it may be determined as "unknown" without performing further determination processing (steps S207, S306).

[0129] Also, in the above description, as the identification information unique to the tablet, information regarding color, size, and engraving was obtained by image analysis based on the drug image obtained by cutting out drug m. However, this embodiment is not limited to this, and for example, information regarding the shape of the drug (tablet) such as a circle, ellipse, barrel shape, triangle, quadrilateral, pentagon, and circularity may be obtained, or information regarding the presence or absence of gloss may be obtained. Alternatively, information regarding the type of drug such as a plain tablet, sugar-coated tablet, capsule, or soft capsule may be obtained.

[0130] Also, when calculating the matching rate by comparing the engraved information obtained from the drug image with the master data, a method of calculating the matching rate as an image of the engraved part may be adopted, or character recognition for recognizing characters from the image of the engraved part may be performed, and then the matching rate as characters may be calculated. Also, both of these may be performed. By appropriately adopting these, further improvement of the inspection function by the drug inspection device 11 can be expected.

[0131] Return to the explanation of the inspection selection initial screen 1500 shown in FIG. 12.

[0132] For the pharmacist inspection 1509, information such as "completed" or "incomplete" is displayed as the status of whether the inspection by the pharmacist for each drug M has been completed.

[0133] Looking at such an inspection selection initial screen 1500, the pharmacist selects the prescription ID (drug M to be inspected) to be handled (for example, selects the first record 1510), and by pressing the button 1520, an inspection processing screen for the selected prescription ID (drug M to be inspected) is displayed.

[0134] In FIGS. 15 to 21, specific examples (first to seventh examples) of the inspection processing screen are shown. Hereinafter, the features of each inspection processing screen example will be described in detail.

[0135] FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example (first example) of the inspection processing screen. The inspection processing screen 1600 shown in FIG. 15 is a specific example of the inspection processing screen when all the inspection results by the drug inspection device 11 for the drug M1 are "normal" and there are no drugs (tablets) m that "require confirmation" or are "unknown".

[0136] On the inspection processing screen 1600, information 1601 such as the prescription ID, patient name, and inspected subcontracting machine ID of the drug M1 is displayed, and then the photographed images of the individual drugs (tablets) m included in the drug M1 are displayed in a list. This list display is in a table format representing the drug names of the tablets m1 to m5 in each row and the prescribed number of days in each column, and the dosing schedule is displayed in the tab 1602.

[0137] The inspection processing screen 1600 arranges and displays the tablet images captured by the drug inspection device 11 for each individual tablet according to the inspection results of the device for the number of days, so that the pharmacist can confirm at a glance that there are no incorrect tablets. After the pharmacist checks that all the individual drugs m included in drug M1 are sub-packaged in the correct tablet types and quantities by looking at the inspection processing screen 1600, the pharmacist can complete the pharmacist inspection of drug M1 by pressing the inspection result confirmation button 1603. If the pharmacist determines that a detailed check of an individual drug (for example, tablet m1) is necessary, the pharmacist can also advance the pharmacist inspection by displaying the inspection correction screen of FIG. 22 described later and visually comparing the display in which the master image of tablet m1 and the captured image by the device are arranged side by side.

[0138] Figs. 16 to 21 are diagrams showing alternative examples (second to seventh examples) of the inspection processing screen. Each of the inspection processing screens shown in Figs. 16 to 21 is a specific example of an inspection processing screen when the inspection results by the drug inspection device 11 for drug M2 include drugs (tablets) m that are not only "normal" but also "unknown" or "require confirmation". In each example, the screen display method when "unknown" or "require confirmation" tablets occur and the corresponding methods required of the pharmacist are different.

[0139] In the inspection processing screens shown in Figs. 16 to 21, the same reference numerals are given to the common display elements. First, these common display elements will be described taking the inspection processing screen 1700 of Fig. 16 (partially the inspection processing screen 1800 of Fig. 17) as an example.

[0140] In the inspection processing screen 1700, information 1701 such as the prescription ID of drug M2, the patient's name, and the sub-packaging machine ID inspected is displayed, and the captured images of the individual drugs (tablets) m included in drug M2 are displayed in a list. This list display is in a table format representing the drug names of tablets m1 to m3 and unknown drugs whose drug names cannot be identified in each row, and the prescribed number of days in each column. Also, the types of dosing times are displayed by tabs 1702 to 1704, and by selecting this tab, the tablet images of the individual tablets m can be displayed for each dosing time.

[0141] On the inspection processing screen 1700, for individual tablets m marked as "unknown" in the inspection results by the drug inspection device 11, a photographed image is displayed in a new row marked as "unknown 1" or "unknown 2", separately from the rows representing the individual drug names included in the prescription information of drug M2 (specifically, the rows of "with imprint m1", "without imprint m2", and "capsule m3"). In this description, the row of "unknown 1" is the row for displaying the tablets determined as "unknown", and the row of "unknown 2" is the row for displaying the capsules determined as "unknown", but it is not limited to this. Also, "with imprint" or "without imprint" in the display of individual drug names is information indicating whether the tablet is one for which an imprint is confirmed in step S203 of the first inspection result determination process. When the second inspection result determination process is executed, the notations of "with imprint" or "without imprint" become unnecessary.

[0142] Also, when there is a drug m with an inspection result of "unknown", if the inspection result is "normal", the photographed image is not displayed in the display area of the drug m where the photographed image is normally displayed, but an emphasis display such as coloring the periphery of this display area of the photographed image may be performed. Specifically, the "checkerboard shading 1706" shown in FIG. 16 etc. is an emphasis display corresponding to "unknown", and in the case of the inspection processing screen 1700 of FIG. 16, it can be seen that a total of 5 drugs were determined as "unknown". Also, an emphasis display corresponding to "unknown" may be performed on the periphery of the photographed images displayed in the rows of "unknown 1" and "unknown 2".

[0143] On the other hand, for an individual drug (tablet) m marked as "confirmation required" in the inspection results by the drug inspection device 11, a photographed image is displayed in the display area of the corresponding tablet m. Further, an emphasis display such as coloring the periphery of the display area may be performed. Specifically, the "hatched shading 1707" shown in FIG. 17 etc. is an emphasis display corresponding to "confirmation required", and in the case of the inspection processing screen 1800 of FIG. 17, it can be seen that a total of 4 drugs were determined as "confirmation required".

[0144] On the audit processing screen 1700 etc., the above display for the audit results of "unknown" or "confirmation required" enables pharmacists to immediately recognize the individual drugs (tablets) that need to be confirmed or corrected. Note that different highlighting for "unknown" and "confirmation required" can enhance the discriminability.

[0145] Also, the audit processing screen 1700 can prevent pharmacists from forgetting or overlooking an audit by providing a warning column 1705 that displays the number of sub-packets and tablets that need to be confirmed on the screen. The audit result confirmation button 1708 provided on the audit processing screen 1700 is a button that is pressed by the pharmacist when completing the pharmacist inspection for the drugs subject to the audit, similar to the audit result confirmation button 1603 on the audit processing screen 1600 in FIG. 15.

[0146] Next, the features of each of the audit processing screens shown in FIGS. 16 to 21 will be described.

[0147] The second example of the audit processing screen 1700 shown in FIG. 16 is an example of the display result when the first audit result determination process for drug M2 is executed and the audit results of individual drugs m are "normal" or "unknown". Also, when the first audit result determination process is performed in a modified example where "confirmation required" is not determined, an audit processing screen as shown in FIG. 16 is displayed.

[0148] To explain the details of the individual drug m for which the audit result is displayed on the audit processing screen 1700, drug m1 is a tablet (tablet m1) for which the engraving is confirmed in the first audit result determination process, drug m2 is a tablet (tablet m2) for which the engraving is not confirmed in the first audit result determination process, and drug m3 is a capsule (capsule m3) for which the engraving is not confirmed in the first audit result determination process.

[0149] In the first audit result determination process, for the tablet m1 that requires engraving confirmation, color, size, and engraving are collated (matched) with the master data. Also, for the tablet m2 and capsule m3 for which engraving confirmation is not required, color and size are collated (matched) with the master data.

[0150] According to the display of the inspection processing screen 1700, it can be seen that an "unknown" inspection result occurred one or more times for each of the tablets m1, m2, and capsules m3. Specifically, for example, in the inspection result of the drug M2 on the second day, only the tablet m2 was determined to be normal, while the tablets m1 and capsules m3 were determined to be unknown. And, a photographed image of the tablet determined to be unknown is displayed in "Unknown 1", and a photographed image of the capsule determined to be unknown is displayed in "Unknown 2". Furthermore, the display areas of the photographed images of the tablets m1 and capsules m3 are highlighted by the shaded grid 1706.

[0151] The inspection processing screen 1800 of the third example shown in FIG. 17 is an example of the display result when the first inspection result determination process for the drug M2 is executed and not only "normal" or "unknown" but also "confirmation required" occurred as the inspection result of each drug m.

[0152] The individual drugs m for which the inspection results are displayed on the inspection processing screen 1800 are, as in the inspection processing screen 1700, the drug m1 with a mark (tablet m1), the drug m2 without a mark (tablet m2), and the drug m3 in capsules (capsules m3).

[0153] In the first inspection result determination process, for the tablet m1 that requires mark confirmation, a comparison (match analysis) with the master data is performed for the color, size, and mark. Also, for the tablets m2 and capsules m3 for which mark confirmation is not required, a comparison (match analysis) with the master data is performed for the color and size.

[0154] According to the display of the audit processing screen 1800, it can be seen that the audit result of "unknown" occurred at least once for each of tablet m1, tablet m2, and capsule m3. Then, in "unknown 1", a photographed image of a tablet determined to be unknown is displayed, and in "unknown 2", a photographed image of a capsule determined to be unknown is displayed. Furthermore, the display area of ​​the photographed images of tablet m1 and capsule m3 is highlighted with a grid line 1706. For example, looking at the audit results for the second day, a photographed image of a circular tablet is displayed in "unknown 1", and a photographed image of a capsule is displayed in "unknown 2". By displaying photographed images of unknown tablets and non-tablets (capsules) in separate columns in this way, it becomes easier for pharmacists to confirm and correct unknown drugs.

[0155] Furthermore, according to the display of the inspection processing screen 1800, it can be seen that the tablet m1 has had three inspection results of "check required". Specifically, for example, in the inspection results on the 3rd, 5th, and 7th days, the tablet m1 with the mark was judged to be "check required", so the display area of ​​the corresponding photographed image is highlighted with diagonal shading 1707. As can be seen from FIG. 17, "check required" is treated as part of "normal" (the drug inspection device 11 judges it to be normal, but recommends that a pharmacist check it), so the photographed image is displayed in the display area of ​​"tablet m1" rather than "unknown 1". In this case, the pharmacist can easily visually check the drug image with the "check required" highlighted by comparing it with a master image such as the master image 2301 displayed on the inspection correction screen 2300 in FIG. 22 described later. Note that this master image is an image (master image) of the master data used for matching in the inspection result judgment process for each individual drug m.

[0156] A fourth example of an inspection process screen 1900 shown in FIG. 18 is a display example of the inspection results of each drug m when the drug M2 to be inspected includes a tablet (tablet m4) that is likely to stand.

[0157] The individual drug m for which the audit result is displayed on the audit processing screen 1900 is the drug m1 with a mark (tablet m1), the drug m2 without a mark (tablet m2), the capsule drug m3 (capsule m3), and the drug m4 with a mark and easy to stand up (tablet m4).

[0158] Here, the "drug easy to stand up" refers to a tablet that is assumed to "stand" when it falls from the pre-audit storage unit 200 in a scattered state onto the transport path (on the rotating disk 401) with the unmarked side facing the camera side. Whether it is easy to stand up or not can be judged in advance according to the shape of the tablet. Therefore, for tablets that are easy to stand up, the fact that they are "easy to stand up" tablets is registered in advance in the drug master data together with the presence or absence of a mark. Specifically, in the case of a tablet with a mark that is easy to stand up, a master image in the normal state where the mark can be seen and a master image in the standing state where the mark cannot be seen are registered in the master data. Multiple master images in the standing state may be registered. In the case of a tablet without a mark that is easy to stand up, a master image in the normal state and a master image in the standing state are registered in the master data. Note that the difference in size between the normal state and the standing state is also considered as data. And when generating the audit processing screen 1900, the audit result processing unit 802 reads out the information about these individual drugs m from the drug master data and displays it in the "drug name" column. As a result, on the audit processing screen 1900, the drug m4 is displayed as a tablet m4 with "a mark" and "easy to stand up". For the tablet m1, the tablet m2, and the capsule m3, it is the same as the audit processing screens 1700 and 1800.

[0159] In the first audit result determination process, for the tablets m1 and m4 that require mark confirmation, color, size, and mark are compared with the master data (coincidence analysis). For the tablets m2 and the capsule m3 for which mark confirmation is not required, color and size are compared with the master data (coincidence analysis).

[0160] However, in the first inspection result determination process for the easy-to-stand tablet m4, the processes after step S204 shown in FIG. 13 change as follows. When the easy-to-stand tablet contains the drug M2, when performing the inspection determination for the easy-to-stand tablet, the first inspection result determination process may be performed according to the processing procedure described below. As a premise, in the case of an easy-to-stand tablet, in the drug master data, a master image taken in the normal state (not standing) and a master image taken in the standing state are registered in advance.

[0161] First, the case of an easy-to-stand tablet without engraving will be described. In the case of an easy-to-stand tablet without engraving, it is determined as NO in step S203 of FIG. 13. Then, in the matching analysis of step S210, the imaging / inspection processing unit 803 uses the master image in the normal state. If the captured image matches the master image in the normal state in terms of color and size in step S210, the imaging / inspection processing unit 803 determines YES in step S211 and determines the inspection result as "normal". If the captured image does not match the master image in the normal state at least in terms of color in step S210, the imaging / inspection processing unit 803 determines NO in step S211 and determines the inspection result as "unknown". Also, as a process unique to this modification example, if the captured image does not match the master image in the normal state only in terms of size in step S210, the imaging / inspection processing unit 803 performs a new matching analysis using the master image in the standing state. As a result of this matching analysis, if the captured image matches the master image in the standing state in terms of color and size, the inspection result is determined as "normal". On the other hand, as a result of this matching analysis, if the captured image does not match the master image in the standing state in terms of at least either color or size, the inspection result is determined as "unknown".

[0162] Next, the case of an easy-to-stand tablet with a print will be described. When it is determined in step S203 of FIG. 13 that the captured image has a print (YES), in the matching analysis of step S204, the imaging / auditing processing unit 803 uses a master image in the normal state (not standing state). After step S204, the procedure is the same as the above-described processing procedure. On the other hand, when it is determined in step S203 that the captured image has no print (NO), in the matching analysis of step S210, the imaging / auditing processing unit 803 uses a master image in the standing state. When the captured image matches the master image in the standing state in terms of color and size in the matching analysis of step S210, the imaging / auditing processing unit 803 determines YES in step S211 and determines that the audit result is "confirmation required" instead of "normal". The reason for setting the audit result to "confirmation required" is that although it has been confirmed that the color and size match the master image in the matching analysis, the print has not been confirmed for matching. Depending on the setting, when the captured image matches the master image in the standing state in terms of color and size in the matching analysis of step S210 (determined YES in step S211), the imaging / auditing processing unit 803 may determine that the audit result is not "confirmation required" but "normal".

[0163] As a result of performing the first audit result determination process as described above, according to the display on the audit processing screen 1900, it can be seen that all of the tablets m1, m2, and the capsules m3 were determined to be "normal", but for the easy-to-stand tablet m4 with a print, three "confirmation required" audit results occurred. The display area of the tablet m4 determined to be "confirmation required" is highlighted by diagonal hatching 1707. By displaying such an audit result, the pharmacist can easily confirm and correct the tablet m4 that requires confirmation by comparing the captured image with a master image such as the master image 2301 displayed on the audit correction screen 2300 of FIG. 22 described later.

[0164] Also, in the description of the audit processing screen 1900 of the fourth example, it was explained that for easy-standing tablets, multiple master images are used to compare with the captured images to determine the audit result for the tablets in the standing state. However, such a processing method in the drug inspection apparatus 11 according to the present embodiment is not limited to easy-standing tablets, and is applicable to all drugs whose size or the appearance of the imprint changes depending on the direction in which they are placed on the conveyance path. Although detailed description is omitted, when the size changes, master images of sizes corresponding to the respective placement methods may be prepared and the matching analysis with each master image may be performed.

[0165] Also, as a drug whose appearance of the imprint in the captured image changes depending on the direction in which it is placed on the conveyance path, a non-tablet (capsule) with an imprint can also be considered. For example, when the drug M2 contains a capsule m3 with an imprint and it is desired to determine the audit result considering the matching of the imprint for the capsule m3 as well, as a modified example of the first audit result determination process shown in FIG. 13, the processes after step S204 and step S210 may be changed as follows for processing.

[0166] First, as a premise, in the case of a capsule, in the drug master data, a plurality of master images (master images captured in a state where all the imprints of the capsule are visible, master images captured in a state where a part of the imprint of the capsule is visible, etc.) whose appearance of the imprint differs depending on the orientation of the capsule at the time of imaging are registered in advance. A master image in a state where the imprint is not visible does not need to be registered.

[0167] In this modification, when it is determined in step S203 of the first audit result determination process that the captured image has a stamp (YES), in the matching analysis of step S204, the imaging / auditing processing unit 803 performs a matching analysis with each of the plurality of master images. When it is determined that the size, color, and stamp all match with any one of the master images, it is determined as YES in step S205 and the audit result is determined as "normal". If no result of all matching in size, color, and stamp with any master image is obtained in the matching analysis of step S204, the imaging / auditing processing unit 803 determines as NO in step S205 and proceeds to step S207. In step S207, based on the analysis result with any one of the master images in step S204, the imaging / auditing processing unit 803 checks whether the size and color match and only the stamp is approximate. When an affirmative result is obtained in step S207, the imaging / auditing processing unit 803 determines as YES and determines the audit result as "to be confirmed". When an affirmative result is not obtained in step S207, the imaging / auditing processing unit 803 determines as NO and determines the audit result as "unknown".

[0168] Also, when it is determined in step S203 that the captured image has no stamp (NO), in the matching analysis of step S210, the imaging / auditing processing unit 803 performs a matching analysis with each of the plurality of master images. When it is determined that the size and color match with any one of the master images, it is determined as YES in step S211, and the audit result is determined not as "normal" but as "to be confirmed". On the other hand, if no result of the size and color matching is obtained in any matching analysis using any master image in step S210, the imaging / auditing processing unit 803 determines as NO in step S211 and determines the audit result as "unknown". Depending on the settings, when it is determined that the size and color match with any one of the master images (determined as YES in step S211), the audit result may be determined as "normal" instead of "to be confirmed".

[0169] The audit processing screen 2000 of the fifth example shown in FIG. 19 is an example of displaying the audit results of individual drugs m when the tablet (tablet m4) that is easy to stand up is included in the drug M2 to be audited. As a difference from the fourth example shown in FIG. 18, for the drug (tablet) with a stamp, it is configured to display the coincidence rate of the stamp.

[0170] The individual drugs m for which the audit results are displayed on the audit processing screen 2000 are the drug m1 with a stamp (tablet m1), the drug m2 without a stamp (tablet m2), the capsule drug m3 (capsule m3), and the drug m4 with a stamp and easy to stand up (tablet m4), which is the same as the fourth example shown in FIG. 18. Therefore, the first audit result determination process to be executed is also the same as the fourth example, and the explanation is omitted.

[0171] When generating the audit processing screen 2000, the audit result processing unit 802 displays the reference value (first threshold value) used to determine the coincidence of the stamp in the audit result determination process in the column of the drug name for the drug (tablet) with a stamp, and displays the coincidence rate in the shooting image in the corresponding display area. As a result, on the audit processing screen 2000, the reference value and the coincidence rate are shown in the columns of the stamped tablet m1 and the easy-to-stand-up stamped tablet m4. In the case of FIG. 19, the coincidence rate is represented by a numerical value with a perfect match of 100, but it is not limited to this. For example, the coincidence rate may be ranked and the rank may be displayed.

[0172] Looking at the results for the 3rd, 5th, and 6th days of tablet m4 on the audit processing screen 2000, although the audit result of "Verification Required" is shown, the coincidence rate is not displayed. This means that the captured image was in a standing state and the engraving could not be confirmed (coincidence rate is 0%). In cases of "Verification Required" other than due to the standing state (for example, tablet m1 on the 3rd day of the audit processing screen 1800), the coincidence rate of the engraving is indicated. In addition, when the audit result is "Unknown", since the value of displaying the coincidence rate is not very high, the audit result processing unit 802 may display the coincidence rate only for the captured images with engravings where the audit result is determined to be "Normal" or "Verification Required". Furthermore, even when the audit result is "Verification Required", the coincidence rate may not be displayed on the assumption that verification by a pharmacist will be performed.

[0173] By displaying the reference value and the coincidence rate for tablets with engravings like on the audit processing screen 2000, not only is it easier to identify the tablets that require verification, but also in the case of tablets with an audit result of "Normal", the degree of difference from the master data can be understood from the level of the coincidence rate, which is also useful as a reference for verifying the validity of the master data (whether the currently set reference value is appropriate). Also, the reference value (threshold value) used for the coincidence determination in the audit result determination process can be set differently for each drug, and the change is also possible. In addition, in the drug name column, instead of the reference value, the average coincidence rate of the "Normal (or may include the results of Verification Required for which the coincidence rate was calculated) results during past audits may be displayed. In this case, the past audit results determined to be "Normal" and the current audit results can be compared.

[0174] The 6th example of the audit processing screen 2100 shown in Figure 20 is an example of the display of the audit result when the captured image of drug m obtained by spreading out the drug M2 to be audited contains an image in which a plurality of drugs overlap. Since it is the same as each of the audit processing screens described in Figures 16 to 19 except for the processing of the captured image in this overlapping state, the description is omitted.

[0175] In the drug inspection device 11 capable of displaying the inspection processing screen 2100 of the sixth example, as a special process for the captured image in the overlapping state, the imaging / inspection processing unit 803 performs the following processes in the inspection result determination process. Specifically, in the matching analysis of steps S204 and S210 in FIG. 13 (or step S303 in FIG. 14), when at least the overall size does not match between the captured image and the master image, the imaging / inspection processing unit 803 analyzes the shape of the captured image in detail. For example, when the shape is assumed to be a shape different from the shape that one drug can take (such as a circular or polygonal shape) when two or more drugs are in an overlapping state, it can be identified as being in an overlapping state. When the imaging / inspection processing unit 803 identifies that the captured image is in an overlapping state, it refers to the information of the plurality of drugs for which a normal result has not been obtained in the inspection result determination process among the plurality of drugs m specified by the drug prescription data of drug M2, and collates each of the plurality of drugs with the individual drugs identified by image analysis of the captured image in the overlapping state. For example, if two tablets m1 and m2 with different sizes are partially overlapping, the tablet located in the front (for example, tablet m1) can be collated (size, color, or imprint) with the master image of the drug for which a normal result has not been obtained because its entire shape is reflected in the captured image. When the matching rate by this collation exceeds a predetermined reference value, it can be estimated (specified depending on the matching rate) that the drug is tablet m1. Also, for the other tablet located in the back, within the range reflected in the captured image, it is possible to collate (at least size or color) with the master image of the drug for which a normal result has not been obtained. When the matching rate by the collation exceeds a predetermined reference value, it can be estimated that the drug is tablet m2. In this way, the imaging / inspection processing unit 803 estimates which drugs are overlapping.

[0176] Then, when the imaging and auditing processing unit 803 can individually estimate a plurality of drugs included in the overlapping captured images by the above processing, it determines that the auditing result is "to be confirmed". At this time, together with the information indicating that it is "to be confirmed" due to the overlapping state, it also outputs the estimation result of which combination of drugs causes the overlapping state. Note that when the imaging and auditing processing unit 803 cannot individually estimate a plurality of drugs included in the captured image identified as the overlapping state, it determines that the auditing result is "unknown".

[0177] Then, when generating the auditing processing screen 2000, the auditing result processing unit 802, based on the above information output in the auditing result determination process, displays the captured image in the respective display areas of a plurality of drugs estimated to be included in the captured image in the overlapping state on the auditing processing screen 2100, and performs a highlighting display corresponding to "to be confirmed". For example, on the auditing processing screen 2100 in FIG. 20, in the auditing result column for the second day of tablet m1 and tablet m2, a captured image of two overlapping tablets is displayed, and the display area is highlighted by the diagonal shading 1707. These displays mean that in the auditing result determination process, it is estimated that the drugs shown in the captured image in the overlapping state are tablet m1 and tablet m2, and the auditing result is determined to be "to be confirmed".

[0178] As described above, for the drugs in the overlapping state like the auditing processing screen 2100, by displaying the estimated drugs as "to be confirmed", the pharmacist can easily confirm the target drugs.

[0179] The auditing processing screen 2100 of the seventh example shown in FIG. 21 is an example of the display of the auditing result when similar tablets are included among the individual drugs m included in the drug M2 to be audited.

[0180] A similar tablet is a tablet that is similar to the target tablet in at least one of size or color. Information about the similar tablet (master image of the similar tablet) is linked and registered to the information about the target tablet in the master data in advance. For example, a registration method may be used that links the master data (basic data) of tablets in a similar relationship. Also, the registration and cancellation of similar tablets to the master data may be arbitrarily set during the operation of the drug inspection device 11.

[0181] Then, when generating the inspection result processing screen 2100, the inspection result processing unit 802 checks whether similar tablets are registered when referring to the master data for each of the individual drugs m1 to m4 output as the inspection result of drug M2. If the drug (tablet) has similar tablets registered, a caution display 2201 indicating the existence of similar tablets is displayed in a predetermined format (e.g., a balloon or a pop-up) in the display column of the drug. Specifically, in the case of the inspection processing screen 2100, the caution display 2201 is displayed in balloon form in the drug name column of the tablet m4 with engraving and easy to stand out.

[0182] By displaying the caution display 2201 for the drug m with similar tablets as in the inspection processing screen 2100, the pharmacist can receive a warning, and even if the inspection result is "normal", it is possible to take measures such as visual confirmation as a precaution.

[0183] As described above, with reference to FIGS. 16 to 21, various display examples of inspection results when inspection results other than "normal" occur have been explained. These display examples can be combined as appropriate, and the processing content of the inspection result determination process is also changed as appropriate according to the combination. Also, it may be configured such that a pharmacist or the like can select which display form to select, or after the inspection processing screen is displayed in a certain display form, it may be configured to be switchable to the display of the inspection processing screen in another display form according to the operation of a pharmacist or the like.

[0184] FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an example of an audit correction screen. The audit correction screen is a screen that is displayed when an arbitrary individual tablet's captured image listed in the audit processing screens illustrated in FIGS. 15 to 21 is clicked, and the audit correction screen 2300 shown in FIG. 22 is a specific example thereof.

[0185] The audit correction screen 2300 is mainly composed of a display column of 2 rows and 3 columns. Specifically, in the first column on the left side of the screen, the tablet name (tablet m1 in FIG. 22) assigned as the identification result by the drug inspection device 11 (imaging / audit processing unit 803) is displayed, and in the second column on the right side thereof, the master image 2301 of the tablet is displayed. Note that the assignment of the above-mentioned tablet name is, specifically, the imaging / audit processing unit 803 performs image identification on the captured images of individual drugs m extracted from the captured image of drug M by the audit imaging unit 500, and compares the identification results using the drug prescription data and the drug master data (or the drug database 904) to determine the corresponding master tablet and assign the tablet name of the master tablet. Further, in the audit correction screen 2300, in the third column on the right side of the screen, an enlarged image 2302 of an individual drug (in this case, tablet m1) captured by the drug inspection device 11 (audit imaging unit 500) is displayed. Note that for the image display in the second and third columns, the front surface image is displayed in the upper first row, and the back surface image is displayed in the lower second row.

[0186] Looking at such an audit correction screen 2300, the pharmacist visually confirms that the master image 2301 and the captured image (enlarged image 2302) are of the same type of individual tablets for the target tablets for which "confirmation required" has been determined, and then presses the confirmation button 2304 to confirm the audit result. When the audit result is confirmed by pressing the confirmation button 2304, for example, the highlighting of the target tablets for which "confirmation required" was indicated in the audit processing screen 1700 of FIG. 14 disappears. Note that the captured images displayed in the audit processing screens 1600 and 1700 of FIGS. 15 and 14 show only the images of the surfaces with markings, printing, etc. that can be visually identified from other tablets, but in the audit correction screen 2300, in order to confirm the detailed information of the individual tablets m, the captured images of both the front and back surfaces of the tablets are displayed.

[0187] Note that the audit correction screen 2300 in Fig. 22 is the audit correction screen displayed when the tablet m1 (coating 1706) on the third day marked as "verification required" on the audit processing screen 1700 in Fig. 14 is selected. However, when a tablet marked as "unknown" (coating 1707) on the audit processing screen 1700 is selected, corrections can also be made using the audit correction screen 2300 in Fig. 22 in the same way.

[0188] In the case of an individual tablet marked as "unknown", since there is no master tablet assigned as the identification result by the drug inspection device 11 (imaging / audit processing unit 803), unassigned master tablets are preferentially selected from among the individual tablets included in drug M2 and their tablet names and master images are displayed in the first and second columns of the audit correction screen 2300. By pressing the arrow button 2303 provided at the bottom of the display column of the master image 2301, the display can be switched to other master tablet candidates included in the prescription information of drug M2, such as the master image 2301.

[0189] After seeing such an audit correction screen 2300, the pharmacist visually confirms that the master image 2301 and the photographed image of the unknown tablet (enlarged image 2302) are of the same type of individual tablet for the tablet marked as "unknown", and then presses the confirmation button 2304 to confirm the audit result. When the audit result is confirmed by pressing the confirmation button 2304, the image of the target tablet marked as "unknown" on the audit processing screen 1700 is corrected to be displayed in the row of the individual tablet m visually confirmed, and the highlighting of the target tablet disappears.

[0190] Also, even without using the audit correction screen 2300 as described above, it is also possible to correct the audit result by an operation where the pharmacist drags and drops the image of the tablet marked as "unknown" on the audit processing screen 1700 to the row of the correct individual tablet.

[0191] Then, when the above procedure is carried out and the visual inspection and the correction of the inspection results are completed for all the individual tablets for which the inspection results are determined to be "confirmation required" or "unknown", the pharmacist presses the inspection result confirmation button 1708 on the inspection processing screen 1700 to complete the pharmacist's inspection of the drug M2. As a result, the display of the inspection processing screen 1700 ends, and the display returns to the initial inspection selection screen 1500 shown in FIG. 22.

[0192] Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are included. Depending on conditions such as the number and shape of the drug M, and the conditions of the pharmacist's prescription drug inspection work, various modifications can be considered for the configuration and control method of the drug inspection device 11.

[0193] For example, depending on conditions such as the number and shape of the drug M, when the number is one or when the drug is in the same spherical shape and naturally scatters, even if the pre-inspection storage unit 200 and the transfer processing unit 300 are not provided, the drug M received by the drug inspection device 11 can be directly dropped onto the circumferential placement plate 402 of the rotating disk 401 of the conveyance inspection processing unit 400.

[0194] Also, for example, when inspection processing is not required for some drugs, after the pre-inspection storage unit 200 receives the drug, a mechanism that can directly move the drug to the post-inspection storage unit 700 without passing through the conveyance inspection processing unit 400 may be added. Such a mechanism can be realized, for example, by adopting the pre-inspection storage unit 200A shown in FIG. 23 instead of the pre-inspection storage unit 200 detailed in FIGS. 5 and 6.

[0195] FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the pre-inspection storage unit 200A. The pre-inspection storage unit 200A is configured such that the storage case 203 and the path switching guide 213 can be replaced. By providing a hand-held portion (handle) on each of the storage case 203 and the path switching guide 213, the user can easily perform such replacement. FIG. 23(A) shows a state in which the storage case 203 is mounted in the pre-inspection storage unit 200A, and FIG. 23(B) shows a state in which the storage case 203 is replaced with the path switching guide 213 in the pre-inspection storage unit 200A.

[0196] When the pre-inspection storage unit 200A is equipped with the storage case 203 as shown in Fig. 23(A), similar to the aforementioned pre-inspection storage unit 200, the drug can be dropped and moved to the transfer processing unit 300 after being once held in the storage case 203. On the other hand, when the path switching guide 213 is installed as shown in Fig. 23(B), the drug dropped into the path switching guide 213 can be directly moved to the post-inspection storage unit 700.

[0197] In addition, the pre-inspection storage unit 200A is equipped with a path switching guide detection sensor 220 for detecting whether the storage case 203 or the path switching guide 213 is installed. In the drug inspection device 11 adopting the pre-inspection storage unit 200A, the required time for the drug to reach the post-inspection storage unit 700 is different when the storage case 203 is installed in the pre-inspection storage unit 200A and when the path switching guide 213 is installed. Therefore, based on the detection result of the path switching guide detection sensor 220, the operations of the conveyance inspection processing unit 400 and the post-inspection storage unit 700 are switched.

[0198] In the pre-inspection storage unit 200A configured as described above, when the inspection process is not required, by installing the path switching guide 213 in the pre-inspection storage unit 200A, the required time for the drug to reach the post-inspection storage unit 700 can be shortened by the amount that does not pass through the conveyance inspection processing unit 400. As a result, the required time for subcontracting can be shortened.

[0199] Note that the pre-inspection storage unit 200A exhibits its effect when handling drugs that do not require inspection processing. In addition, for example, when the conveyance inspection processing unit 400 or the discharge processing unit 600 fails and becomes inoperable, by replacing the storage case 203 with the path switching guide 213, the drug can be conveyed without passing through the faulty location. Although the inspection function will be in a degraded state, the effect that the processing of the drug can be continued can be obtained.

[0200] For example, in the description of FIG. 7 and the like, the circumferential mounting plate 402 of the rotating disk 401 in the conveyance inspection processing unit 400 is configured to be divided into four quadrants. However, if the number of the drugs M is small, it may be subdivided into six to ten quadrants or the like, or for the sake of simplification, the number of divided quadrants may be reduced or the quadrants may not be divided.

[0201] On the other hand, when it is difficult to inspect individual drugs, such as when the number of the drugs M is large (for example, ten or more) or when large drugs are included, the overall inspection processing unit 801 grasps the types and quantities of the tablets received by the drug inspection device 11 from the upper device based on the drug prescription data, and may handle the input timing of the drugs, the cycle, and the number of repetitions of the operation variably with the upper device. For example, in the case of the drug inspection device 11, the storage capacity of the pre-inspection storage unit 200, the conveyance inspection processing unit 400, etc. for storing drugs is determined in advance, and there may be a case where the drugs described in the drug prescription data cannot be input into the drug inspection device 11 at one time. In such a case, the number of drug inputs can be divided into two or more times by adjusting with the upper device, and the processing method can be adjusted by using a plurality of compartments in the rotating disk 401 for processing. Also, depending on the shape and combination of the drugs, there are some drugs that are likely to overlap, and adjustments such as inputting these drugs into the drug inspection device 11 separately can also be made.

[0202] In addition, in order to improve the inspection performance of the drugs, when the drug inspection fails, the drug may not be discharged from the rotating disk 401, but may be held on the rotating disk 401 for another round, photographed again, and subjected to the inspection.

[0203] According to the first embodiment or its modified example as described above, a drug inspection device and a drug inspection method having the following features (1) to (4) are provided. (1) When the drug M is a combination of a large number of drugs with different shapes, for example, even in the case of 10 types of tablets with different shapes, by transferring each drug in a vertical row (substantially in a single row along the transport path) and in a non-overlapping state (spread-out state) in an elongated transport space, it is possible to surely image the upper and lower surfaces of each drug, and a high-definition image can be obtained. Thus, it is possible to provide a drug inspection apparatus and a drug inspection method capable of performing inspection with high precision or high probability. (2) Even when the drug M is a combination of a large number of drugs with different shapes, the drug M is transferred to an elongated transport space on a rotating disk, and while being transported at a constant speed, the drugs are individually divided and inspected from the images of a plurality of drugs taken, so that the field of view of the installed camera can be narrowed, and thus it becomes easy to make the inspection process (image cropping) small-sized and high-speed. Thus, it is possible to provide a drug inspection apparatus and a drug inspection method capable of being small-sized and performing high-speed processing. (3) Even when the drug M is a combination of a large number of drugs with different shapes, by performing an inspection process with the elongated transport space on the rotating disk rotating approximately 360 degrees, it is possible to clearly distinguish between the preceding drug and the subsequent drug by a series of unidirectional operations without reciprocating motion. Thus, it is possible to provide a drug inspection apparatus and a drug inspection method suitable for processing a plurality of consecutive drugs. (4) By performing an inspection process with the elongated transport space on a horizontal rotating disk rotating approximately 360 degrees, the pre-inspection storage section and the post-inspection storage section can be arranged in the vicinity and with a small height difference, so that it is possible to provide a small-sized drug inspection apparatus with a small height dimension and with the drug input section and the discharge section in the vicinity.

Example

[0204] The drug inspection apparatus 11 of Example 1 described above had the merit that by adopting a rotating disk in the transport inspection processing section 400 having the inspection imaging section 500, it was possible to continuously, stably, and at high speed process from the input to the discharge of the drug in one rotation operation. On the other hand, the drug inspection apparatus 11 of Example 1 had the problem that the apparatus became somewhat large-sized. Therefore, in Example 2, as an example of the drug inspection apparatus 10 that prioritizes miniaturization, the drug inspection apparatus 12 will be described with reference to FIGS. 24 and 25.

[0205] FIG. 24 is a side view and a front view of the drug inspection device 12 according to Example 2. Further, FIG. 25 is a diagram for explaining the operation of drug inspection in the drug inspection device 12. FIGS. 25(A) to 25(D) show the movement of the drug M in drug inspection in time series. FIGS. 25(A) and 25(D) are side views, and FIGS. 25(B) and 25(C) are front views.

[0206] The drug inspection device 12 includes a pre-inspection storage unit 250, a transfer processing unit 350, a conveyance inspection processing unit 450, an inspection imaging unit 550, a discharge processing unit 650, and a post-inspection storage unit 750, and an inspection control unit (not shown). Similar to Example 1, the functional outlines of the respective components correspond to the functions of the components with the same names in the drug inspection device 10. Further, in the following description, the description of the components and control operations common to Example 1 will be omitted.

[0207] As shown in FIG. 24, in the drug inspection device 12, the pre-inspection storage unit 250 and the transfer processing unit 350 are continuously arranged in the vertical direction, and have the same configuration and perform the same control operations as the pre-inspection storage unit 200 and the transfer processing unit 300 of the drug inspection device 11. That is, the drug M introduced into the pre-inspection storage unit 250 is pushed out from the transfer processing unit 350 to the conveyance inspection processing unit 450. A flat plate 451 is arranged in the conveyance inspection processing unit 450, and the drug M pushed out from the transfer processing unit 350 is held on the flat plate 451 (see FIG. 25(A)). The difference between the conveyance inspection processing unit 450 of this embodiment and the conveyance inspection processing unit 400 of Example 1 is that it does not have a moving conveyance path (rotating disk 401). That is, the conveyance inspection processing unit 450 holds the drug M transferred from the transfer processing unit 300 on the flat plate 451 without moving it until it is discharged to the discharge processing unit 650 by operating the flat plate 451 as described later.

[0208] The inspection imaging unit 550 includes an upper camera disposed above the flat plate 451. After the conveyance inspection processing unit 450 holds the drug M on the flat plate 451, the inspection imaging unit 550 moves horizontally by a driving means (not shown) and moves to the position indicated by the dotted line in FIG. 24(B), thereby imaging the drug M (see FIGS. 25(B) and 25(C)). The flat plate 451 is structured to be movable to the inclined state indicated by the dotted line in FIG. 24(A). After the inspection imaging unit 550 images the drug M, the flat plate 451 operates in the inclined state, so that the drug M passes through the discharge processing unit 650 and moves to the post-inspection storage unit 750, and is then discharged (see FIG. 25(D)). The configurations and control operations of the discharge processing unit 650 and the post-inspection storage unit 750 are the same as those of the discharge processing unit 600 and the post-inspection storage unit 700 of the drug inspection apparatus 11.

[0209] Note that in the drug inspection apparatus 12 shown in FIGS. 24 and 25, in order to prioritize miniaturization, the inspection imaging unit 550 is provided only with the upper camera. However, as in the first embodiment, it may be configured to also include a lower camera so that the drug M can be photographed from above and below.

[0210] According to the second embodiment as described above, in the case where the drug M is a combination of a large number of drugs with different shapes, for example, in the case of 10 types of tablets with different shapes, in the same elongated conveyance space as in the first embodiment, the individual drugs are transferred in a vertical row (substantially in a single row along the conveyance path) and in a non-overlapping state (scattered state), so that a high-definition image can be obtained. Thus, a drug inspection apparatus capable of performing inspection with high precision or high probability can be provided as a small-sized apparatus.

[0211] Note that in the drug inspection apparatus 12 of the second embodiment, since the substantial configuration of the conveyance inspection processing unit 450 is only the flat plate 451 that serves as the placement surface of the drug M and the space in its vicinity, these may be configured as a component of the discharge processing unit 650 instead of the configuration of the conveyance inspection processing unit 450. In this case, the drug inspection apparatus 12 does not need to include the conveyance inspection processing unit 450.

[0212] In addition, in the second embodiment, in order to process a plurality of consecutive drugs M at high speed, not only the mechanism for moving the drugs but also the inspection imaging unit 550 may be moved at high speed.

[0213] Note that each of the above-described embodiments has been described in detail for easy understanding of the present invention, and is not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. Also, a part of the configuration of one embodiment can be replaced with the configuration of another embodiment, and the configuration of another embodiment can be added to the configuration of one embodiment. Also, it is possible to add, delete, or replace other configurations for a part of the configuration of each embodiment. The above-described respective configurations, functions, processing units, processing means, etc. may be realized in hardware by designing a part or all of them, for example, by using an integrated circuit. Further, the above-described respective configurations, functions, etc. may be realized in software by a processor interpreting and executing a program for realizing each function. Also, information such as programs, tables, files, etc. for realizing each configuration can be stored in a memory, a recording device such as a hard disk or an SSD (Solid State Drive), or a recording medium such as an IC card, an SD card, or a DVD.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0214] 10, 11, 12 Drug inspection device 20 Pre-inspection storage unit 30 Transfer processing unit 40 Conveyance inspection processing unit 50 Inspection imaging unit 60 Discharge processing unit 70 Post-inspection storage unit 80 Inspection control unit 101 Drug packaging device 102 Drug storage unit 103 Drug supply unit 104 Drug packaging unit 105 Packaged drug 106 Individual drug 107 Prescription drug in a pack 200, 200A, 250 Pre-inspection storage unit 201 Input vibration alignment unit 202 Insertion partition board 203 Storage case 204, 205 Arrow 206 Rotation axis 213 Route switching guide 220 Route switching guide detection sensor 300, 350 Transfer processing unit 301 Transfer guiding guide 302 Transfer extrusion plate 303 Transfer extrusion alignment unit 304 Transfer unit shutter 400, 450 Conveyance inspection processing unit 401 Rotating disk 402 Circumferential placement board 403 Inner circumferential guide 404 Circumferential partition board 405 Outer circumferential guide 406 Support frame 451 Flat plate 500, 550 Inspection imaging unit 501 Camera 501A Upper camera 501B Lower camera 502, 502A, 502B Lighting (reflection lighting) 515 Transmitted lighting 516 Semi-transmissive sheet 521 Backlight image 522 Frontlight image 600 Discharge processing unit 601 Discharge guide 602 Discharge lever 700 Post-inspection storage unit 702 Discharge partition board 800 Inspection control unit 801 Overall inspection processing unit 802 Inspection result processing unit 803 Imaging and inspection processing unit 804 Drug operation control unit 805 Drug operation unit 901 Inspection result display screen 902 Upper prescription drug instruction device 903 Server 904 Drug database 1500 Audit Selection Initial Screen 1600, 1700, 1800, 1900, 2000, 2100, 2200 Audit Processing Screen 2300 Audit Amendment Screen

Claims

1. A pre-inspection storage section into which a group of medicines consisting of a plurality of medicines is introduced; a transfer processing section disposed below the pre-inspection storage section and configured to transfer the group of medicines that has dropped from the pre-inspection storage section to a substantially annular transport path on a rotating disk; a transport inspection processing unit that transports the group of medicines transferred to the transport path at a predetermined speed by the rotation of the rotary disk and has an inspection imaging unit that images each of the medicines in the group of medicines on the transport path; a discharge processing unit that discharges the imaged medicine group into a post-inspection storage unit; a post-inspection storage section that temporarily stores the group of medicines discharged by the discharge processing section and then discharges them outside the device; an inspection control unit that controls operations of the pre-inspection storage unit, the transfer processing unit, the transport inspection processing unit, the discharge processing unit, and the post-inspection storage unit, and inspects the medicine based on images captured by the inspection imaging unit; Equipped with the pre-inspection storage section and the post-inspection storage section are disposed adjacent to each other in sequence on an outer periphery of the rotating disk along a rotation direction of the rotating disk, The pre-inspection storage section can be equipped with either a storage case that opens the bottom surface to drop the group of medicines to the transfer processing section, or a path switching guide that has a path for directly moving the group of medicines to the post-inspection storage section. A drug inspection device comprising:

2. The pre-inspection storage section has a sensor that detects whether the storage case or the path switching guide is attached, When the inspection control unit detects that the storage case is attached as a detection result of the sensor, the inspection control unit performs an operation of inspecting the medicines by capturing images of the individual medicines in the medicine group using the inspection imaging unit of the transport inspection processing unit, and when the inspection control unit detects that the path switching guide is attached as a detection result of the sensor, the inspection control unit performs an operation of directly moving the medicine group to the post-inspection storage unit. The drug inspection device according to claim 1 .

3. The transport inspection processing unit has a plurality of drug placement areas obtained by dividing the substantially annular transport path into a predetermined number of drug placement areas in a rotational direction at a predetermined width of the outer periphery, When the medicine placement area on which the medicine group transferred by the transfer processing unit is placed passes through a predetermined range by the rotation of the rotary disk, the inspection imaging unit photographs the medicine placement area. The drug inspection device according to claim 1 .

4. The storage case is formed so that the space for storing the drug group has a V-shaped inclined surface and an elongated bottom surface, the pre-inspection storage section vibrates a component of the inclined surface of the storage case and then opens the bottom surface, thereby causing the group of medicines scattered in a substantially straight line to fall and move to the transfer processing section; The transfer processing unit pushes the spread medicine groups toward the rotating disk, thereby transferring the medicine groups to the transport path while maintaining the spread state in a substantially straight line. The drug inspection device according to claim 3 .

5. The transfer processing unit includes a transfer pushing plate which pushes out the dispersed drug group, and a transfer section shutter which is disposed between the transfer pushing plate and the rotating disk and which changes from a closed state to an open state when the drug group is pushed out by the transfer pushing plate; The tip of the transfer push plate is arc-shaped, and the transfer shutter is arc-shaped so as to be in contact with the circumference of the rotating disk. The drug inspection device according to claim 4 .

6. The discharge processing unit discharges the group of drugs into the post-inspection storage unit by pushing the group of drugs after imaging toward the outside of the rotating disk. The drug inspection device according to claim 5 .

7. A pre-inspection storage section into which a group of medicines consisting of a plurality of medicines is introduced; a transfer processing section disposed below the pre-inspection storage section and configured to transfer the group of medicines that has dropped from the pre-inspection storage section to a substantially annular transport path on a rotating disk; a transport inspection processing unit that transports the group of medicines transferred to the transport path at a predetermined speed by the rotation of the rotary disk and has an inspection imaging unit that images each of the medicines in the group of medicines on the transport path; a discharge processing unit that discharges the imaged medicine group into a post-inspection storage unit; a post-inspection storage section that temporarily stores the group of medicines discharged by the discharge processing section and then discharges them outside the device; an inspection control unit that controls operations of the pre-inspection storage unit, the transfer processing unit, the transport inspection processing unit, the discharge processing unit, and the post-inspection storage unit, and inspects the medicine based on an image captured by the inspection imaging unit, the pre-inspection storage section and the post-inspection storage section are disposed adjacent to each other in sequence on an outer periphery of the rotating disk along a rotation direction of the rotating disk, The pre-inspection storage section can be equipped with either a storage case that opens a bottom surface to drop the group of medicines to the transfer processing section, or a path switching guide that has a path to directly move the group of medicines to the post-inspection storage section; the pre-inspection storage section has a sensor that detects whether the storage case or the path switching guide is attached, The inspection control unit switches between the operations of the transport inspection processing unit and the post-inspection storage unit based on a detection result of the sensor and a required time for the medicine group to reach the post-inspection storage unit. A method for controlling a drug inspection device comprising:

Images