Type discrimination device

Abstract

To discriminate types of medicines to improve accuracy of the discrimination.SOLUTION: A computer (60) includes: a feature extraction part (64a) for extracting information indicating a reflection area of light irradiated to a target medicine from a captured image (82); and a collation part (64b) for collating the information extracted by the feature extraction part (64a) with information indicating a reflection area of light irradiated to a reference medicine, and discriminating the type of the target medicine based on a result of the collation.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a type discrimination device that automatically discriminates the type of medicine, a medicine sorting device that sorts medicines, and the like. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, multiple types of returned medications have been sorted by type by pharmacists or doctors. The returned medications are those prescribed to various patients or those that have been dispensed. Therefore, compared to the dispensing process of assembling (packaging) (one or more types of) medications (tablets) for each dosage period from groups of medications (medication cassettes) pre-packaged by drug type in dispensing equipment, etc., based on prescription information for each patient, the number of types of medications that are returned together, including those prescribed for multiple patients, is extremely large. Therefore, it is highly useful to automatically sort and reuse returned medications. The number of medications dispensed for each dosage period is generally around two to three, and at most around ten.

[0003] In addition, some pharmacies or hospitals (or more accurately, in-house pharmacy departments) simply dispose of returned medications to avoid the time and effort required for sorting, or the risk of misadministration due to incorrect sorting (putting medications back into the wrong cassette).

[0004] Patent Document 1 discloses a drug sorting device that automatically recognizes and stores returned ampoules or vials. This drug sorting device recognizes the orientation and posture of the ampoules or vials, as well as the properties of the ampoules or vials (e.g., shape, size, type, and expiration date). Then, the device associates the identification information of each ampule or vial with a storage area set for the individual ampule or vial when storing it according to the recognized size of the ampule or vial, and individually arranges the ampoules or vials, thereby storing each ampule or vial in a removable manner. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2015 / 170761 (Published November 12, 2015) Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] The subject of return in Patent Document 1 is ampoules or vials, not medicines such as tablets or capsules that are not contained in containers, etc., or medicines themselves that are not packaged, etc. Therefore, Patent Document 1 does not anticipate identifying such medicines (e.g., tablets or capsules) themselves, or even automatically sorting such medicines.

[0007] One aspect of the present invention aims to realize a type discrimination device, etc., that can discriminate the type of medicine that is not contained in a container such as a tablet or capsule, and can improve the accuracy of such discrimination.

[0008] Another aspect of the present invention is to realize a drug sorting device that can sort drugs that are not contained in containers such as tablets or capsules, and that can improve the efficiency of such sorting.

[0009] Another aspect of the present invention is to realize a type discrimination device or the like that can discriminate the type of medicine that is not contained in a container such as a tablet or capsule, and that can reduce the image data volume required to create an image used to discriminate the type of the medicine. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] In order to solve the above problem, a type discrimination device according to one embodiment of the present invention is a type discrimination device that discriminates the type of a target drug from an image of the target drug, and is equipped with a feature extraction unit that extracts first feature information that indicates the appearance characteristics of the target drug from the image, which at least includes reflection area information that indicates the reflection area of ​​light irradiated onto the target drug, and a discrimination unit that compares the first feature information with second feature information that indicates the appearance characteristics of the reference drug, which at least includes reflection area information that indicates the reflection area of ​​light irradiated onto a reference drug, and discriminates the type of the target drug based on the result of the comparison.

[0011] Furthermore, a type discrimination device according to one embodiment of the present invention is a type discrimination device that discriminates the type of a target drug from an image of the target drug, and includes: a feature extraction unit that extracts third feature information indicating the characteristics of the appearance of the target drug from the image, the third feature information including at least reflection information indicating whether light irradiated onto the target drug is reflected by the target drug; and a discrimination unit that compares the third feature information with fourth feature information indicating the characteristics of the appearance of the reference drug, the fourth feature information including at least reflection information indicating whether light irradiated onto a reference drug is reflected by the reference drug, and discriminates the type of the target drug based on the result of the comparison.

[0012] Furthermore, a type discrimination device according to one embodiment of the present invention is a type discrimination device that discriminates the type of a target drug from an image of the target drug, and includes a discrimination unit that compares fifth feature information indicating the appearance characteristics of the target drug, including target color information indicating the color of the target drug, extracted from the image, with sixth feature information including reference color information indicating the color of a reference drug, and discriminates the type of the target drug based on the result of the comparison, and an update unit that, if the discrimination unit fails to discriminate the type of the target drug, updates the target color information used for the discrimination as new reference color information after receiving an operation from a user.

[0013] In addition, a type discrimination device according to one embodiment of the present invention is a type discrimination device that discriminates the type of a target drug from an image of the target drug, and includes: a feature extraction unit that extracts seventh feature information indicating the appearance characteristics of the target drug from the image, the seventh feature information including at least identification information displayed on the surface of the target drug and first position information indicating the relative position of the display area of ​​the identification information with respect to the image of the target drug; and a discrimination unit that compares the seventh feature information with eighth feature information indicating the appearance characteristics of the reference drug, the eighth feature information including at least specific drug information indicating whether a reference drug is a specific drug, the identification information displayed on the surface of the reference drug, and second position information indicating the relative position of the display area of ​​the identification information with the image of the reference drug in the image of the reference drug, and discriminates the type of the target drug based on the result of the comparison.When the specific drug information indicates that the reference drug is a specific drug, the discrimination unit determines whether the discriminated target drug is the same type of drug as the reference drug without using the first position information and the second position information to discriminate the type of the target drug.

[0014] In addition, a drug sorting device according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a first storage unit for storing multiple types of drugs, a second storage unit for storing the drugs by type, a temporary storage unit for temporarily storing drugs that are not stored in the second storage unit, an imaging unit for capturing images of the target drugs removed from the first storage unit, a discrimination unit for determining the type of the target drugs from the captured image, a priority determination unit for determining a priority for each type of drug based on the frequency of discrimination in the discrimination history of the discrimination unit, and a sorting determination unit for determining to temporarily store the target drug in the temporary storage unit if the priority corresponding to the type of target drug determined by the discrimination unit is lower than a predetermined value.

[0015] Furthermore, a type discrimination device according to one embodiment of the present invention is a type discrimination device that discriminates the type of a target drug from an image of the target drug, and is equipped with an image processing unit that generates at least one of cut-out images obtained by cutting out a first region, which is the region of the image of the target drug, and a second region, which is the region of the image of a mounting table on which the target drug is placed, including the first region, from an image including the image of the target drug, in order to generate an image of a reference drug for discriminating the type of the target drug.

[0016] Furthermore, an image generation system according to one embodiment of the present invention is an image generation system comprising: (1) a type discrimination device that discriminates the type of a target drug from an image of the target drug; and (2) an information processing device that can be communicatively connected to the type discrimination device and generates an image of a reference drug for discriminating the type of the target drug, wherein the type discrimination device generates a cut-out image by cutting out a first region, which is the region of the image of the target drug, or a second region, which is the region of the image of a mounting table on which the target drug is placed, including the first region, from an image including the image of the target drug, and the information processing device generates the reference image based on the cut-out image generated by the type discrimination device.

[0017] Furthermore, an image generation system according to one embodiment of the present invention is an image generation system comprising: (1) a type discrimination device that discriminates the type of a target drug from an image of the target drug; and (2) an information processing device that can be communicatively connected to the type discrimination device and generates an image of a reference drug for discriminating the type of the target drug, wherein the type discrimination device generates at least one of cut-out images obtained by cutting out a first region, which is the region of the image of the target drug, and a second region, which is the region of the image of a mounting table on which the target drug is placed, including the first region, from an image including the image of the target drug, and the information processing device generates the reference image based on the cut-out image generated by the type discrimination device. [Effects of the Invention]

[0018] According to the type determination device according to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to improve the accuracy of drug determination.

[0019] Furthermore, according to the medicine sorting device according to one aspect of the present invention, the efficiency of sorting medicines can be improved.

[0020] Furthermore, according to the type discrimination device according to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the amount of image data required to create an image used to discriminate the type of medicine.

[0021] Furthermore, according to the image generation system according to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the amount of image data required to generate an image used to identify the type of medicine. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0022] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a medicine sorting device. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a medicine sorting device. [Figure 3] 1A and 1B are perspective views showing the overall configuration of an imaging unit and an example of a medicine placing table, respectively. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the rotation of the imaging unit. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of an imaging unit. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a reflection region of light reflected by a target drug in a captured image. [Figure 7] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a determination process performed by a determination unit. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the thickness of a target drug extracted by a feature extraction unit. [Figure 9] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of an update process of a medicine database update unit. [Figure 10] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a determination process performed by a determination unit. [Figure 11]FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the relative position of a display area for identification information with respect to an image of a target drug or a reference drug. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a comparison between the relative position of a display area of ​​identification information with respect to an image of a target drug and the relative position of a display area of ​​identification information with respect to an image of a reference drug. [Figure 13] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a medicine sorting process of the sorting control unit. [Figure 14] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a print control process of a print output control unit. [Figure 15] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a malfunction determination process of the medicine sorting device. [Figure 16] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of an image generation system. [Figure 17] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a cutout process performed by an image generating unit. [Figure 18] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a cut-out image. [Figure 19] 10 is a diagram showing an example of a cutout process from a captured image performed by an image processing unit 73. FIG. [Figure 20] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of a part of the medicine sorting device. [Figure 21] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a process for generating a shape model of a sorting cup performed by the medicine sorting device. [Figure 22] 10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating an example of a captured image of a sorting cup and a shape model of the sorting cup. [Figure 23] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a medicine detection process for checking remaining medicines by the medicine sorting device. [Figure 24] 10A and 10B are diagrams showing an example of a captured image of a sorting cup, an extracted image of the inside of the sorting cup, a shape model, and an image of a matching region in the extracted image. [Figure 25] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a printing process of the medicine sorting device. [Figure 26] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a drug discrimination system. [Figure 27]10 is a flowchart showing an example of a discrimination process of the medicine sorting device. [Figure 28] 10 is a diagram showing an example of identification information of a target drug, identification information of a reference drug in a user's adopted drug list, and identification information of a reference drug in a comprehensive drug database. FIG. [Figure 29] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a first storage section. [Figure 30] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of an initial image (initial screen) on which the results of medicine sorting can be displayed. [Figure 31] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a setting image (setting screen) for a user to set a method for storing brought-medicines in a first storage section when the brought-medicines sorting mode is set. [Figure 32] 10 is a diagram showing an example of a sorting image for displaying the sorting status of brought-by medications when the brought-by medication sorting mode is set. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0023] [Embodiment 1] (Overview of the medicine sorting device 1) First, an overview of the medicine sorting device 1 will be described using Figures 1 and 2. Figure 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the medicine sorting device 1. Figure 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the medicine sorting device 1, with 2001 being a perspective view of the medicine sorting device 1 and 2002 being a perspective view showing the basic configuration of the medicine sorting area 2. As shown in Figure 1 and 2001 and 2002 of Figure 2, the medicine sorting device 1 comprises the medicine sorting area 2, a touch panel 3, a print output unit 4, and a packaging mechanism 6.

[0024] The medicine sorting device 1 takes an image of each of multiple types of medicine, determines the type of medicine based on the image obtained as a result of the image capture, and sorts the medicines by type. Specifically, this process is performed in the medicine sorting area 2. Details of the medicine sorting area 2 (internal configuration of the medicine sorting device 1) will be described later. After the medicines sorted by type are visually inspected by the user, they are packaged or returned to the medicine shelf or packaging machine.

[0025] In this embodiment, the multiple types of medicines are medicines that are not contained in a container or are not packaged, and examples of such medicines are tablets or capsules. The multiple types of medicines are also described as returned medicines. These medicines are medicines that are used by a pharmacy or hospital and are returned to the pharmacy or hospital as "returned medicines." However, the multiple types of medicines may also be "brought-in medicines" that may include medicines issued by other pharmacies or hospitals in addition to the used medicines. The medicine sorting device 1 can automatically perform processes from imaging to sorting after the medicines are returned.

[0026] The touch panel 3 accepts various user inputs at the operation unit 31, and displays various images on the display unit 32 (for example, an image showing the progress of drug sorting, an image for visual inspection).

[0027] The print output unit 4 prints a journal representing drug data (e.g., data indicating the drug name, manufacturer, or ingredients) related to the drug after visual inspection according to user input after visual inspection. The drug data may include image data representing a drug-specific image.

[0028] The packaging mechanism 6 packages the sorted medicines. The packaging mechanism 6 is an optional mechanism. When the packaging mechanism 6 is provided in the medicine sorting device 1, the medicine sorting device 1 can perform all processes from sorting returned medicines to packaging after visual inspection all at once. In particular, when medicines are fed into the packaging mechanism 6 by the transport / sorting unit 12, the processes from sorting to packaging can be performed automatically, except for visual inspection.

[0029] A conventional packaging unit of a tablet packaging machine or powder packaging machine can be used as the packaging mechanism 6. In this case, for example, drugs in a sorting cup 141 sorted for each drug type can be packaged into one or more packages.

[0030] It should be noted that throughout this specification, the term "packaging," as used at least in the description of the drug sorting device 1, includes both the meaning of "packaging drugs according to the time of administration based on prescription data" and the meaning of "simply packaging the drugs sorted into the second storage section 14 regardless of the prescription data."

[0031] The medicine sorting device 1 also includes a first RFID (Radio Frequency Identifier) ​​reader / writer unit 5. The first RFID reader / writer unit 5 is provided on the medicine removal side of the base 19, as shown by 2002 in FIG.

[0032] The first RFID reader / writer unit 5 reads data related to the medicines stored in each sorting cup 141, which is stored in an RFID tag (not shown) provided at the bottom of each sorting cup 141 in the second storage section 14. This data includes, for example, data indicating the number of medicines stored, medicine identification data (e.g., GS1 code) for identifying the medicines, data indicating the type of sorting cup 141, and sorting cup identification information (identification information assigned to the RFID tag) for identifying the sorting cup 141. Note that the medicine data (e.g., medicine name) of the medicines stored in the sorting cup 141, image data acquired by the imaging unit 13, etc. are stored in the medicine database 81 in association with the sorting cup identification information.

[0033] The data may also include drug data determined by visual inspection (drug data after visual inspection). The drug data after visual inspection may also be written to the RFID tag. The drug data after visual inspection is used when the drugs stored in the corresponding sorting cup 141 are (1) packaged by the packaging mechanism 6 or a packaging machine other than the drug sorting device 1, or (2) returned to the drug shelf. The drug data may also be linked to the sorting cup identification information and stored in the drug database.

[0034] As shown in 2001 in FIG. 2, the medicine sorting device 1 is also provided with an opening / closing shutter 51 and an opening / closing door 52 that enable the medicine take-out side to be opened and closed.

[0035] (Basic configuration of drug sorting area 2) Next, the basic configuration of the medicine sorting area 2 (internal configuration of the medicine sorting device 1) will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and 2002 in FIG.

[0036] 1 and 2, the medicine sorting area 2 mainly comprises, as hardware, a first storage section 11, a transport / sorting unit 12 (sorting section), an imaging unit 13, a second storage section 14, a waiting tray 15, a collection tray 16, a medicine insertion port 17, and a second RFID reader / writer unit 18. Each component except for the transport / sorting unit 12 is mounted on a base 19. The main functions of the transport / sorting unit 12, the imaging unit 13, and the second RFID reader / writer unit 18 will be described in detail in the description of each process below.

[0037] The first storage unit 11 stores a mixture of multiple types of medicines returned by users. In this embodiment, the first storage unit 11 is divided into multiple storage units. In this case, for example, when all of the medicines stored in one storage unit are transported by the transport / sorting unit 12, the medicines stored in a storage unit adjacent to that storage unit become the target for transport. The first storage unit 11 may also be rotatable about the Z axis (the center of the cylindrical shape). In this case, the control unit 60a of the computer (type determination device) 60 may rotate the first storage unit 11, for example, when one storage unit becomes empty, so that the transport / sorting unit 12 can easily retrieve the medicines.

[0038] The second storage section 14 includes a plurality of sorting cups 141 that store medicines sorted by type. The control section 60a determines the type of medicine based on an image of the medicine captured by the imaging unit 13, and determines the sorting cup 141 in which to store the medicine based on the determination result. The medicine is transported to the determined sorting cup 141 by the transporting / sorting unit 12 and stored therein.

[0039] The standby tray 15 is a temporary storage unit where medicines are temporarily placed. For example, when all of the sorting cups 141 are filled with medicines, medicines determined by the control unit 60a to be of a type other than those medicines are temporarily placed on the standby tray 15. In this case, after the medicines are removed from the sorting cups 141, they may be transported from the standby tray 15 to the sorting cups 141.

[0040] In this embodiment, a suspected drug (described later) that is suspected to be a drug may be temporarily placed on the waiting tray 15. When the suspected drug is temporarily placed, the suspected drug is transported from the waiting tray 15 to a predetermined area of ​​the second storage unit 14, for example, according to the determination result of the control unit 60a.

[0041] The collection tray 16 is a storage unit that stores objects whose type cannot be determined by the control unit 60a (e.g., foreign matter other than medicine). Examples of foreign matter other than medicine include pieces of PTP (Press Through Pack) sheets. Pieces of PTP sheets may get mixed into the first storage unit 11 when medicines are returned. The control unit 60a also stores in the collection tray 16 medicines that are registered in the medicine database 81 as medicines to be discarded or medicines that the user wishes to discard (e.g., medicines with old manufacturing dates).

[0042] When the medicine sorting device 1 is equipped with a packaging mechanism 6, the medicine input port 17 is used to transport medicines stored in the second storage section 14 to the packaging mechanism 6 by the transport / sorting unit 12. Naturally, when the medicine sorting device 1 is not equipped with a packaging mechanism 6, the medicine input port 17 is not required.

[0043] 1, the medicine sorting device 1 is also provided with a computer 60 that controls the above-mentioned components (hardware) of the medicine sorting device 1. The computer 60 is provided with a control unit 60a and a memory unit 80. The control unit 60a includes a transport control unit 61, a sorting control unit (sorting determination unit) 62, an imaging control unit 63, a discrimination unit 64, a priority determination unit 65, an operation input unit 66, a display control unit 67, an RFID control unit 68, a print output control unit 69, a registration unit 70, a packaging control unit 71, a medicine adsorption control unit 72, an image processing unit 73, a medicine database update unit (update unit) 74, a notification control unit 75, and a lighting failure determination unit 76.

[0044] Here, we will explain the basic processing of the operation input unit 66, display control unit 67, RFID control unit 68, print output control unit 69, registration unit 70, and packaging control unit 71. The basic processing of the transport control unit 61, sorting control unit 62, imaging control unit 63, and discrimination unit 64 will be explained in detail in the sections below titled (Drug transport processing to imaging unit 13), (Drug sorting processing), (Drug imaging processing), and (Image processing and discrimination processing). Processing by other components included in control unit 60a will be explained in each embodiment below.

[0045] The operation input unit 66 and the display control unit 67 respectively control the operation unit 31 and the display unit 32 of the touch panel 3. The RFID control unit 68 controls the first RFID reader / writer unit 5 and the second RFID reader / writer unit 18. The printout control unit 69 controls the printout unit 4 in accordance with the user input received by the operation input unit 66.

[0046] The registration unit 70 registers the drug data relating to a drug for which the discrimination unit 64 has determined that no drug data corresponding to the image data exists in the drug database 81. Specifically, for a drug for which the discrimination unit 64 has determined that no corresponding drug data exists, the registration unit 70 links the captured image 82 of the drug with the drug data specified by the user and registers the image in the drug database 81.

[0047] When the medicine sorting device 1 is equipped with a packaging mechanism 6, the control unit 60a is equipped with a packaging control unit 71 that controls the packaging mechanism 6. The packaging control unit 71 controls the operation of the packaging mechanism 6. The packaging control unit 71 also controls the transporting and sorting unit 12 to transport the medicines stored in the sorting cups 141 to the medicine inlet 17.

[0048] The medicine sorting device 1 may also include a barcode reader 7. The barcode reader 7 reads, for example, a barcode indicating medicine data of the medicine printed on a medicine packet (packaging paper) in which the packaging mechanism 6 packages the medicines after sorting. This allows the control unit 60a to perform processing based on the read barcode (e.g., displaying the medicine data indicated by the barcode). The packaging mechanism 6 may also include a barcode printing mechanism (not shown) that prints, on the medicine packet, a barcode indicating medicine data of the medicine packaged in the medicine packet.

[0049] The barcode reader 7 may be any reading device capable of reading information indicating drug data printed on a medicine packet or the like. The drug sorting device 1 does not necessarily need to be equipped with a barcode reader 7. When the control unit 60a performs processing based on the above information, the control unit 60a may acquire the above information by communicating with an external device equipped with the barcode reader 7.

[0050] The medicine sorting device 1 may also include a notification unit 8. The notification unit 8 includes, for example, a Patlite (registered trademark) that emits light, a speaker that outputs sound, and the like.

[0051] The computer 60 also includes a storage unit 80. The storage unit 80 pre-stores a drug database (drug master) 81 that manages drug data on multiple types of drugs, and stores captured images 82 and the like as the drug sorting device 1 performs sorting. The captured images 82 are images captured by the first camera 131. The captured images 82 may also be images captured by the first camera 131 that have been subjected to image processing by the imaging control unit 63. Examples of the image processing include processing to generate an image to be analyzed by the discrimination unit 64 (an image that extracts drug characteristics and enables comparison with the characteristics of drugs (reference drugs) included in the drug database 81). For example, processing to extract images of drugs from the captured images may be included.

[0052] The various data stored in the storage unit 80 may not necessarily be managed by the storage unit 80, but may be managed by, for example, an external device. In this case, the control unit 60a may acquire the various data from the external device via a communication line such as the Internet, as necessary. The drug database 81 may also be updated by adding new drug data.

[0053] The storage unit 80 may also include priority data 83, target drug color data 84, identification information change information 85, captured image discrimination information 86, and discrimination count information 88. Note that these components are not essential components for the drug sorting device 1. Details of these components will be explained in each embodiment that requires these components.

[0054] (Overview of processing in medicine sorting device 1) In the medicine sorting device 1, the transporting / sorting unit 12 transports each medicine returned to the first storage section 11 to the imaging unit 13. The imaging unit 13 sequentially captures images of each transported medicine. The control unit 60a identifies the type of each medicine based on the captured images and determines a sorting position in the second storage section 14 for each identified medicine. The transporting / sorting unit 12 transports each medicine to the determined sorting position. Information about the medicines stored in the second storage section 14 is written to the RFID tag of the sorting cup 141, stored in the memory section 80, or displayed on the touch panel 3. After or during the sorting of the medicines, the user operates the touch panel 3 to perform processes such as visual inspection and packaging. Each process will be described in detail below.

[0055] (Drug delivery process to imaging unit 13) First, the process of transporting medicine from the first container 11 to the imaging unit 13 will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and 2001 in FIG.

[0056] Specifically, the conveying / sorting unit 12 conveys the medicines stored in the first storage section 11 to a receiving area Ar1 (see 3002 in FIG. 3) where the imaging unit 13 receives the medicines. The conveying control section 61 controls the conveying process by the conveying / sorting unit 12.

[0057] The transport and sorting unit 12 includes a second camera 121 , a suction and shutter mechanism 122 , and a transport mechanism 123 .

[0058] The second camera 121 sequentially captures images of the first storage unit 11 to identify the medicine to be transported. The imaging control unit 63 controls the imaging process of the second camera 121. The second camera 121 is provided at the end of the transport / sorting unit 12 (specifically, of the housing including at least the suction / shutter mechanism 122) on the side facing the base 19. The second camera 121 may be provided at the tip of the suction mechanism described below. The imaging control unit 63 analyzes the captured image and determines whether or not the image contains medicine. If it is determined that the image contains medicine, the transport control unit 61, for example, brings the tip closer to the first storage unit 11 and identifies the medicine contained in the image captured at that time as the medicine to be transported.

[0059] The suction / shutter mechanism 122 includes a suction mechanism that suctions the medicine identified as the delivery target, and a shutter mechanism that prevents the medicine suctioned by the suction mechanism from falling. The suction mechanism is provided so as to be movable in the Z-axis direction. The shutter mechanism is provided in front of the end so as to be movable substantially parallel to the XY plane.

[0060] When acquiring a medicine, the suction mechanism extends from the end, adsorbs the identified medicine at its tip, and then returns to the end. In this state, the transport control unit 61 moves the shutter mechanism to a position facing the end and maintains the shutter mechanism in this position (closed state) during medicine transport. The transport control unit 61 moves the suction / shutter mechanism 122 to a position facing the medicine placement stage 133a (see 3002 in Figure 3) of the medicine holding mechanism 133 arranged in the receiving area Ar1, and then moves the shutter mechanism to a position not facing the end (open state). Then, after extending the suction mechanism from the end, the suction state is released, thereby placing the medicine on the medicine placement stage 133a.

[0061] The transport mechanism 123 moves the suction / shutter mechanism 122 in the X-axis and Y-axis directions under the control of the transport control unit 61. This transport mechanism 123 enables the movement of the suction / shutter mechanism 122 when searching for a drug to be transported in the first container 11, or the transport of a drug from the first container 11 to the drug placement table 133a. Also, in the drug sorting process, it enables the transport of drugs from the drug placement table 133a to the second container 14, the waiting tray 15, or the collection tray 16. Note that in the drug sorting process, the sorting control unit 62 controls the transport / sorting unit 12 to transport the drugs placed in the receiving area Ar1 to a predetermined sorting cup 141 in the second container 14 or the waiting tray 15 based on the discrimination result by the discrimination unit 64.

[0062] (Drug imaging processing) Next, the medicine imaging process by the imaging unit 13 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2002 in FIG. 2, 3, and 4. 3001 and 3002 in FIG. 3 are perspective views showing the overall configuration of the imaging unit 13, and 3003 in FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an example of the medicine placing table 133a. 4001 and 4002 in FIG. 4 are diagrams for explaining the rotation of the imaging unit 13. The medicine imaging process is mainly performed by the imaging unit 13 and the imaging control unit 63.

[0063] Specifically, the imaging unit 13 is placed on the medicine placing table 133a and captures an image of a medicine placed in a placement area Ar2 (imaging area) where the medicine to be imaged is placed, as shown at 3002 in Fig. 3. The imaging control unit 63 controls the imaging process by the imaging unit 13, the pivoting movement of the first camera 131 and the illuminator 134, and the movement of the medicine holding mechanism 133. As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the imaging unit 13 includes the first camera 131 (imaging section), a rotation mechanism 132 (rotating section), the medicine holding mechanism 133 (medicine placing table, moving mechanism), and the illuminator 134 (ultraviolet light irradiation section, visible light irradiation section).

[0064] The first camera 131 captures an image of a drug placed in a placement area Ar2 facing the first camera 131 in order to identify the type of drug in the discrimination unit 64, which will be described later. The drug holding mechanism 133 is a mechanism for holding a drug, and as shown by 3001 and 3002 in FIG. 3, includes a drug placing table (petri dish) 133a, a turning mechanism 133b (moving mechanism), and a shaft 133c connecting the drug placing table 133a and the turning mechanism 133b. The drug placing table 133a is used to place a drug to be imaged. The turning mechanism 133b moves the drug placing table 133a; specifically, it turns the drug placing table 133a relative to the XY plane and turns the shaft 133c in the circumferential direction of the shaft 133c.

[0065] When the medicine transported from the first container 11 is placed on the medicine placing table 133a, the imaging control unit 63 drives the turning mechanism 133b to move the medicine placing table 133a from the receiving area Ar1 to the placing area Ar2. Thereafter, the imaging control unit 63 controls at least the first camera 131 and the illuminator 134 to capture an image of the medicine placed in the placing area Ar2. The captured image is stored in the storage unit 80 as a captured image 82. For example, after the imaging is completed, the imaging control unit 63 drives the turning mechanism 133b to move the medicine placing table 133a on which the imaged medicine is placed from the placing area Ar2 to the receiving area Ar1.

[0066] In this embodiment, two medicine placing tables 133a are provided at the tip (end) of the shaft 133c. The turning mechanism 133b turns the shaft 133c, and when one medicine placing table 133a is placed in the placement area Ar2, the other medicine placing table 133a is placed in the receiving area Ar1. When imaging medicines in the placement area Ar2, the transport / sorting unit 12 transports medicines from the first container 11 to the medicine placing table 133a present in the receiving area Ar1, thereby enabling continuous imaging of the medicines. Note that it is assumed that the medicine placing table 133a does not have any medicines placed on it, for example, after the medicines have been sorted into the second container 14.

[0067] In this embodiment, the medicine placing table 133a is transparent, so that the first camera 131 can take images of the medicines placed on the medicine placing table 133a from multiple directions through the medicine placing table 133a.

[0068] 3, the medicine mounting table 133a may have a generally V-shaped cross section with a recessed bottom. As shown in 3003 of FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, when the medicine mounting table 133a is disposed in the receiving area Ar1 and the disposing area Ar2, the groove direction of the generally V-shaped cross section (extension direction of the shaft portion 133c) is generally parallel to the rotation axis Ay of the imaging mechanism (described later) of the rotation mechanism 132. The bottom of the medicine mounting table 133a does not have to be V-shaped with an acute angle. As shown in 3003 of FIG. 3, the bottom may include a bottom surface portion 133aa and inclined surface portions 133ab inclined from two opposing points of the bottom surface portion 133aa. The shape of the bottom portion need only be such that the information (engraved information or printed information) imprinted or printed on the medicine can be recognized when viewed (photographed) from the back of the medicine placing stand 133a, and that the medicine can be fixed in place.

[0069] If the medicine is a capsule or deformed tablet (e.g., rugby ball-shaped), if the bottom of the medicine mounting table 133a is flat, the medicine will not be aligned on the XY plane, which may make it difficult to obtain a clear image of the medicine (engraved information or printed information). If the cross section is approximately V-shaped, the capsule or deformed tablet fits into the lowest end, and the medicine can be fixed. This makes it easier to obtain a clear image of the medicine. In the case of a tablet, for example, the axis portion 133c may be rotated in the circumferential direction of the axis portion 133c, so that the flat portion (inclined surface portion 133ab) of the medicine mounting table 133a faces the first camera 131, thereby ensuring that the medicine does not move.

[0070] In addition, the rotation mechanism 133b can also vibrate (slightly move or shake) the medicine placing table 133a. In this case, for example, by vibrating and rolling a capsule placed on the medicine placing table 133a, the printed portion of the capsule can be oriented in a predetermined direction (for example, this portion can be made to face the first camera 131 placed in the initial position described below). Furthermore, by the vibration, even if a cylindrical tablet (with a circular bottom) is placed upright on the flat surface, the tablet can be turned sideways (positioned so that the bottom of the tablet faces the flat surface).

[0071] The illuminator 134 emits light to be irradiated onto the medicine when imaging the medicine under the control of the imaging control unit 63. Fig. 5 is a diagram schematically showing the internal configuration of the imaging unit 13. As shown in 3001 of Fig. 3 and Fig. 5, the illuminator 134 includes a visible light irradiating unit (first irradiating unit 134a and second irradiating unit 134b) that irradiates the medicine with visible light, and an ultraviolet light irradiating unit 134c that irradiates the medicine with ultraviolet light.

[0072] The first irradiating unit 134a and the second irradiating unit 134b irradiate the medicine with white light as visible light. The first irradiating unit 134a is a bar-shaped visible light source (bar illumination), and the second irradiating unit 134b is a ring-shaped visible light source (ring illumination). The first camera 131 receives the visible light emitted from the first irradiating unit 134a or the second irradiating unit 134b and reflected by the medicine, thereby acquiring an image based on the visible light (visible light image). The imaging control unit 63 stores image data representing the visible light image acquired by the first camera 131 in the storage unit 80 as an acquired image 82.

[0073] The ultraviolet light irradiation unit 134c irradiates the drug with ultraviolet light (e.g., light having a peak wavelength of 365 nm or more and 410 nm or less), thereby exciting the components contained in the drug. This causes fluorescence (e.g., light having a peak wavelength of 410 nm or more and 800 nm or less) to be extracted from the drug. The first camera 131 receives the fluorescence emitted from the drug and acquires an image based on the ultraviolet light (ultraviolet light image). The imaging control unit 63 stores image data representing the ultraviolet light image acquired by the first camera 131 in the memory unit 80 as an acquired image 82.

[0074] As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the rotation mechanism 132 rotates the first camera 131 so as to revolve around the arrangement area Ar2 (the medicine placing table 133a arranged at that position) where the medicine to be imaged is arranged. The first camera 131 images the medicine arranged in the arrangement area Ar2 from multiple positions to which the rotation mechanism 132 has rotated it. Specifically, the imaging mechanism including the first camera 131 and the illuminator 134 is rotated so as to revolve around the arrangement area Ar2. Therefore, the first camera 131 can image the medicine from multiple directions while maintaining the positional relationship of the first camera 131 and the illuminator 134 with respect to the arrangement area Ar2.

[0075] As shown in FIG. 3 at 3001, the rotation mechanism 132 includes an imaging mechanism drive unit 132a and a power transmission mechanism 132b. The imaging mechanism drive unit 132a generates power for rotating the imaging mechanism around the placement area Ar2. The power transmission mechanism 132b transmits the power generated by the imaging mechanism drive unit 132a to the imaging mechanism. The imaging mechanism drive unit 132a is driven under the control of the imaging control unit 63 to change the position of the imaging mechanism around the placement area Ar2.

[0076] The rotation mechanism 132 rotates the imaging mechanism between an initial position and a position opposite to the initial position. The initial position is a position approximately perpendicular to the placement area Ar2 and above the placement area Ar2. The position opposite to the initial position is a position approximately perpendicular to the placement area Ar2 and below the placement area Ar2. This position can also be said to be a position where the first camera 131 faces the bottom of the medicine placing table 133a located in the placement area Ar2.

[0077] As shown in FIG. 4, the axis that passes through the center of the placement area Ar2 and is parallel to the Z axis is defined as axis Ax0, and the axis that passes through the center of the placement area Ar2 and the center of the imaging mechanism is defined as axis Ax1. The angle between axis Ax0 and axis Ax1 is defined as θ. In this embodiment, the rotation mechanism 132 positions the imaging mechanism at one of θ=0° (initial position), 45°, 135°, and 180°. Reference numeral 4001 in FIG. 4 indicates a case where the imaging mechanism is at θ=0°, and reference numeral 4002 in FIG. 4 indicates a case where the imaging mechanism has rotated from the initial position to a position of θ=45°.

[0078] In this way, by rotating the imaging mechanism around the placement area Ar2, it is possible to image the medicine from multiple directions while the medicine is fixed in the placement area Ar2. Furthermore, even if the medicine (tablet) stands upright after shaking the medicine placing table 133a, information indicated by the markings or the like affixed to the medicine can be obtained by imaging from an oblique direction (θ=45° or 135°).

[0079] It is also possible to fix the imaging mechanism and rotate the drug, thereby capturing images of the drug from multiple directions.

[0080] (imaging position control) Next, an example of position control of the imaging mechanism will be described. The imaging control unit 63 first sets the imaging mechanism to an initial position and causes the first camera 131 to capture an image of the drug placed in the placement area Ar2 at the initial position. At this time, the first camera 131 acquires visible light images (two visible light images) based on visible light from the first irradiating unit 134a and the second irradiating unit 134b, and also acquires an ultraviolet light image based on ultraviolet light from the ultraviolet light irradiating unit 134c.

[0081] Next, the imaging control unit 63 sets the imaging mechanism to a position opposite to the initial position and causes the first camera 131 to capture an image of the drug placed in the placement area Ar2 at that position, thereby acquiring two visible light images and an ultraviolet light image. The discrimination unit 64 analyzes these six images to determine the type of drug. If the type of drug cannot be identified as one, the imaging control unit 63 causes the first irradiator 134a and the second irradiator 134b to emit visible light at positions θ=45° and 135°, and causes the first camera 131 to capture an image of the drug. The discrimination unit 64 analyzes the visible light image at this time to determine the type of drug.

[0082] The position of the imaging mechanism can be controlled in various ways, including but not limited to the above. For example, imaging may be performed from a position opposite to the initial position, and then imaging may be performed from the initial position. Alternatively, a drug discrimination process may be performed based on a visible light image captured from a position of θ=45°, and only if the drug type cannot be identified as a single type may a visible light image be acquired from a position of θ=135°. Alternatively, only ultraviolet light images may be acquired at the initial position and a position opposite to the initial position, and after drug discrimination process based on the ultraviolet light image, a visible light image may be acquired at that position. Alternatively, visible light images and ultraviolet light images may be acquired at all positions.

[0083] (Image processing / discrimination processing) Next, image processing of the image captured by the imaging unit 13 and drug discrimination processing based on the results of the image processing will be described with reference to Fig. 1. The image processing is mainly performed by the imaging control unit 63, and the discrimination processing is mainly performed by the discrimination unit 64.

[0084] The discrimination unit 64 discriminates the type of drug based on the image of the drug captured by the first camera 131. Specifically, the discrimination unit 64 discriminates the type of drug based on the imaging result (visible light image) of the drug captured in a state where visible light is irradiated from the first irradiating unit 134a or the second irradiating unit 134b. The discrimination unit 64 also discriminates the type of drug based on the imaging result (ultraviolet light image) of the drug captured in a state where ultraviolet light is irradiated.

[0085] The discrimination unit 64 performs image analysis on each of the visible light image and / or the ultraviolet light image to extract features of the medicine contained in the image, such as size, shape, markings, prints, secant lines, and representative color (the color of the marking or print area).

[0086] Examples of the size characteristic of the drug include the major axis and minor axis of the drug, and examples of the shape characteristic of the drug include the roundness and aspect ratio of the drug.

[0087] When OCR (Optical Character Recognition) or the like is performed, other information such as the engraved or printed name of the drug (e.g., an identification code), identification information indicating the manufacturer (identification information for identifying the drug), and expiration date are extracted as drug characteristics. In the case of an ultraviolet light image, the drug characteristics include the representative color of the drug in the image. The discrimination unit 64 associates the extracted information indicating the characteristics of each drug with the captured image 82 of the drug and stores it in the storage unit 80. Drug characteristics may be extracted using known techniques.

[0088] The extracted drug features include the representative color of the drug in the image, as described above. Hereinafter, data indicating this representative color will be referred to as color data (data indicating the drug color). Color data includes data generated from both visible light images and ultraviolet light images. In the following description, unless otherwise specified, the term "color data" refers to both color data generated from visible light images and ultraviolet light images. The color data is data indicating the color of a specific region (at least a portion of the region in which the drug appears, typically an area with an inscription or print) in a captured image of the drug. For example, the color data may be the average RGB value of each pixel included in the region. Alternatively, the color data may be a CIELab value, which is a value representing the color included in the region as a combination of the L*, a*, and b* values ​​in the CIELab color space.

[0089] The discrimination unit 64 discriminates the type of drug by comparing the characteristics of each drug with the drug database 81. For example, the discrimination unit 64 ranks candidates for drug data (reference drug data) related to the imaged drug from the drug database 81 based on the color data. Thereafter, the discrimination unit 64 discriminates the type based on other characteristics in accordance with the above ranking.

[0090] The discrimination unit 64 may also narrow down candidates for drug data related to the imaged drug from the drug database 81 using pattern matching or the like based on the extracted drug characteristics. In this case, for example, the drug data candidates are narrowed down using at least one of the above-mentioned size, shape, inscription, print, cleavage line, and representative color. Thereafter, the discrimination unit 64 performs OCR or the like to read identification information or the like indicated on the inscription or print, and further narrows down the drug types from the candidates using pattern matching or the like. The discrimination unit 64 may also rank the candidates based on the degree of agreement between the extracted drug characteristics and the characteristics of drugs (reference drugs) included in the drug database 81.

[0091] Furthermore, even if the drug features (target features) extracted using pattern matching or the like are not in the drug database 81, if the drug is estimated to be a drug (tablet or capsule) based on at least a part of the target features, the discrimination unit 64 will determine the type of drug as a suspected drug. In this case, the suspected drug can also be sorted into the second storage unit 14 or the waiting tray 15. In this embodiment, the suspected drug may first be temporarily placed on the waiting tray 15.

[0092] In this way, the determination unit 64 determines whether or not there is drug data corresponding to the captured image 82 captured by the first camera 131 in the drug data (drug database 81) relating to multiple types of drugs that have been registered in advance.

[0093] The discrimination unit 64 outputs the discrimination result of the type of medicine to the sorting control unit 62. For example, when the type of medicine can be identified to one, or when the number of candidates has been narrowed down to a predetermined number or less, the discrimination unit 64 outputs the medicine data related to the medicine as the discrimination result. In this case, the discrimination unit 64 stores the medicine data related to the medicine in the storage unit 80 in association with the captured image 82 of the medicine.

[0094] When the discrimination unit 64 discriminates the type of medicine as a suspected medicine, it outputs the characteristics of the medicine (the characteristics of the object presumed to be a suspected medicine) as the discrimination result. On the other hand, when the discrimination unit 64 discriminates that the medicine is registered in the medicine database 81 as a medicine to be discarded, or when it discriminates that the object contained in the first container 11 is a foreign object other than a medicine, it outputs the discrimination result that the medicine is not to be sorted.

[0095] As described above, the discrimination unit 64 analyzes the captured image 82 and performs discrimination processing. The discrimination unit 64 may be configured to perform the following processing when it is difficult to discriminate the type of drug in a single discrimination processing (when the type of drug cannot be discriminated in a single discrimination processing). For example, the discrimination unit 64 may be configured to perform image analysis on the captured image 82 again and attempt to discriminate the type of drug (discrimination retry processing) until a predetermined upper limit number of times (e.g., three times) is reached or a timeout occurs.

[0096] (Medicine sorting processing) Next, the medicine sorting process based on the result of the above-mentioned discrimination process will be described with reference to Fig. 1. The medicine sorting process is mainly performed by the conveying / sorting unit 12 and the sorting control unit 62.

[0097] Based on the discrimination result by the discrimination section 64, the conveying / sorting unit 12 sorts the medicines by type and stores them in the second storage section 14 or the waiting tray 15. The sorting control section 62 controls the conveying / sorting unit 12 to convey the medicines placed in the receiving area Ar1 after the imaging and discrimination process to a predetermined sorting cup 141 in the second storage section 14 or the waiting tray 15 based on the discrimination result.

[0098] When the sorting control unit 62 receives the discrimination result of the medicine, it determines a sorting position for storing the medicine, and stores the discrimination result and the determined sorting position in the memory unit 80 in association with each other. Specifically, the sorting control unit 62 determines whether or not a discrimination result identical to the above discrimination result is stored in the memory unit 80.

[0099] If a discrimination result identical to the above discrimination result is stored, the sorting control unit 62 determines the sorting position to be the sorting cup 141 linked to the stored discrimination result. If the sorting position linked to the stored discrimination result (e.g., suspected drug) is the waiting tray 15, the waiting tray 15 is determined to be the sorting position. On the other hand, if a discrimination result identical to the above discrimination result is not stored, the sorting control unit 62 determines the sorting position to be the sorting cup 141 that does not contain any drugs (the sorting cup 141 that has not been determined as a sorting position). If drugs are stored in all of the sorting cups 141, the waiting tray 15 is determined to be the sorting position. Note that for suspected drugs, the sorting control unit 62 may determine any of the sorting cups 141 included in a predetermined area of ​​the second storage unit 14 as the sorting position, instead of the waiting tray 15.

[0100] Once the sorting control unit 62 has determined the sorting position, it controls the transport mechanism 123, similar to the transport control unit 61, to move the transport / sorting unit 12 above the receiving area Ar1. Similarly to the transport control unit 61, the sorting control unit 62 controls the second camera 121 and the suction / shutter mechanism 122 to adsorb the medicines placed in the receiving area Ar1. Thereafter, the transport mechanism 123 transports the medicines to the determined sorting cup 141 or waiting tray 15. As described above, the shutter mechanism is closed while the medicines are being transported, preventing the medicines from falling into areas other than the determined sorting position (e.g., a sorting cup 141 other than the determined sorting cup 141). After transport, the suction is released, allowing the medicines to be stored in the sorting cup 141 or waiting tray 15. Furthermore, the sorting control unit 62 counts the number of medicines stored in the sorting cup 141, and stores the count in the memory unit 80 in association with the sorting position.

[0101] After the sorting control unit 62 transports the medicines (medicines after identification) on the medicine placing table 133a arranged in the receiving area Ar1 to the sorting position, the transport control unit 61 controls the transport / sorting unit 12 to transport and place the medicines stored in the first storage unit 11 on the now empty medicine placing table 133a. This allows the medicine sorting device 1 to continuously identify the types of medicines.

[0102] In addition, if the sorting control unit 62 receives a discrimination result indicating that the type of medicine could not be identified, the object placed in the receiving area Ar1 after discrimination is a foreign object, and therefore the foreign object is transported to the collection tray 16.

[0103] In this way, the sorting control unit 62 stores all of the items contained in the first storage unit 11 in either the second storage unit 14, the waiting tray 15, or the collection tray 16, regardless of the result of identifying the type of medicine. Therefore, even if the type of medicine cannot be identified as one, or if a foreign object has been mixed into the first storage unit 11, the sorting process can be continued without being stopped for that reason.

[0104] In order to remove medicines for which the discrimination process has been completed from the medicine placing table 133a arranged in the receiving area Ar1, the sorting control unit 62 causes the second camera 121 to capture an image of the medicine placing table 133a, thereby narrowing down the positions of the medicines. Furthermore, when transporting medicines stored in the sorting cup 141 to the packaging mechanism 6, the sorting control unit 62 causes the second camera 121 to capture an image of the sorting cup 141, thereby narrowing down the medicines to be transported, in order to remove the medicines from the sorting cup 141.

[0105] In addition, when the number of drugs stored in the sorting cup 141 reaches the upper limit, the sorting control unit 62 stores the drugs to be sorted in an empty sorting cup 141 different from the sorting cup 141, even if the type of drug to be sorted is the same as the type of drug sorted in the sorting cup 141.

[0106] Furthermore, data relating to the medicines stored in the sorting cups 141 by the sorting control unit 62 is stored in an RFID tag provided on the sorting cups 141 by the second RFID reader / writer unit 18.

[0107] The second RFID reader / writer unit 18 writes various data to RFID tags or reads various data stored in RFID tags, similar to the first RFID reader / writer unit 5. The sorting control unit 62 causes the RFID control unit 68 to write data related to the medicines every time a medicine is stored in a sorting cup 141. The second RFID reader / writer unit 18 is provided below the second storage unit 14. Specifically, the second RFID reader / writer unit 18 is provided so as to face the bottom of each sorting cup 141 when reading or writing data related to the medicines stored in the RFID tag of each sorting cup 141.

[0108] [Embodiment 2] Other embodiments of the present invention will be described below. For ease of explanation, the same reference numerals will be used to designate components having the same functions as those described in the above embodiment, and the description thereof will not be repeated. The same applies to the following embodiments.

[0109] (overview) In this embodiment, a configuration for quickly and accurately distinguishing between coated tablets, such as sugar-coated tablets, whose surfaces are covered with a film, and other drugs (plain tablets) will be described using Figures 6 and 7.

[0110] The discrimination unit 64 in this embodiment extracts feature information indicating the external characteristics of the target drug, including at least reflection area information indicating the reflection area of ​​light irradiated onto the target drug, from the captured image of the drug to be discriminated (target drug), and uses the reflection area information to discriminate the target drug.

[0111] For example, the reflection area of ​​light irradiated onto a drug varies depending on whether the drug is sugar-coated or not. According to the above configuration, by using the reflection area of ​​light irradiated onto the drug to distinguish the type of target drug, coated tablets can be quickly and accurately distinguished from other drugs.

[0112] (control unit 60a) The control unit 60a according to this embodiment has the main components described in the first embodiment.

[0113] (Discrimination unit 64) The discrimination unit 64 according to this embodiment includes a feature extraction unit 64a and a matching unit 64b shown in Fig. 1. The discrimination unit 64 performs the following processes in addition to the processes described in the first embodiment.

[0114] (Feature extraction unit 64a) The feature extraction unit 64a extracts feature information (first feature information) indicating the characteristics of the appearance of the target drug, which includes at least reflection area information indicating the reflection area of ​​the light irradiated onto the target drug, from the captured image in which the target drug is captured. The light reflection area can also be referred to as, for example, an area affected by halation in the captured image 82.

[0115] Specifically, the feature extraction unit 64a extracts features of the drug contained in the image by performing image analysis on the visible light image and / or ultraviolet light image (captured image 82). In addition to the drug features extracted by the discrimination unit 64 described in embodiment 1, the feature extraction unit 64a extracts a reflection area of ​​light irradiated onto the target drug as a feature of the target drug. The feature extraction unit 64a outputs feature information indicating the extracted drug features, including reflection area information, to the matching unit 64b.

[0116] For example, the feature extraction unit 64a may extract, as the reflective region, an image region having a saturation value higher than a predetermined value in the captured image 82. The predetermined value may be set to a saturation level that allows the reflective region to be extracted from the captured image of the coated tablet so that the coated tablet can be distinguished from other drugs through experiments, for example.

[0117] Furthermore, the feature extraction unit 64a may extract the reflection region by performing a filtering process on the captured image 82 using, for example, a bilateral filter.

[0118] Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a reflection area of ​​light reflected by a target drug in a captured image. D1 in Fig. 6 is a visible light image of a sugar-coated tablet captured using the second irradiator 134b (ring illumination). D2 in Fig. 6 is an image obtained by filtering the visible light image shown in D1 using a bilateral filter.

[0119] The image shown in D3 of Fig. 6 is a visible light image of the plain tablet captured using the second irradiator 134b. The image shown in D4 of Fig. 6 is an image obtained by performing a filter process using a bilateral filter on the visible light image shown in D3.

[0120] As shown in D2 in Figure 6, in an image that has been filtered using a bilateral filter, a ring-shaped reflection region is extracted in the image of a sugar-coated tablet. On the other hand, as shown in D4 in Figure 6, in an image that has been filtered using a bilateral filter, a reflection region is not extracted in the image of an uncoated tablet.

[0121] (Collation unit 64b) The collation unit 64b compares characteristic information (second characteristic information) indicating the characteristics of the appearance of the reference drug with characteristic information of the target drug. The characteristic information of the reference drug includes at least reflection area information indicating the reflection area of ​​light irradiated onto the reference drug. The characteristic information is drug data on the reference drug included in the drug database 81. The characteristic information of the target drug includes at least reflection area information indicating the reflection area of ​​light irradiated onto the target drug. The collation unit 64b determines the type of the target drug based on the result of the comparison.

[0122] The collation unit 64b may use pattern matching or the like based on the features of the target drug extracted by the feature extraction unit 64a to narrow down candidates for drug data related to the imaged target drug from drug data related to a reference drug included in the drug database 81. Furthermore, the collation unit 64b may narrow down candidates for drug data using at least one of the drug features described in embodiment 1 in addition to the reflection region information. Furthermore, the collation unit 64b may rank the candidates based on the degree of agreement between the extracted features of the target drug and the features of the reference drug included in the drug database 81.

[0123] For example, reflection area information indicating the reflection area of ​​light irradiated onto each reference drug in an image of the reference drug is included as drug data for each reference drug in the drug database 81. The collation unit 64b compares the shape of the reflection area indicated by the reflection area information for the target drug with the shape of the reflection area indicated by the reflection area information for each reference drug, and narrows down drug data candidates for the target drug (i.e., candidate types of the target drug) from the drug data for the multiple reference drugs.

[0124] The collation unit 64b outputs the discrimination result of the type of the target drug to the sorting control unit 62. For example, when the type of the target drug can be identified as one, or when the number of candidates has been narrowed down to a predetermined number or less, the collation unit 64b outputs the drug data for the target drug as the discrimination result. In this case, the collation unit 64b stores the drug data for the target drug in the storage unit 80 in association with the captured image 82 of the target drug.

[0125] (Processing example) 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the discrimination process of the discrimination unit 64 of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 7, the feature extraction unit 64a extracts feature information of the target drug, including reflection region information, from the captured image 82 (S11). Next, the matching unit 64b matches the feature information of the target drug with the feature information (drug data) of a reference drug contained in the drug database 81 (S12). Next, the matching unit 64b distinguishes the type of the target drug based on the result of the matching (S13), outputs the discrimination result of the drug type to the sorting control unit 62, and the process ends.

[0126] (Variation) (Summary of the modified example) In this modification, the discrimination unit 64 extracts feature information indicating the external characteristics of the target drug from the captured image of the target drug. The feature information includes at least reflection information indicating whether light irradiated onto the target drug is reflected by the target drug. The discrimination unit 64 uses the reflection information to discriminate the target drug.

[0127] For example, whether or not the light irradiated onto the drug is reflected depends on whether or not the drug is coated (e.g., sugar coated). Therefore, by using whether or not the light irradiated onto the drug is reflected to distinguish the type of drug, coated tablets can be quickly and accurately distinguished from other drugs.

[0128] Other processes of the discriminator 64 according to this modification are similar to those of the discriminator 64 described in the second embodiment above, and therefore will not be described repeatedly.

[0129] (Feature extraction unit 64a) The feature extraction unit 64a according to this modification extracts feature information (third feature information) of the target drug from the captured image of the target drug. The feature information includes at least reflection information indicating whether or not light irradiated onto the target drug is reflected by the target drug. The feature extraction unit 64a outputs the feature information of the target drug including the extracted reflection information to the matching unit 64b.

[0130] For example, as described in the second embodiment, the feature extraction unit 64a extracts an image region in the captured image 82 having a saturation value higher than a predetermined value. The feature extraction unit 64a determines whether or not light is reflected by the target drug depending on whether or not the extraction is performed. Furthermore, as described in the second embodiment, the feature extraction unit 64a determines whether or not light is reflected by the target drug using a captured image obtained by performing bilateral filtering on the captured image 82. In response to the determination, the feature extraction unit 64a extracts reflection information indicating whether or not the irradiated light is reflected by the reference drug.

[0131] (Collation unit 64b) The collation unit 64b according to this modification collates the characteristic information of the reference drug (fourth characteristic information) with the characteristic information of the target drug (third characteristic information). The characteristic information of the reference drug includes at least reflection information indicating whether or not the irradiated light is reflected by the reference drug. The characteristic information of the target drug includes at least reflection information indicating whether or not the irradiated light is reflected by the target drug. The collation unit 64b determines the type of the target drug based on the result of the collation. The collation unit 64b outputs the determination result of the type of the target drug to the sorting control unit 62.

[0132] For example, the drug database 81 includes, as drug data for each reference drug, reflection information indicating whether or not light irradiated in an image of the reference drug is reflected by the reference drug. The collation unit 64b may compare the reflection information for the target drug with the reflection information for each reference drug, and narrow down the drug data for the multiple reference drugs to candidates for drug data for the target drug.

[0133] For example, when the collation unit 64b extracts reflection information from a captured image showing that light irradiated on the target drug is reflected by the target drug, the collation unit 64b extracts characteristic information (drug data) including the reflection information from the drug database 81. The reflection information is information showing that light irradiated on the reference drug is reflected in the captured image. As a result, the collation unit 64b narrows down the characteristic information of the reference drug including the reflection information showing that the light is reflected as candidates for drug data related to the target drug in the drug database 81.

[0134] Similarly, when the matching unit 64b extracts, from the captured image, reflection information indicating that the light irradiated in the captured image of the target drug is not reflected by the target drug, the matching unit 64b extracts feature information including the following reflection information. The reflection information is information indicating that the light irradiated in the captured image of the reference drug is not reflected. As a result, the matching unit 64b narrows down the feature information of the reference drug including the reflection information indicating that the light is not reflected as candidates for drug data related to the target drug in the drug database 81.

[0135] Furthermore, the collation unit 64b may narrow down candidates for drug data by using at least one of the drug characteristics described in the first and second embodiments in addition to the above-mentioned reflection information.

[0136] [Embodiment 3] (overview) In this embodiment, a configuration for quickly and accurately identifying medicines by utilizing differences in thickness of the medicines will be described.

[0137] (control unit 60a) The control unit 60a according to this embodiment has the main components described in the first embodiment.

[0138] (Discrimination unit 64) The discrimination unit 64 according to this embodiment includes a feature extraction unit 64a and a matching unit 64b shown in Fig. 1. The discrimination unit 64 according to this modification performs the following processes in addition to the processes described in the first embodiment.

[0139] (Feature extraction unit 64a) The feature extraction unit 64a according to this embodiment extracts the thickness of the target drug from a captured image of the target drug taken from an oblique direction (θ=45° or 135°). The feature extraction unit 64a outputs thickness information indicating the thickness to the collation unit 64b as one of the features of the target drug. For example, the feature extraction unit 64a extracts the thickness of the drug contained in the image by performing image analysis on the visible light image and / or ultraviolet light image (captured image 82). Note that the process of capturing an image of the target drug from an oblique direction has been described in detail in the "Drug Imaging Process" of the first embodiment, and therefore will not be described again here.

[0140] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the thickness of a target drug extracted by the feature extraction unit 64a. Specifically, the image shown in D5 of FIG. 8 is a visible light image of a drug captured using the first irradiator 134a (bar illumination). For example, the feature extraction unit 64a extracts the thickness T1 of the captured target drug using a known image processing technique. For example, the feature extraction unit 64a may extract the thickness T1 of the target drug from the captured image using a keystone correction technique, a panoramic imaging technique, or the like.

[0141] (Collation unit 64b) The collation unit 64b collates the characteristic information of the reference drug with the characteristic information of the target drug. The characteristic information of the reference drug includes at least thickness information indicating the thickness of the reference drug. The characteristic information of the target drug includes at least thickness information indicating the thickness of the target drug.

[0142] For example, the drug database 81 includes thickness information indicating the thickness of each reference drug as drug data for each reference drug. The collation unit 64b may compare the thickness information of the target drug with the thickness information of each reference drug to narrow down candidate drug data for the target drug from drug data for multiple reference drugs. Furthermore, the collation unit 64b may narrow down candidate drug data using at least one of the drug characteristics described in the first and second embodiments in addition to the thickness information. Furthermore, the collation unit 64b may compare the thickness information of the target drug with the thickness information of each reference drug in the "discrimination retry process" described in the "image processing and discrimination process" of the first embodiment to discriminate the type of the target drug.

[0143] [Embodiment 4] (overview) In this embodiment, a configuration that can accurately determine the type of target medicine will be described with reference to FIG.

[0144] The drug database update unit 74 according to this embodiment performs the following process when the discrimination unit 64 fails to discriminate the type of the target drug. After receiving a user operation, the drug database update unit 74 updates the target drug color data 84 (target color information) indicating the color of the target drug used in the discrimination to color data (reference color information) indicating the color of the reference drug included in the drug database 81.

[0145] According to the above configuration, for a target drug whose type has not been identified, the target drug color data 84 extracted from the captured image 82 captured in an environment where the type of the target drug is actually identified can be used as the color data of the reference drug. Therefore, the type of the target drug can be identified with high accuracy.

[0146] The control unit 60a receives the drug database 81 created by the external device from the external device and stores it in the storage unit 80. The drug sorting device 1 used by the external device when creating the drug database 81 is different from the drug sorting device 1 installed in a medical institution such as a hospital, and the drug imaging environment is also different. With the above configuration, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the type of target drug will not be properly identified due to differences in color in the captured image caused by differences in the drug sorting device 1 or the imaging environment.

[0147] Furthermore, when creating the drug database 81, whether the drug type can be properly identified using the drug data registered in the drug database 81 is checked using captured images of multiple drugs of the same or similar type. In the above configuration, if only the color data of the reference drug is updated, this check does not need to be performed. This reduces the time and effort required for this check.

[0148] (control unit 60a) The control unit 60a according to this embodiment includes a medicine database update unit 74 shown in FIG. 1 in addition to the main components described in the first embodiment.

[0149] (Discrimination unit 64) The discrimination unit 64 according to this embodiment performs the following processing in addition to the processing described in the first embodiment. The discrimination unit 64 compares the characteristic information of the target drug (fifth characteristic information) with characteristic information (sixth characteristic information) including color data (reference color information) indicating the color of a reference drug contained in the drug database 81, and discriminates the type of the target drug based on the comparison result. The characteristic information of the target drug includes target drug color data 84 (target color information) indicating the color of the target drug, extracted from the captured image of the target drug. The target drug color data 84 is the same as the color data described in the first embodiment, and therefore will not be described again here. The discrimination unit 64 also associates the target drug color data 84 with the captured image 82 of the target drug and stores it in the storage unit 80 as target drug color data 84.

[0150] (Operation unit 31) The operation unit 31 of the touch panel 3 accepts user input. In particular, the operation unit 31 of this embodiment accepts an input operation for updating the target drug color data 84 linked to the captured image 82 in which the discrimination unit 64 failed to discriminate the type of the target drug, to the color data of the reference drug designated by the user.

[0151] For example, if the discrimination unit 64 fails to discriminate the type of the target drug, the user checks the failed captured image 82 on the display unit 32 of the touch panel 3, etc. If the user is able to discriminate the target drug captured in the captured image 82, the user specifies the discriminated type of drug and performs an operation input to update the target drug color data 84 linked to the captured image 82 to the color data of the specified reference drug. That is, the operation input includes the specification of the reference drug and the captured image 82. The operation unit 31 may also accept an operation input to update only the color data of the reference drug to the target drug color data 84 linked to the specified captured image 82. The operation unit 31 may also accept an operation input to update both the color data of the reference drug and the captured image to the specified captured image 82 and the target drug color data 84 linked to the specified captured image 82.

[0152] (Drug Database Update Division 74) When the discrimination unit 64 fails to discriminate the type of the target drug, the drug database update unit 74 accepts an operation from the user and then updates the target drug color data 84 used in the discrimination as color data of a new reference drug.

[0153] In detail, the drug database update unit 74 updates the color data of the reference drug specified by the user in the drug database 81 to the target drug color data 84 linked to the captured image 82 specified by the user in accordance with the user's operation input via the operation input unit 66.

[0154] Furthermore, when an operation input to update both the color data of the reference drug and the captured image of the reference drug is received, the drug database update unit 74 performs the following process: The drug database update unit 74 updates the color data and captured image of the reference drug specified by the user in the drug database 81 to the specified captured image 82 and the target drug color data 84 linked to the specified captured image 82.

[0155] (Processing example) 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the update process of the drug database update unit 74 of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 9, the drug database update unit 74 determines whether or not an operation input for updating the color data of the reference drug stored in the drug database 81 has been received (S21). If an operation input for updating the color data of the reference drug has been received (YES in S21), the drug database update unit 74 performs the following process. The drug database update unit 74 updates the color data of the reference drug specified by the user in the drug database 81 to the target drug color data 84 linked to the specified captured image 82 (S22), and the process ends. Note that if an operation input for updating the color data of the reference drug has not been received (NO in S21), the process returns to S21.

[0156] [Embodiment 5] (overview) In this embodiment, a configuration that allows target drugs to be quickly and accurately identified will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0157] In this embodiment, the drug database 81 includes specific drug information indicating whether each reference drug is a specific drug or not as drug data for each reference drug.

[0158] The discrimination unit 64 according to this embodiment discriminates the type of the target drug using the identification information displayed on the surfaces of the reference drug and the target drug and the position information indicating the relative position of the display area of ​​the identification information with respect to the image of the drug in the captured image of the reference drug and the target drug. However, when the reference drug indicated by the specific drug information as a specific drug is a candidate for the target drug, the discrimination unit 64 does not use the position information to discriminate the type of the target drug, but determines whether the target drug is the same type of drug as the reference drug.

[0159] For example, in the case of spherical medicines or medicines in which the display position of the identification information differs between production lots, even if the medicines are of the same type, the relative position in the reference image and the relative position in the target image may be separated by a predetermined value or more. According to the above configuration, when such medicines are target medicines, it is possible to determine whether the target medicine is the same type as the reference medicine, regardless of whether the two relative positions are separated by a predetermined value or more. On the other hand, for medicines other than target medicines of a predetermined type, if the two relative positions are separated by a predetermined value or more, the type of the target medicine is not determined to be the same type as the reference medicine. For example, in the case of two different medicines in which part of the identification information is the same character string, the target medicine is not determined to be the same type as the reference medicine. Therefore, according to the above configuration, the possibility of misidentification of medicines can be reduced.

[0160] (control unit 60a) The control unit 60a according to this embodiment has the main components described in the first embodiment.

[0161] (Discrimination unit 64) The discrimination unit 64 according to this embodiment includes a feature extraction unit 64a and a matching unit 64b shown in Fig. 1. The discrimination unit 64 performs the following processes in addition to the processes described in the first embodiment.

[0162] (Feature extraction unit 64a) The feature extraction unit 64a extracts feature information (seventh feature information) of the target drug from the captured image 82 in which the target drug is captured. The feature information includes at least (1) identification information displayed on the surface of the target drug, and (2) position information (first position information) indicating the relative position of the display area of ​​the identification information with respect to the image of the target drug.

[0163] In detail, the feature extraction unit 64a extracts the relative position of the display area of ​​the identification information with respect to the image of the target drug as a feature, in addition to the features of the target drug extracted by the discrimination unit 64 described in embodiment 1. The feature extraction unit 64a outputs feature information including the first position information to the collation unit 64b.

[0164] For example, the identification information is an inscription or print or the like affixed to the surface of the medicine to identify the medicine, as described in embodiment 1. Furthermore, the "relative position of the display area of ​​the identification information relative to the image of the target medicine" can be, for example, a predetermined position in the display area of ​​the inscription or print on the surface of the medicine relative to the image of the target medicine (for example, the center of the display area).

[0165] (Collation unit 64b) The collation unit 64b collates the characteristic information of the reference drug (eighth characteristic information) with the characteristic information of the target drug (seventh characteristic information). The characteristic information of the target drug includes at least identification information and first position information. The characteristic information of the reference drug (drug data related to the reference drug) includes at least specific drug information indicating whether the reference drug is a specific drug, identification information displayed on the surface of the reference drug, and position information (second position information) indicating the relative position of the display area of ​​the identification information with respect to the image of the reference drug. The "relative position of the display area of ​​the identification information with respect to the image of the reference drug" can be, for example, a position corresponding to a predetermined position on the target drug (e.g., the center of the display area). The relative positions on the target drug and the relative positions on the target drug can be any positions as long as they correspond to each other. Examples of the specific drug indicated by the specific drug information include a drug with a shape that makes the reference drug roll easily (e.g., spherical), a drug whose display position of the identification information varies between production lots, etc.

[0166] The collation unit 64b determines the type of the target drug based on the result of the collation. The collation unit 64b may use pattern matching or the like to narrow down candidates for drug data related to the imaged target drug from drug data related to reference drugs included in the drug database 81, based on the features of the target drug extracted by the feature extraction unit 64a. Furthermore, the collation unit 64b may narrow down candidates for drug data using at least one of the drug features described in embodiment 1 in addition to the above identification information.

[0167] When the specific drug information indicates that the reference drug is a specific drug, the matching unit 64b determines whether the target drug is the same type of drug as the reference drug without using the first position information and the second position information to determine the type of the target drug.

[0168] In addition, when the specific drug information indicates that the reference drug is not a specific drug, the matching unit 64b uses the first location information and the second location information to determine the type of target drug, and determines whether the target drug is the same type of drug as the reference drug.

[0169] Specifically, the collation unit 64b determines whether the position indicated by the first position information and the position indicated by the second position information are separated by a predetermined value or more. That is, the collation unit 64b determines whether the relative position of the target drug and the relative position of the reference drug are separated by a predetermined value or more. Depending on the result of the above determination, the collation unit 64b outputs the drug type discrimination result to the sorting control unit 62.

[0170] (Processing example) FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the discrimination process of the discrimination unit 64 of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 10, the feature extraction unit 64a extracts feature information of the target drug from the captured image 82 (S1). The feature information includes, for example, shape, color data, identification information, and first position information. Next, the matching unit 64b matches part of the feature information of the target drug (shape, color data, etc.) with the feature information of the reference drug included in the drug database 81 to narrow down the drug data to be candidates for the target drug (S2). Next, the matching unit 64b starts matching the identification information of the reference drug data of each of the narrowed-down target drug candidates with the identification information of the target drug (S3). In the process of matching the identification information, the matching unit 64b starts matching the entire identification information (S4). In detail, the matching unit 64b determines whether the shape of the display area of ​​the identification information of the candidate reference drug data matches the shape of the display area of ​​the identification information of the target drug (S5).

[0171] If it is determined that the shape of the display area of ​​the identification information of the candidate reference drug data matches the shape of the display area of ​​the identification information of the target drug (YES in S5), the discrimination unit 64 starts pattern matching for each character of the identification information (S6). The feature extraction unit 64a performs OCR on the identification information of the target drug (S7). Note that the feature extraction unit 64a may perform OCR on the identification information of the target drug in step S1. Next, the collation unit 64b determines whether all characters included in the identification information of the target drug match the characters included in the identification information of the reference drug stored in the drug database 81 (S8). If it is determined that all characters included in the identification information of the target drug match the characters included in the identification information of the reference drug (YES in S8), the collation unit 64b performs the following process. The collation unit 64b determines whether the specific drug information of the candidate reference drug data indicates that the drug is a specific drug (S31). Note that in this example, the specific drug is a drug with an easy-to-roll shape. When it is determined that the specific drug information indicates that the reference drug data of the candidate drug is not a drug with a shape that is easy to roll (NO in S31), the collation unit 64b compares (S32) the first position information extracted by the feature extraction unit 64a with the second position information of the reference drug indicated by the drug data of the candidate drug of the target drug contained in the drug database 81. Through this comparison, the collation unit 64b determines whether the position indicated by the first position information and the position indicated by the second position information are separated by a predetermined value or more (S33).

[0172] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the relative positions of the target drug or the reference drug. Positions P1, P2, P3, and P4 are shown in the images of the target drug or the reference drug shown at D6, D7, D8, and D9 in FIG. 11. Positions P1, P2, P3, and P4 are the centers (predetermined positions) of the display area of ​​the identification information (ABC or ABC12). For example, the relative positions of the target drug or the reference drug are positions P1, P2, P3, and P4 relative to the images of the target drug shown at D6, D7, D8, and D9. The feature extraction unit 64a extracts the display area of ​​the identification information using, for example, a known image processing technique, and identifies the center of the display area.

[0173] FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a comparison between the relative positions of a target drug and a reference drug.

[0174] D10 in FIG. 12 shows an example of an image of the target drug. P5 shown in D10 in FIG. 12 indicates the relative position (center of the display area of ​​the identification information) of the display area of ​​the identification information with respect to the image D10 of the target drug. D11 in FIG. 12 also shows an example of an image of the reference drug. P6 shown in D11 in FIG. 12 indicates the relative position (center of the display area of ​​the identification information) of the display area of ​​the identification information with respect to the image D11 of the reference drug. D12 in FIG. 12 is a diagram in which the image D10 of the target drug and the image D11 of the reference drug are superimposed. Distance L1 shown in FIG. 12 indicates the distance between the center P5 of the display area of ​​the identification information in the image of the target drug and the center P6 of the display area of ​​the identification information in the image of the reference drug.

[0175] The collation unit 64b determines whether the value of the distance L1 is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. The predetermined value can be set as appropriate, for example, to 30 pixels. The predetermined value may be set to a value that allows drugs other than the predetermined drug to be identified as different drugs through experiments, for example.

[0176] If the collation unit 64b determines that the position indicated by the first position information and the position indicated by the second position information are not separated by more than a predetermined value (NO in S33), the collation unit 64b outputs the identified type of medicine to the sorting control unit 62 (S34), and the processing ends.

[0177] If it is determined that the shape of the display area of ​​the identification information of the candidate reference drug data does not match the shape of the display area of ​​the identification information of the target drug (NO in S5), the discrimination unit 64 performs the following process. The discrimination unit 64 determines whether there is any unmatched candidate reference drug data (S35). If there is unmatched candidate reference drug data (YES in S35), the process returns to S3. If there is no unmatched candidate reference drug data (NO in S35), the process ends. If it is determined that all characters included in the identification information of the target drug do not match the characters included in the identification information of the reference drug (NO in S8), the process continues to S35. If the collation unit 64b determines that the position indicated by the first position information and the position indicated by the second position information are separated by more than a predetermined value (YES in S33), the process continues to S35. If it is determined that the specific drug information indicates that the candidate reference drug data is a drug with an easy-to-roll shape (YES in S31), the process continues to S34.

[0178] If the drug database 81 does not contain any drug data that could be a candidate for the target drug, i.e., if there is no candidate reference drug data that has not been matched (NO in S35), the following processing may be performed. If the matching unit 64b estimates that the target drug is a drug (tablet or capsule) based on at least some of the characteristics of the target drug, it determines the type of the target drug as a suspected drug and ends the processing. If the matching unit 64b cannot determine that the imaged object in the captured image 82 is a drug, it determines that the imaged object is a foreign object other than a drug and ends the processing.

[0179] [Embodiment 6] (overview) In this embodiment, a configuration that can improve the efficiency of the sorting process will be described with reference to FIG.

[0180] The priority determination unit 65 according to this embodiment prioritizes the types of medicines based on the past sorting performance of the medicine sorting device 1. For example, the priority determination unit 65 may determine a priority for each type of medicine according to the frequency of discrimination in the discrimination history of the discrimination unit 64. Furthermore, the sorting control unit 62 according to this embodiment determines that medicines of a type whose priority is lower than a predetermined value are to be temporarily placed in the waiting tray (temporary storage unit) 15.

[0181] Generally, while hundreds to thousands of medicines are sorted in the medicine sorting device 1, there is a limit to the number of sorting cups 141 that can be placed in the second storage unit 14 (in this embodiment, 40 sorting cups 141 can be placed). Therefore, when the medicines are sorted in sorting order, there is a possibility that medicines with a low discrimination frequency (medicines that are stored in small numbers in the sorting cups 141) will be sorted into the sorting cups 141, and medicines with a high discrimination frequency (medicines that are stored in large numbers in the sorting cups 141) will be sorted into the waiting tray 15.

[0182] According to the above configuration, medicines with a low frequency in the classification history are temporarily placed on the standby tray 15. Therefore, medicines with a high frequency in the classification history can be preferentially sorted into the sorting cups 141 of the second storage unit 14. In other words, more medicines can be sorted (targets for sorting into the sorting cups 141).

[0183] Furthermore, the priority determining unit 65 may determine the priority for each type of medicine according to the prescription frequency.

[0184] Furthermore, the priority determination unit 65 uses a genetic algorithm to identify a combination of drug types to be sorted into the sorting cups 141 that will maximize the rate at which the sorting work can be completed by sorting into the sorting cups 141 in a single sorting operation. In the above identification, the priority determination unit 65 may use past sorting results. The priority determination unit 65 calculates an index for each drug type from the identified combination of drug types. The priority determination unit 65 assigns a priority to each drug type based on the calculated index.

[0185] In addition, the processing according to this embodiment may be configured to be performed when the amount of drug contained in the first storage section 11 is greater than a predetermined amount (for example, when the bottom of the first storage section 11 cannot be seen due to the amount of drug contained therein).

[0186] (control unit 60a) The control unit 60a according to this embodiment includes a priority determination unit 65 shown in FIG. 1 in addition to the main components described in the first embodiment.

[0187] (Priority determination unit 65) The priority determination unit 65 prioritizes the types of medicines based on the past sorting performance of the medicine sorting device 1. The priority determination unit 65 stores priority data 83 indicating the determined priority of each medicine type in the storage unit 80. Specifically, the priority determination unit 65 determines a priority for each type of medicine (reference medicine) according to the frequency of discrimination in the discrimination history of the discrimination unit 64. More specifically, when the discrimination unit 64 has identified one type of target medicine or narrowed down the number of candidates to within a predetermined number, the discrimination unit 64 associates the medicine data (discriminated type) related to the target medicine with the captured image 82 of the target medicine and stores it in the storage unit 80. For example, the priority determination unit 65 may use the medicine data (discriminated type) related to the target medicine as the discrimination history. Furthermore, the priority determination unit 65 may set a priority for each medicine type so that the priority increases in descending order of the frequency of discrimination in the discrimination history.

[0188] The priority determination unit 65 may update the priority data 83 every time the discrimination unit 64 discriminates a target drug. The priority determination unit 65 may also update the priority data 83 when the discrimination unit 64 has discriminated a predetermined number of times since the previous update of the priority data 83. The priority determination unit 65 may also update the priority data 83 at predetermined intervals.

[0189] (Sorting control unit 62) The sorting control unit 62 according to this embodiment performs the following processes in addition to the processes described in the first embodiment.

[0190] When the priority corresponding to the type of target drug identified by the discrimination unit 64 is lower than a predetermined value, the sorting control unit 62 determines to temporarily place the target drug on the waiting tray 15. In detail, the sorting control unit 62 acquires the priority corresponding to the type of target drug identified by the discrimination unit 64 from the priority data 83 in the memory unit 80. When the acquired priority is lower than a predetermined value, the sorting control unit 62 determines to temporarily place the target drug identified by the discrimination unit 64 on the waiting tray 15. The predetermined value may be set to a value that allows the user to sort the number of types of drugs desired when using the drug sorting device 1, for example.

[0191] (Processing example) FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of the medicine sorting process of the sorting control unit 62 of this embodiment.

[0192] 13, when the sorting control unit 62 receives the identified type of target medicine, it determines whether the priority corresponding to the type of target medicine is lower than a predetermined value (S41). If the priority is lower than the predetermined value (YES in S41), it decides to temporarily place the target medicine on the waiting tray 15 (S42), and the process ends.

[0193] If the priority is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (NO in S41), the sorting control unit 62 determines whether or not a discrimination result identical to the discrimination result described above is stored in the memory unit 80 (S43). That is, it determines whether or not the type of the target medicine has already been discriminated. If a discrimination result identical to the discrimination result described above is stored (YES in S43), the sorting cup 141 linked to the stored discrimination result is determined as the sorting position (S44), and the process ends.

[0194] If the same discrimination result is not stored (NO in S43), the sorting control unit 62 determines the sorting position as a sorting cup 141 that does not contain any medicine (a sorting cup 141 that has not been determined as a sorting position) (S45). Subsequently, the sorting control unit 62 associates the determined medicine type with the determined sorting position and stores them in the storage unit 80 (S46), and the process ends.

[0195] [Embodiment 7] (overview) In this embodiment, a configuration that can improve the sorting work will be described with reference to FIG.

[0196] When the identification information shown on a certain drug is changed by a pharmaceutical manufacturer, etc., drugs with the identification information before the change and drugs with the identification information after the change will be mixed in the pharmacy. In particular, when the identification information of a certain drug has been changed but the drugs distinguished before and after the change are managed using the same YJ code, etc., the drugs with the identification information before and after the change may be managed in a mixed state.

[0197] The printout control unit 69 according to this embodiment performs the following process when a drug whose identification information has changed has been identified multiple times by the discrimination unit 64. The printout control unit 69 controls the printout unit 4 to print an alert stating "Identification information has changed" on the medicine packaging paper used to package the drug, or on a journal that displays drug data related to the drug.

[0198] According to the above configuration, the user can be made aware of the possibility that medicines before and after the change of identification information may be mixed and sorted. For example, when filling or reusing medicines in a packaging machine, the user can be warned not to mix medicines before and after the change of identification information.

[0199] (control unit 60a) The control unit 60a according to this embodiment has the main components described in the first embodiment.

[0200] (Discrimination unit 64) The discrimination unit 64 according to this embodiment performs the following process in addition to the processes described in the first embodiment. The discrimination unit 64 stores the captured image 82 used to discriminate the target drug and captured image discrimination information 86 in the storage unit 80. In detail, the discrimination unit 64 discriminates the type of the target drug from the captured image 82, and stores a code (e.g., YJ code) that specifies the discriminated type of the target drug in the storage unit 80 as the captured image discrimination information 86. The captured image discrimination information 86 and the captured image 82 used to discriminate the target drug are associated with each other and stored in the storage unit 80.

[0201] The storage unit 80 according to this embodiment also stores identification information change information 85. The identification information change information 85 indicates a code (e.g., a YJ code) that identifies the type of drug whose identification information has been changed. The identification information change information 85 may also indicate the date and time when the change in identification information occurred.

[0202] (Print output control unit 69) The printout control unit 69 refers to the identification information change information 85 and acquires a code that identifies the type of drug whose identification information has been changed. The printout control unit 69 compares the captured image discrimination information 86 with the identification information change information 85 to determine whether there are multiple captured images 82 linked to the drug whose identification information has been changed. Note that the printout control unit 69 may be configured to perform the above process only for a predetermined period of time after the change (for example, 30 days after the change) when the identification information of a certain drug has been changed.

[0203] If it is determined that there are multiple captured images 82 linked to a drug whose identification information has changed, the printout control unit 69 performs the following process. The printout control unit 69 controls the printout unit 4 to print an alert stating "Identification information has changed" on the medicine packaging paper or journal. In the above configuration, the packaging mechanism 6 is equipped with a printing mechanism (not shown) that prints, on the medicine packaging, drug data of the drug packaged in the medicine packaging, and the printout control unit 69 may control the printing of the printing mechanism.

[0204] In addition, for a drug whose identification information has changed, if the discrimination unit 64 discriminates only drugs that show either the identification information before the change or the identification information after the change during a specified period, the print output control unit 69 may stop control to print the alert.

[0205] (Processing example) FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an example of print control processing by the print output control unit 69 according to this embodiment.

[0206] 14, the printout control unit 69 refers to the identification information change information 85 and determines whether or not there is a drug whose identification information has been changed (S51). For example, the printout control unit 69 may determine whether or not there is a drug whose identification information has been changed within a predetermined period of time.

[0207] If it is determined that there is a drug whose identification information has changed (YES in S51), the printout control unit 69 determines whether there are multiple captured images 82 linked to codes that identify the drug whose identification information has changed (S52). If it is determined that there are multiple captured images 82 (YES in S52), the printout control unit 69 controls the printout unit 4 to print an alert stating "Identification information has changed" (S53), and the process ends.

[0208] If the printout control unit 69 determines that there is no medicine whose identification information has changed (YES in S51), the process ends. Also, if the printout control unit 69 determines that there is no plurality of captured images 82 (NO in S52), the process ends.

[0209] [Embodiment 8] (overview) In this embodiment, a configuration that can improve the sorting work will be described.

[0210] The medicine sorting device 1 according to this embodiment accepts an operation input for setting a time when the device will be unmanned, such as at night, and restricts processes that require a heat source, processes that emit light, processes that output alarm sounds, and the like.

[0211] For example, if the medicine sorting device 1 is installed in an environment where a security system is activated during unmanned hours, such as at night, and is operated at night, the security system may detect light, alarm sounds, heat, etc., generated by the medicine sorting device 1. In this case, the processing of the medicine sorting device 1 may be stopped. Alternatively, the medicine sorting device 1 may not be usable at night. The above configuration enables the medicine sorting device 1 to be operated during unmanned hours, such as at night, when the security system is activated.

[0212] (Operation unit 31) The operation unit 31 of the touch panel 3 accepts user input. In particular, the operation unit 31 according to this embodiment accepts an input operation for setting the time period specified by the user.

[0213] (Notification section 8) The medicine sorting device 1 according to this embodiment includes a notification unit 8 shown in Fig. 1. The notification unit 8 includes, for example, a Patlite (registered trademark) that turns on a light, a speaker that outputs sound, etc. The notification unit 8 notifies the completion or interruption of each process of the medicine sorting device 1 by turning on the Patlite (registered trademark), outputting sound, etc.

[0214] (Packaging mechanism 6) In addition to the configuration described in the first embodiment, the packaging mechanism 6 according to this embodiment is equipped with a heater roller (not shown) for sealing the packaging paper.

[0215] (control unit 60a) The control unit 60a according to this embodiment includes a notification control unit 75 shown in FIG. 1 in addition to the main components described in the first embodiment.

[0216] (Notification control unit 75) The notification control unit 75 receives instructions to notify the completion or interruption of processing from each component included in the control unit 60a. The notification control unit 75 controls the notification unit 8 in accordance with the received instructions.

[0217] Particularly in this embodiment, the notification control unit 75 receives a setting input of the time period specified by the user via the operation input unit 66. The notification control unit 75 controls the notification unit 8 so that the notification unit 8 does not issue a notification during the set time period.

[0218] (Packaging control unit 71) The packaging control unit 71 controls the operation of the packaging mechanism 6. In this embodiment, in particular, the packaging control unit 71 accepts setting input of the time period specified by the user via the operation input unit 66. The packaging control unit 71 controls the packaging mechanism 6 so that the heater roller of the packaging mechanism 6 does not start during the set time period.

[0219] (Processing example) Next, an example of the function restriction process of the medicine sorting device 1 according to this embodiment will be described.

[0220] The notification control unit 75 and packaging control unit 71 determine whether or not they have accepted an input operation to set the time period. If they have accepted an input operation to set the time period, the notification control unit 75 and packaging control unit 71 perform the following processing. The notification control unit 75 controls the notification unit 8 so that the notification unit 8 does not issue a notification during the set time period. The packaging control unit 71 also controls the packaging mechanism 6 so that the heater roller of the packaging mechanism 6 is not started during the set time period. The processing then ends. If they have not accepted an input operation to set the time period, the processing returns to the processing in which the packaging control unit 71 determines whether or not they have accepted an input operation to set the time period.

[0221] [Embodiment 9] (overview) In this embodiment, a configuration that can accurately discriminate target drugs will be described with reference to FIG.

[0222] The illumination failure determination unit 76 according to the present embodiment determines whether or not the illuminator 134 has failed when the medicine sorting device 1 is started up or when the determination process has been performed a predetermined number of times. With the above configuration, it is possible to detect a failure of the illuminator 134, thereby reducing the possibility that the determination process will be performed using a captured image 82 captured while the illuminator 134 is malfunctioning.

[0223] (control unit 60a) The control unit 60a according to this embodiment includes a lighting failure determination unit 76 in addition to the main components described in the first embodiment.

[0224] (Lighting failure determination unit 76) As shown in FIG. 1, the lighting failure determination unit 76 includes a luminance calculation unit 76a and a luminance comparison unit 76b.

[0225] (Brightness calculation unit 76a) The brightness calculation unit 76a instructs the imaging control unit 63 to capture an image, and calculates the average brightness value in a predetermined area (an imaging area such as the frame of the medicine placing stand 133a) in the acquired captured image. The brightness calculation unit 76a outputs the calculated average brightness value to the brightness comparison unit 76b.

[0226] For example, the brightness calculation section 76a may calculate the average value when the number of times the discrimination section 64 has performed the discrimination process to discriminate the type of target drug reaches a predetermined number of times since the previous malfunction determination.

[0227] The storage unit 80 may store discrimination count information 88. The discrimination count information 88 indicates the cumulative number of discrimination processes performed by the discrimination unit 64. The discrimination unit 64 updates the cumulative number indicated by the discrimination count information 88 each time the discrimination process for one captured image 82 is completed. The brightness calculation unit 76a refers to the discrimination count information 88 and determines whether the number of discrimination processes performed by the discrimination unit 64 has reached a predetermined number since the previous failure determination. For example, the brightness calculation unit 76a determines whether the number of discrimination processes performed by the discrimination unit 64 has reached 100 since the previous failure determination. The predetermined number may be set to a number that is less than the number of times at which a failure is likely to occur, for example, through experiments or the like.

[0228] Furthermore, the brightness calculation unit 76a may instruct the imaging control unit 63 to capture an image when the medicine sorting device 1 is started up, and calculate the average brightness of the captured image.

[0229] (Brightness comparison unit 76b) The brightness comparison unit 76b determines whether the average brightness of the captured image calculated by the brightness calculation unit 76a is within a predetermined range with respect to a reference value. For example, the brightness comparison unit 76b determines whether the average brightness of the captured image calculated by the brightness calculation unit 76a is greater than or equal to 80% and less than or equal to 120% of the reference value. The predetermined range may be set appropriately, for example, through experiments or the like.

[0230] The reference value is, for example, an average value of brightness in a predetermined area (an imaged area such as the frame of the medicine placing table 133a) of an image captured at a time when no failure occurs in the illuminator 134. The reference value may be acquired when the medicine sorting device 1 is started up (for example, during teaching).

[0231] The luminance may be, for example, a V value of an HSV (H: hue, S: saturation, V: brightness) value that can be converted from the RGB values ​​of each pixel included in the predetermined region in the captured image.

[0232] Furthermore, the captured image used to determine whether the ultraviolet light irradiator 134c has a malfunction may be, for example, an image captured using the maximum exposure time allowed for the ultraviolet light irradiator 134c. For example, if the exposure time during normal imaging is 8 to 10 msec, the maximum time may be set to, for example, 1 sec. The maximum time may be set as appropriate, for example, through experiments or the like.

[0233] The brightness comparison unit 76b determines whether or not the illuminator 134 is malfunctioning based on the result of the determination. The display control unit 67 causes the display unit 32 to display the malfunction determination result.

[0234] (Processing example) 15 is a flowchart showing an example of a malfunction determination process of the medicine sorting device 1 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 15, the brightness calculation unit 76a determines whether the number of times the determination unit 64 has performed the determination process has reached a predetermined number since the previous malfunction determination (S71).

[0235] If the brightness calculation unit 76a determines that the number of determination processes has reached a predetermined number since the previous failure determination (YES in S71), the imaging control unit 63 controls the first camera 131 to capture an image (S72). Next, the brightness calculation unit 76a calculates the average brightness of the captured image captured in S72 (S73). Next, the brightness comparison unit 76b determines whether the average brightness of the captured image calculated by the brightness calculation unit 76a is within a predetermined range with respect to a reference value (S74). If the brightness comparison unit 76b determines that the average value is not within the predetermined range (NO in S74), the brightness comparison unit 76b determines that the illuminator 134 is malfunctioning (S75). Next, the display unit 32 displays the determination result (S76), and the process ends.

[0236] If the brightness calculation unit 76a determines that the number of times the determination process has been performed since the previous failure determination has not reached the predetermined number (NO in S71), the process returns to S71. If the brightness comparison unit 76b determines that the average value is within a predetermined range (YES in S74), the brightness comparison unit 76b determines that the illuminator 134 is normal (S77), and the process continues to S76.

[0237] [Embodiment 10] (overview) In this embodiment, a configuration for reducing the data volume of an image for creating an image used to distinguish the type of medicine will be described mainly with reference to FIGS.

[0238] The image processing unit 73 provided in the drug sorting device 1 of this embodiment generates a cut-out image by cutting out a first area, which is the area of ​​the image of the target drug, or a second area, which is the area of ​​the image of the drug placing table 133a on which the target drug including the first area is placed, from a captured image including the image of the target drug, in order to generate an image of a reference drug for determining the type of target drug.

[0239] For example, with the above configuration, the amount of image data required to generate an image of the reference drug can be reduced. When the drug sorting device 1 transmits a captured image to an external device, the drug sorting device 1 transmits a cropped image to the external device as the captured image, thereby reducing the amount of data to be transmitted compared to a configuration in which cropped images are not generated. This makes it easier to transfer data from the drug sorting device 1 to the external device.

[0240] Furthermore, the transfer time of captured image data can be reduced. Therefore, it is possible to transfer captured image data using a VPN line or the like. Furthermore, even when the data is transferred to an HDD, the cost of the HDD can be reduced by reducing the data capacity. Therefore, the data transfer cost can be reduced. Furthermore, the running cost of the medicine sorting device 1 can be reduced.

[0241] (Image generation system 1000) An image generation system 1000 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 16. Fig. 16 is a diagram showing an example of the image generation system 1000.

[0242] As shown in FIG. 16, the image generation system 1000 includes a medicine sorting apparatus 1 and an information processing device 200 communicatively connectable to the medicine sorting apparatus 1. The information processing device 200 generates an image of a reference medicine for identifying the type of a target medicine. More specifically, the information processing device 200 generates a reference image based on a cut-out image generated by the medicine sorting apparatus 1. The reference image is an image for identifying the type of a target medicine to be identified, and is an image (master image) pre-registered in the medicine database 81. The medicine sorting apparatus 1 and the information processing device 200 transmit and receive data via an internet line or a dedicated VPN (Virtual Private Network) line. Note that the image generation system 1000 may include multiple medicine sorting apparatuses 1, and each of the medicine sorting apparatuses 1 may be communicatively connectable to the information processing device 200.

[0243] Furthermore, data transmission and reception between the medicine sorting apparatus 1 and the information processing device 200 does not have to be performed using the above-mentioned line. For example, data transmission and reception with the information processing device 200 may be performed using a communication device (e.g., a PC (Personal Computer)) different from the medicine sorting apparatus 1. Furthermore, data to be transmitted to the information processing device 200 may be stored in a storage medium (e.g., an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc)), and the data may be input to the information processing device 200. When a communication device or a storage medium is used, the medicine sorting apparatus 1 does not have to include the transceiver unit 100. Similarly, the information processing device 200 does not have to include the transceiver unit 201.

[0244] (Medicine sorting device 1) 16, the medicine sorting device 1 includes an imaging unit 13, a touch panel 3, and a computer 60. The computer 60 also includes a control unit 60b, a storage unit 80b, and a transmitting / receiving unit 100 that transmits and receives data to and from the information processing device 200.

[0245] 16 shows only the components of the medicine sorting device 1 that are related to the extraction process and the transmission process to the information processing device 200 according to this embodiment. The medicine sorting device 1 according to this embodiment may include all of the components of the medicine sorting device 1 shown in FIG.

[0246] (Operation unit 31) The operation unit 31 of the touch panel 3 accepts an input operation by the user. In particular, the operation unit 31 according to this embodiment accepts an input operation by the user for transmitting the cropped image 821, the region information file 822, and the compressed image 823 to the information processing device 200.

[0247] (control unit 60b) The control unit 60b according to this embodiment includes a transmission control unit 77b in addition to the main components of the control unit 60a described in the first embodiment.

[0248] (Imaging control unit 63) The imaging control unit 63 causes the first camera 131 to capture an image of the medicine placed on the medicine placing table 133a. The imaging control unit 63 acquires the captured image from the first camera 131 and transmits the image to the image processing unit 73.

[0249] (Operation input unit 66) The operation input unit 66 accepts input by the user via the operation unit 31. In this embodiment, the operation input unit 66 particularly accepts an operation for transmitting the cropped image 821, the region information file 822, and the compressed image 823 to the information processing device 200. When the operation is accepted, the operation input unit 66 transmits a signal indicating that the operation has been accepted to the transmission control unit 77b.

[0250] (Image processing unit 73) The image processing unit 73 receives the captured image from the imaging control unit 63. The image processing unit 73 generates a cut-out image 821, a region information file 822, and a compressed image 823 from the received captured image. The cut-out image 821 may be a cut-out image obtained by cutting out a region (first region) of the image of the target drug from a captured image including the image of the target drug. The cut-out image 821 may also be a region (second region) of the image of the drug placing table 133a on which the target drug is placed, including the image of the target drug. The region information file 822 is region information indicating the cut-out region in the captured image (the position and size of the drug image in the captured image). The compressed image 823 is an image obtained by compressing the captured image. The image processing unit 73 stores the generated cut-out image, region information file 822, and compressed image 823 in the memory unit 80b.

[0251] (Transmission control unit 77b) The transmission control unit 77b transmits the extracted image 821, the area information file 822, and the compressed image 823 stored in the storage unit 80b to the information processing device 200 via the transmission / reception unit 100 in accordance with the received user operation input.

[0252] (Storage unit 80b) The storage unit 80b according to this embodiment stores a cut-out image 821, a region information file 822, and a compressed image 823 in addition to the data stored in the storage unit 80 described in the first embodiment.

[0253] (Information processing device 200) The information processing device 200 can be communicatively connected to the medicine sorting device 1 and generates an image of the reference medicine. As shown in Fig. 16, the information processing device 200 includes a transmitting / receiving unit 201, a control unit 202, a storage unit 203, and a touch panel 204. The touch panel 204 includes an operation unit 241 and a display unit 242.

[0254] (Transmitter / receiver 201) The transmitting / receiving unit 201 transmits and receives data to and from the medicine sorting apparatus 1. In this embodiment, in particular, the transmitting / receiving unit 201 receives a cut-out image 821, a region information file 822, and a compressed image 823 from the transmitting / receiving unit 100 of the medicine sorting apparatus 1.

[0255] (control unit 202) The control unit 202 comprehensively controls the information processing device 200. The control unit 202 mainly includes an acquisition unit (reception unit) 221 and an image generation unit 222. The acquisition unit 221 acquires the cropped image 821, the region information file 822, and the compressed image 823 from the transmission / reception unit 201, and stores them in the storage unit 203. The storage unit 203 stores the cropped image 821, the region information file 822, and the compressed image 823. The image generation unit 222 generates a reference image by superimposing the cropped image 821 on the compressed image 823 based on the region information file 822. For example, the image generation unit 222 may resize the reduced compressed image 823 to its original size, and then superimpose the cropped image 821 at the position of the drug image in the captured image indicated by the region information file 822 to generate a reference image. For example, the image generating unit 222 may generate a reference image in response to an operation input by a user via the operation unit 241 of the touch panel 204 .

[0256] According to the above configuration, the medicine sorting apparatus 1 transfers the compressed image 823, the cut-out image 821, and the region information file 822 to the information processing apparatus 200, which is an external device, thereby reducing the amount of data transferred from the medicine sorting apparatus 1 to the information processing apparatus 200. Furthermore, even if the amount of data transferred from the medicine sorting apparatus 1 to the information processing apparatus 200 is reduced, the information processing apparatus 200 can generate a reference image in which the resolution of the medicine image is at least equivalent to the resolution of the captured image.

[0257] (Processing example) Fig. 17 is a flowchart showing an example of the cutout process of the image processing unit 73 of this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 17, the imaging control unit 63 acquires a captured image from the first camera 131 (S101).

[0258] Next, the image processing unit 73 identifies a cutout region in the received captured image (S102). For example, the image processing unit 73 converts the captured image into a binarized (black and white) image. The image processing unit 73 may identify a white region in the binarized image as the cutout region. Alternatively, the image processing unit 73 may identify the cutout region by pattern matching between the shape of the white region in the binarized image and a predetermined shape. The predetermined shape may be, for example, the shape of the image of the medicine placing table 133a in an image captured of the medicine placing table 133a. For example, when generating a cutout image using the shape of the image of the medicine placing table 133a in an image captured of the medicine placing table 133a, the image processing unit 73 may generate each cutout image from the following two captured images: one is an image capturing the front surface of the tablet, and the other is an image capturing the back surface of the tablet. Here, the front surface refers to one side of the tablet on which the identification information is displayed, and the back surface refers to the other side of the tablet that is different from the one side on which the identification information is displayed.

[0259] Next, the image processing unit 73 generates a cut-out image 821 by cutting out the region identified in S102 from the captured image D100 (S103). The image processing unit 73 also generates a region information file 822 (S104). Next, a compressed image 823 is generated (S105). Fig. 18 is a diagram showing an example of the captured image D100, cut-out image D101, region information file D102, and compressed image D103 of the target drug.

[0260] For example, the cropped image D101 may be generated as PNG format data. Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 18, the region information file D102 indicates the position of the cropped image D101 in the captured image D100. Furthermore, the compressed image D103 may be generated as JPEG format data obtained by compressing the captured image D100. For example, an example of the compressed image D103 is JPEG format image data obtained by resizing the captured image D100 to 1 / 4 size. That is, by resizing the captured image D100 to 1 / 4 size, the amount of data can be compressed.

[0261] Next, the image processing unit 73 stores the cut-out image 821, the region information file 822, and the compressed image 823 in the storage unit 80b (S106), and the process ends.

[0262] Thereafter, the medicine sorting device 1 transmits the cut-out image 821, the region information file 822, and the compressed image 823 to the information processing device 200. As a result, the information processing device 200 can restore the captured image D100 based on, for example, the cut-out image D101, the region information file D102, and the compressed image D103.

[0263] Note that multiple captured images may be used to identify the type of a single target drug. For example, if the target drug is a tablet, the identification may be performed using 10 captured images. If the target drug is a capsule, the identification may be performed using up to 10 additional captured images in addition to the 10 captured images. For example, the image processing unit 73 may determine whether the target drug captured in the received captured images is a tablet or a capsule. Note that the image processing unit 73 may perform this identification using pattern matching between the image of the target drug captured in the received captured images and a predetermined shape. If the image processing unit 73 determines that the target drug is a tablet, it may not process any captured images other than the first 10 received images and may not store those captured images in the memory unit 80b. This is because if the target drug is a tablet, the type can be identified using 10 captured images. On the other hand, if the target drug is a capsule, the type may not be identified using 10 captured images. Therefore, when the target drug is a capsule, the image processing unit 73 may store in the storage unit 80b more than 10 captured images that have been acquired up until the time when it has been determined that the target drug is a capsule.

[0264] (Variation) A modification of this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 19. For ease of explanation, members having the same functions as those described in the above embodiment will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will not be repeated.

[0265] The image processing unit 73 in this modified example generates serialized data including the cut-out image, cut-out area image, area information file, information indicating the color of the target drug, information indicating the shape of the target drug, etc., and consolidates them into a single file. The image processing unit 73 stores the file on a specified backup disk. For example, serialized data is data in which specific data is arranged in a regular pattern. In this modified example, an image cut out from the range of the image of the target drug in the captured image is called a cut-out image. Here, the "range of the image of the target drug" is the same as the "area of ​​the image of the target drug (first area)" in the above-mentioned embodiment 10. For ease of explanation, in this modified example, it is called the "range of the image of the target drug."

[0266] In this modification, an image obtained by cutting out the image of the medicine placing table 133a including the image of the target medicine in the captured image is referred to as a cut-out area image. In addition, the "range of the image of the medicine placing table 133a on which the target medicine including the image of the target medicine is placed" in this modification is the same as the "area (second area) of the image of the medicine placing table 133a on which the target medicine including the image of the target medicine is placed" in the above-mentioned embodiment 10. For ease of explanation, in this modification, it is referred to as the "range of the image of the medicine placing table 133a on which the target medicine including the image of the target medicine is placed." In addition, in this modification, a cut-out image of a predetermined area centered on the image of the target medicine in the captured image is also referred to as a cut-out area image.

[0267] Furthermore, the information processing device 200 according to this modification deserializes (restores serialization) the serialized data and returns it to the file format before serialization. The serialized data includes, for a discrimination process of one target drug type, the number of discrimination processes, data indicating the drug color and shape, a cut-out image generated from the captured image, and cut-out and aggregated data.

[0268] For example, the information processing device 200 creates a black background of the same size as the captured image from which the clipping has been performed. The information processing device 200 generates a reference image by pasting the clipped image into the area of ​​the black background that corresponds to the area from which the clipping has been performed in the captured image based on the region information file.

[0269] (Generating image set classes and lightweight classes) The image processing unit 73 according to this modification generates an image set class for each discrimination process for one type of target drug. The image processing unit 73 prepares in advance, as an image set class, a data storage area capable of storing the maximum number of cutout images and cutout region images that can be generated in one discrimination process. In this embodiment, the image set class can store cutout images and cutout region images generated from a maximum of 20 captured images.

[0270] For example, if the matching unit 64b is able to determine the type from a predetermined number (e.g., 10) of captured images in one discrimination process, the image processing unit 73 compiles the cut-out images and cut-out area images generated from the predetermined number (e.g., 10) of captured images and stores them in an image set class prepared in advance for the discrimination process.

[0271] If the matching unit 64b is unable to determine the type from a predetermined number (for example, 10) of captured images, the imaging control unit 63 controls the first camera 131 to acquire more captured images. The imaging control unit 63 continues to acquire captured images until the matching unit 64b is able to determine the type from the acquired captured images. The image processing unit 73 also stores, in the image set class, cut-out images and cut-out area images generated from captured images acquired in excess of the predetermined number.

[0272] For example, when the matching unit 64b completes the discrimination of one target drug, the image processing unit 73 adds the image set class corresponding to each discrimination process to the image set class list of the light-weight class. The drug sorting device 1 transmits the image set class list of the light-weight class to the information processing device 200, whereby the information processing device 200 can generate a reference image by deserializing the data included in the image set class for each target image.

[0273] The discrimination unit 64 may be configured to perform image analysis on the captured image 82 again to attempt to discriminate the type of drug (perform discrimination retry processing) if the type of drug cannot be discriminated by a single discrimination process. When a discrimination retry processing occurs, the image processing unit 73 according to this modification generates an image set class corresponding to the discrimination retry processing.

[0274] (Example of cutting process) Next, an example of the process of cutting out from the captured image by the image processing unit 73 according to this modification will be described with reference to Fig. 19. Fig. 19 is a diagram showing an example of the process of cutting out from the captured image performed by the image processing unit 73.

[0275] First, two patterns of captured images will be described. The captured images have two patterns: a horizontal image (N image) and a vertical image (V image) according to the inclination of the medicine placing table 133a when the captured image is captured. N in Fig. 19 is a diagram showing the inclination of the medicine placing table 133a when the captured image is captured as an N image. As shown in N in Fig. 19, when the captured image is captured as an N image, the N image is captured in a state where one of the inclined surface portions 133ab of the medicine placing table 133a is horizontal.

[0276] V in Fig. 19 is a diagram showing the inclination of the medicine placing stand 133a when the captured image is captured as a vertical image (V image). As shown in V in Fig. 19, when the captured image is captured as a V image, the V image is captured with the surface of the bottom surface part 133aa of the medicine placing stand 133a being horizontal.

[0277] The image processing unit 73 performs a cutout process of the captured image in accordance with the pattern of the captured image (V image, N image), the type of lighting used when capturing the captured image, and the like.

[0278] An example of the cutout process by the image processing unit 73 for a captured image (bar illumination N image) that is a (1) N image and that is captured using the first irradiator 134a (bar illumination) during shooting will be described using a captured image D104 in Fig. 19. The captured image D104 in Fig. 19 is a bar illumination N image. In the captured image D104 in Fig. 19, a range J104 of the image of the target drug, which is the range where cutout is performed, and a range R104 of the image of the drug placing table 133a that includes the image of the target drug, are shown.

[0279] The image processing unit 73 performs a binarization process on the captured image. The image processing unit 73 detects a white area in the binarized captured image as a range to be cut out. As shown in the captured image D104 in FIG. 19, for example, the cut-out ranges detected by the image processing unit 73 are a range J104 of the image of the target drug and a range R104 of the image of the drug placement table 133a including the image of the target drug. For example, the image processing unit 73 may use a captured image binarized using different thresholds to detect the range of the image of the target drug and the range of the image of the drug placement table 133a including the image of the target drug. The image processing unit 73 cuts out the range of the image of the target drug in the captured image to generate a cut-out image. Furthermore, the image processing unit 73 cuts out the range of the image of the drug placement table 133a including the image of the target drug to generate a cut-out region image.

[0280] (2) An example of the cutout processing by the image processing unit 73 for a captured image (bar illumination V image) that is a V image and was captured using the first illumination unit 134a (bar illumination) during shooting will be described using the captured image D105 in Figure 19.

[0281] The captured image D105 in Fig. 19 is an image illuminated by a bar V. The captured image D105 in Fig. 19 shows a range J105 of the image of the target drug, which is the range for cutting out, and a predetermined range R105 centered on the image of the target drug.

[0282] As shown in captured image D105 of FIG. 19, for example, the image processing unit 73 detects a range J105 of the image of the target drug by pattern matching. The predetermined shape may be, for example, the shape of the image of the drug in an image captured after placing the drug on the drug placement table 133a. Next, the image processing unit 73 determines a range R105, which is a predetermined range centered on the range J105 of the image of the target drug. For example, the range R105 is a range obtained by enlarging the range J105 of the image of the target drug by a predetermined magnification factor, with the range J105 of the image of the target drug at its center. The predetermined magnification factor may be determined, for example, based on the degree of reduction in the volume of the image data or the results of verifying the quality of the restored image.

[0283] The image processing unit 73 cuts out the range of the image of the target drug from the captured image to generate a cut-out image. The image processing unit 73 also cuts out a predetermined range centered on the image of the target drug to generate a cut-out region image.

[0284] (3) An example of the cutout processing by the image processing unit 73 for a captured image (ring illumination N image) that is an N image and was captured using the second illuminator 134b (ring illumination) during shooting will be described using the captured image D106 in Figure 19.

[0285] The image processing unit 73 refers to the range of the image of the target drug detected in the bar illumination N image (the relative position of the range of the image of the target drug with respect to the captured image) and specifies the position of the range of the image of the target drug in the ring illumination N image. In detail, the image processing unit 73 specifies the position of the range of the image of the target drug in the ring illumination N image so that the relative position of the range of the image of the target drug with respect to the ring illumination N image is the same as the relative position of the range of the image of the target drug in the bar illumination N image.

[0286] The captured image D106 in Fig. 19 is an image with ring illumination N. In the captured image D106 in Fig. 19, a range J106 of the image of the target drug, which is the range for cutting out, is shown.

[0287] For example, in the example shown in Figure 19, the image processing unit 73 refers to the relative position of the range J104 of the image of the target drug with respect to the captured image D104, which is the bar illumination N image, and identifies the position of the range J106 of the image of the target drug in the captured image D106.

[0288] (4) An example of the cutout process by the image processing unit 73 for a captured image (ring illumination V image) that is a V image and is captured using the second irradiating unit 134b (ring illumination) during shooting will be described.

[0289] The image processing unit 73 refers to the range of the image of the target drug detected in the bar illumination V image (the relative position of the range of the image of the target drug in the captured image) and specifies the position of the range of the image of the target drug in the ring illumination V image. In detail, the image processing unit 73 specifies the position of the range of the image of the target drug in the ring illumination V image so that the relative position of the range of the image of the target drug in the ring illumination V image is the same as the relative position of the range of the image of the target drug in the bar illumination V image.

[0290] For example, in the example shown in Figure 19, the image processing unit 73 refers to the relative position of the range J105 of the image of the target drug with respect to the captured image D105, which is the bar illumination V image, and identifies the position of the range J105 of the image of the target drug in the ring illumination V image (not shown).

[0291] An example of the cutout process by the image processing unit 73 for a captured image (UV illumination N image) that is a (5) N image and is captured using the ultraviolet light irradiating unit 134c (UV illumination) during shooting will be described.

[0292] The image processing unit 73 refers to the range of the image of the target drug detected in the bar illumination N image (the relative position of the range of the image of the target drug with respect to the captured image) and specifies the position of the range of the image of the target drug in the UV illumination N image. In detail, the image processing unit 73 specifies the position of the range of the image of the target drug in the UV illumination N image so that the relative position of the range of the image of the target drug in the UV illumination N image is the same as the relative position of the range of the image of the target drug in the bar illumination N image.

[0293] For example, in the example shown in Figure 19, the image processing unit 73 refers to the relative position of the range J104 of the image of the target drug with respect to the captured image D104, which is the bar illumination N image, and identifies the position of the range J104 of the image of the target drug in the UV illumination N image (not shown).

[0294] It should be noted that the image processing unit 73 does not need to generate a cutout region image for an image captured using ring illumination or UV illumination during shooting.

[0295] The processes (1) to (5) may be performed on the predetermined number of captured images. Specifically, the predetermined number of captured images are a bar illumination N image, a bar illumination V image, a ring illumination N image, a ring illumination V image, and a UV illumination N image. The bar illumination N image, bar illumination V image, ring illumination N image, ring illumination V image, and UV illumination N image may be captured by positioning the imaging mechanism so that the angle θ between the axis Ax0 and the axis Ax1 shown in FIG. 4 is 0° and 180°. In this case, the predetermined number of captured images is a total of 10 captured images, including the bar illumination N image, bar illumination V image, ring illumination N image, ring illumination V image, and UV illumination N image, captured by positioning the imaging mechanism so that θ is 0° and 180°. Meanwhile, the captured images acquired in excess of the predetermined number are bar illumination V images captured while changing the imaging angle. Therefore, the process (2) is performed on these images.

[0296] When comparing the data capacity of a captured image without the above-mentioned processing with the data capacity of the serialized data after the above-mentioned processing, the data capacity of the serialized data relative to the data capacity of a captured image without the cutout processing was as follows. For 39 engraved tablets, the data volume of the captured images without cutting out was 23.2%. The data volume of the 39 printed tablets is 21.5% of the captured image data volume without cutting out. For a 20-tablet capsule, the data volume was 34.5% of the data volume of an uncut image. Furthermore, it was confirmed that when the serialized data was compressed using zip compression, the data volume was reduced to approximately 10% of the data volume of an uncut image.

[0297] This modification can be expressed as follows.

[0298] In order to generate an image of a reference drug for determining the type of target drug, the image processing unit 73 of the drug sorting device 1 in this modified example generates at least one cut-out image by cutting out the range of the image of the target drug (first region) and the range of the image of the drug placing table 133a on which the target drug is placed, including the image of the target drug, from a captured image including the image of the target drug.

[0299] The image processing unit 73 generates at least one of a region information file indicating a first region in a captured image and a region information file indicating a second region.

[0300] The information processing device 200 according to this modification can be communicatively connected to the medicine sorting device 1 and generates an image of a reference medicine. The acquisition unit 221 of the information processing device 200 receives a cut-out image and a region information file corresponding to the cut-out image from the medicine sorting device 1. The image generation unit (generation unit) 222 generates a reference image based on the region information file.

[0301] The image generating system 1000 of this modified example includes the medicine sorting apparatus 1 and an information processing apparatus 200.

[0302] [Embodiment 11] (overview) In this embodiment, a configuration for reducing the replacement cost of the sorting cup 141 will be described mainly with reference to FIGS.

[0303] The medicine sorting device 1 according to this embodiment generates a shape model 800 that indicates the shape of a scratch on the sorting cup 141 and stores the generated shape model 800. When detecting medicines from a captured image of the sorting cup 141 to check remaining medicines, the medicine sorting device 1 uses the shape model 800 to prevent the scratch on the sorting cup 141 from being detected as medicine. According to the above configuration, a scratched sorting cup 141 can continue to be used. Therefore, the cost of replacing the sorting cup 141 can be reduced.

[0304] (Medicine sorting device 1) The medicine sorting device 1 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 20. FIG. 20 is a block diagram showing an example of a partial configuration of the medicine sorting device 1 according to this embodiment. Note that FIG. 20 shows only the configuration of the medicine sorting device 1 that is related to the shape model generation process of the sorting cup 141 according to this embodiment and the medicine detection process in the sorting cup 141. The medicine sorting device 1 according to this embodiment may include all of the configuration provided in the medicine sorting device 1 shown in FIG. 1.

[0305] (Operation unit 31) The operation unit 31 of the touch panel 3 accepts input operations by the user. In particular, the operation unit 31 according to this embodiment accepts a user input instructing the generation of a shape model 800 of the sorting cup 141. The operation unit 31 also accepts a user input instructing the checking of remaining medicine in the sorting cup 141. Checking remaining medicine means that the medicine sorting device 1 determines whether or not the sorting cup 141 contains any medicines based on a captured image of the sorting cup 141.

[0306] (control unit 60c) The control unit 60c according to this embodiment includes, in addition to the main components of the control unit 60a described in the first embodiment, a shape model generation unit 791c, a medicine detection unit 792c, and a matching determination unit 793c.

[0307] (Imaging control unit 63) The imaging control unit 63 causes the second camera 121 to capture an image of the inside of the sorting cup 141 in accordance with instructions received from the operation input unit 66. The imaging control unit 63 acquires the captured image from the second camera 121. When the operation input unit 66 accepts a user input instructing the generation of a shape model 800 of the sorting cup 141, the imaging control unit 63 transmits the acquired captured image to the shape model generation unit 791c. When the operation input unit 66 accepts a user input instructing the confirmation of remaining medicine in the sorting cup 141, the imaging control unit 63 transmits the acquired captured image to the medicine detection unit 792c.

[0308] (Operation input unit 66) The operation input unit 66 accepts input by the user on the operation unit 31. In this embodiment, in particular, the operation input unit 66 accepts a user input instructing the generation of a shape model 800 of the sorting cup 141 and a user input instructing the confirmation of remaining medicine in the sorting cup 141.

[0309] Upon receiving a user input instructing the generation of a shape model 800 of the sorting cup 141 and a user input instructing the confirmation of remaining medicine in the sorting cup 141, the operation input unit 66 instructs the imaging control unit 63 to use the second camera to capture an image of the sorting cup 141. Note that the user input instructing the generation of the shape model 800 of the sorting cup 141 may include an input specifying the sorting cup 141.

[0310] (Display control unit 67) The display control unit 67 receives a signal indicating the detection result of the medicine image from the medicine detection unit 792c. The display control unit 67 displays a remaining medicine confirmation image on the display unit 32. For example, the remaining medicine confirmation image may display an image of each sorting cup 141 and also display "remaining medicine", "no remaining medicine", etc. for that sorting cup 141.

[0311] (shape model generation unit 791c) The shape model generation unit 791c receives the captured image from the imaging control unit 63. The shape model generation unit 791c generates a shape model 800 of the sorting cup 141 from the captured image. The process of generating the shape model 800 will be described in detail later. The shape model generation unit 791c associates the shape model 800 with the UID (unique identification) of the RFID tag of the corresponding sorting cup 141 and stores it in the storage unit 80c. The shape model 800 may include area information indicating the area of ​​the scratch in the sorting cup 141 in addition to the shape model indicating the shape of the scratch.

[0312] (drug detection unit 792c) The medicine detection unit 792c receives the captured image from the imaging control unit 63. The medicine detection unit 792c detects the image of the medicine from the captured image. When the medicine detection unit 792c detects the image of the medicine from the captured image, it transmits the captured image to the matching determination unit 793c.

[0313] For example, the drug detection unit 792c converts the captured image into a binarized image. The drug detection unit 792 may identify a white area in the binarized image as an image of the drug. Alternatively, the drug detection unit 792c may identify the image of the drug by pattern matching the shape of the white area in the binarized image with a predetermined shape. The predetermined shape may be, for example, the shape of the image of the drug in an image captured in advance.

[0314] The medicine detection unit 792c also receives a signal indicating a matching area from the matching determination unit 793c. The matching area will be described in detail later. The medicine detection unit 792c excludes the matching area indicated by the signal from the area to be detected and detects medicine images. If a medicine image is detected, the medicine detection unit 792c transmits a signal indicating that there is medicine remaining in the corresponding sorting cup 141 to the display control unit 67. If the medicine detection unit 792c receives a signal indicating that no matching area has been detected from the matching determination unit 793c, the medicine detection unit 792c transmits a signal indicating that there is medicine remaining in the corresponding sorting cup 141 to the display control unit 67. If no medicine image is detected from the captured image excluding the matching area or from the captured image received from the imaging control unit 63, the medicine detection unit 792c transmits a signal indicating that there is no medicine remaining in the corresponding sorting cup 141 to the display control unit 67.

[0315] (Matching determination unit 793c) The matching determination unit 793c receives the captured image from the drug detection unit 792c. The matching determination unit 793c matches the shape model 800 in the memory unit 80c with the image detected as the drug image in the captured image and calculates a matching score. The matching determination unit 793c determines whether the matching score is greater than a predetermined value. If the matching score is greater than the predetermined value, the matching determination unit 793c identifies the area of ​​the image detected as the drug image as a matching area. The matching determination unit 793c transmits a signal indicating the matching area to the drug detection unit 792c. If the matching score is equal to or less than the predetermined value, the matching determination unit 793c transmits a signal indicating that a matching area has not been detected to the drug detection unit 792c.

[0316] As described above, a matching region is a region where the matching score is greater than a predetermined value. That is, a matching region is a region in the captured image where an image of a shape similar to the shape of the flaw shown in shape model 800 is captured. Furthermore, a value greater than the above-mentioned predetermined value (threshold value) is a value that can be considered to indicate a high degree of similarity between the shape of the flaw shown in shape model 800 and the image in the captured image. A specific example of the above-mentioned predetermined value is 0.75 (75 points). For example, the matching score is a value where a perfect match is 1 (100 points) and a dissimilarity is 0 (0 points).

[0317] (Example of generation process of shape model 800) 21 is a flowchart showing an example of a geometric model generation process for the sorting cup 141 performed by the medicine sorting device 1 of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 21, the operation input unit 66 receives an instruction to generate a geometric model 800 for the sorting cup 141 (S201). For example, when checking the remaining medicine after medicines have been removed from the sorting cup 141, if the user determines that the sorting cup 141 has a scratch, the user inputs an instruction to generate the geometric model 800 for the sorting cup 141 from the operation unit 31.

[0318] Next, the imaging control unit 63 acquires a captured image of the interior of the sorting cup 141 from the second camera 121 (S202). Next, the shape model generation unit 791c generates a shape model 800 of the sorting cup 141 from the captured image (S203). FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an example of a captured image of the sorting cup 141 and a shape model 800 of the sorting cup 141. A captured image D200 shown in FIG. 22 is an example of a captured image of the interior of the sorting cup 141 captured by the second camera 121. An area R20 is shown in the captured image D200, and one scratch exists in the area R20. An image D201 shown in FIG. 22 is an enlarged image of the area R20. A shape model 800E1 shown in FIG. 22 indicates the shape model 800 corresponding to the scratch detected in the image D201.

[0319] For example, shape model 800E1 is the shape of a scratch on the sorting cup 141 extracted from image D201. Note that shape model 800 may only show a portion of the shape of the scratch on the sorting cup 141. Image D202 shown in FIG. 22 is an example of an enlarged image of a captured image of the inside of another sorting cup 141. There are multiple scratches on the sorting cup 141 captured in image D202. When multiple scratches are detected from the captured image of the sorting cup 141, the shape model generation unit 791c may generate shape models 800 corresponding to each of the detected scratches. Shape models 800E2 to 800E4 shown in FIG. 22 show shape models 800 corresponding to each of the multiple scratches detected in image D202.

[0320] Next, the shape model generating unit 791c stores the generated shape model 800 in the storage unit 80c (S204).

[0321] (Example of drug detection process for checking remaining medication) 23 is a flowchart showing an example of a medicine detection process for checking remaining medicines by the medicine sorting device 1 of this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 23, the operation input unit 66 receives an instruction to check remaining medicines in the sorting cup 141 (S301). Next, the imaging control unit 63 acquires a captured image of the inside of the sorting cup 141 from the second camera 121 (S302).

[0322] Next, the drug detection unit 792c detects drug images from the captured image (S303). If the drug detection unit 792c detects drug images from the captured image (YES in S303), the matching determination unit 793c matches the shape model 800 stored in the storage unit 80c with the image detected as a drug in the captured image (S304). Next, the matching determination unit 793c determines whether the matching score is greater than a predetermined value (S305).

[0323] FIG. 24 shows an example of a captured image of the sorting cup 141, an extracted image obtained by extracting an image of the interior of the sorting cup 141, a shape model 800, and an image of a matching region in the extracted image. The captured image D203 shown in FIG. 24 is an example of a captured image of the sorting cup 141. The matching determination unit 793c may generate an extracted image obtained by extracting an image of the interior of the sorting cup 141 from the captured image of the sorting cup 141. The extracted image D204 shown in FIG. 24 is an extracted image obtained by extracting an image of the interior of the sorting cup 141 from the captured image D203. The matching determination unit 793c may perform matching using the extracted image as the captured image. The shape model 800F1 shown in FIG. 24 is an example of a shape model of a scratch in the sorting cup 141. Furthermore, the image D205 shown in FIG. 24 is an example of an image of the matching region corresponding to the shape model 800F1 in the extracted image D204. 24, the matching determination unit 793c searches for an image pattern similar to the shape model 800F1 from the extracted image D204, and calculates a matching score that indicates how similar the found image pattern is to the shape model 800F1. Fig. 24 shows an example in which the matching score calculated by the matching determination unit 793c is 0.93.

[0324] If the matching determination unit 793c determines that the matching score is greater than a predetermined value (threshold value) (YES in S305), the medicine detection unit 792c excludes the matching area from the area in the captured image where medicine is detected (S306) and detects medicine images (S307). If the medicine detection unit 792c detects medicine images (YES in S307), the display control unit 67 displays a remaining medicine confirmation image on the display unit 32 that displays "Remaining medicine" on the corresponding sorting cup 141 (S308), and the process ends.

[0325] Image D206 shown in Fig. 24 shows an example of the drug detection result of the drug detection unit 792c when the matching region is excluded from the detection target region. As shown in image D206 in Fig. 24, the drug detection unit 792c detects only the drug image J200 and does not detect the image of the wound as a drug.

[0326] If the medicine detection unit 792c does not detect a medicine image from the captured image (NO in S303), the display control unit 67 displays a remaining medicine confirmation image on the display unit 32 displaying "No remaining medicine" in the corresponding sorting cup 141 (S309), and the processing ends. Also, if the matching determination unit 793c determines that the matching score is equal to or less than a predetermined value (NO in S305), the processing continues to 308. Also, if the medicine detection unit 792c does not detect a medicine image (NO in S307), the processing continues to 309.

[0327] [Embodiment 12] In this embodiment, a configuration that can assist the user in excluding medicines in poor condition from the sorted medicines will be described with reference to Fig. 25. For example, medicines in poor condition include medicines that are partially missing, soiled, discolored, etc.

[0328] The medicine sorting device 1 according to this embodiment displays buttons that allow the user to select the status of each medicine on an image (image for visual inspection) for visually inspecting the sorted medicines. The medicine sorting device 1 prints the status of each medicine on at least one of a journal and a packaging paper according to the received user input.

[0329] According to the above configuration, if the sorted medicines include medicines in poor condition, the user can easily grasp the number of medicines in poor condition. Therefore, the medicine sorting device 1 can assist the user in removing medicines in poor condition from the sorted medicines. Furthermore, since the user can be made aware that the sorted medicines include medicines in poor condition, the omission of removing medicines in poor condition can be reduced.

[0330] The operation unit 31, the control unit 60a, and the print output unit 4 according to this embodiment perform the following processes in addition to the processes described in the first embodiment.

[0331] (Operation unit 31) The operation unit 31 accepts input operations by the user. In particular, the operation unit 31 according to this embodiment accepts user input for displaying an image for visual inspection. The operation unit 31 also accepts user input entered using the buttons displayed on the image for visual inspection. The operation unit 31 transmits a signal indicating the accepted user input to the operation input unit 66.

[0332] (Imaging control unit 63) The imaging control unit 63 receives an instruction from the operation input unit 66 and causes the second camera 121 to capture an image of the sorting cup 141. The imaging control unit 63 acquires the captured image and transmits it to the display control unit 67.

[0333] (Operation input unit 66) When the operation input unit 66 receives a signal indicating a user input for displaying an image for visual inspection, it instructs the imaging control unit 63 to capture an image of the sorting cup 141 with the second camera 121. The operation input unit 66 also receives a signal indicating a user input entered using the button displayed on the image for visual inspection. The operation input unit 66 transmits the signal indicating the user input to the print output control unit 69.

[0334] (Display control unit 67) The display control unit 67 receives the captured image from the imaging control unit 63, generates an image for visual inspection using the captured image, and displays it on the display unit 32. The image for visual inspection includes a button that allows the user to select the condition of each medicine. The button allows the user to input the condition of each medicine sorted in the sorting cup 141. For example, the button allows the user to select the condition of the medicine, such as whether the medicine is dirty, whether there are any chips in the medicine, or whether the medicine has discolored.

[0335] (Print output control unit 69) The printout control unit 69 controls the printout unit 4 in accordance with the user input received by the operation input unit 66 .

[0336] (Print output section 4) The print output unit 4 prints the state of each medicine on at least one of a journal and a packaging paper in accordance with user input.

[0337] (Processing example) FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing an example of the printing process of the medicine sorting device according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 25, the operation input unit 66 accepts a user input for displaying an image for visual inspection (S401). Next, the imaging control unit 63 controls the second camera 121 to capture an image of the sorting cup 141 (S402). Next, the display control unit 67 displays an image for visual inspection, including buttons that allow the user to select the status of each medicine (S403). Next, the operation input unit 66 accepts a user input for the buttons regarding the status of each medicine (S404). The user visually checks the images for visual inspection and visually inspects the medicines shown in each image. If the user finds any problems with the medicines during visual inspection, the user selects the button indicating "Yes" for the corresponding problem. If no problems are found, the user selects the button indicating "No" for each problem. In response to this selection, the operation input unit 66 accepts a user input for the buttons.

[0338] Next, the printout control unit 69 controls the printout unit 4 to print the status of each medicine on the journal (S405), and the process ends. For example, if the user performs a visual inspection before packaging the sorted medicines, the status of each medicine may be printed on both the journal paper and the packaging paper. Also, if the user performs a visual inspection after packaging the sorted medicines, the status of each medicine may be printed only on the journal paper. For example, the status of the medicine and the number of medicines in that status may be printed for each sorting cup 141, such as "Stained: 1 tablet present, Missing: 2 tablets present."

[0339] [Embodiment 13] (overview) In this embodiment, mainly using Figs. 26 to 28, a configuration that can increase the probability of successful identification of the type of target drug and can increase the accuracy of identification of the type of target drug will be described.

[0340] When the identification information of a target drug contains unidentifiable characters, the drug assortment device 1 according to this embodiment generates a converted character string in which the unidentifiable characters in the character string of the identification information are converted into wildcards that match all patterns. The drug assortment device 1 determines the type of the target drug from the search results using the converted character string against the user's adopted drug list 810 and the comprehensive drug database 541.

[0341] According to the above configuration, when the identification information of the target drug contains unidentifiable characters, the drug assorting device 1 determines the type of the target drug from the search results using the user adopted drug list 810 and the comprehensive drug database 541. Therefore, the drug assorting device 1 can increase the probability that the target drug is one of the drugs.

[0342] FIG. 26 is a diagram showing an example of a drug discrimination system 2000 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 26, a user-adopted drug list 810 is stored in the memory unit 80d of each drug sorting device 1. The user-adopted drug list 810 is a list including characteristics (drug data) of reference drugs corresponding to drugs managed in the hospital, ward, pharmacy, etc. where the drug sorting device 1 is used. The drug data is associated with identification information of the reference drug (e.g., information indicating the type of drug, such as the drug name). The drug data may be image data including the characteristics of the reference drug.

[0343] 26, the comprehensive drug database 541 is stored in the memory unit 504 of the data management device 500. The data management device 500 manages drug data relating to multiple types of drugs that can be used in any hospital, ward, pharmacy, etc. The data management device 500 can be communicably connected to the drug sorting device 1, and comprehensively and centrally manages multiple types of drugs in the comprehensive drug database 541.

[0344] Because the amount of drug data managed in the comprehensive drug database 541 is enormous, it is not realistic to include all of it in the user's adopted drug list 810. Therefore, the drug data included in the user's adopted drug list 810 is drug data extracted from the drug data included in the comprehensive drug database, which is drug data expected to be used in each drug sorting device 1, or in each hospital, ward, pharmacy, etc.

[0345] (Drug Identification System 2000) A drug discrimination system 2000 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 26. As shown in FIG. 26, the drug discrimination system 2000 includes a plurality of drug sorting devices 1 and a data management device 500 that can be communicatively connected to each drug sorting device 1. The drug sorting devices 1 and the data management device 500 transmit and receive data via an internet line or a dedicated VPN (Virtual Private Network) line. Note that the drug discrimination system 2000 may include only one drug sorting device 1.

[0346] (Data management device 500) The data management device 500 is a device used, for example, by the manufacturer of the drug sorting device 1. The data management device 500 includes a communication unit 501, a control unit 502, a touch panel 503, and a storage unit 504. The storage unit 504 stores a comprehensive drug database 541. The communication unit 501 transmits and receives data to and from the drug sorting device 1. The communication unit 501 receives, for example, a conversion character string from the communication unit 101 of the drug sorting device 1. The control unit 502 searches the comprehensive drug database 541 using the conversion character string. The control unit 502 transmits drug data of the reference drug searched for in the comprehensive drug database 541 to the drug sorting device 1 via the communication unit 501. The touch panel 503 includes an operation unit and a display unit (not shown). For example, the drug data included in the comprehensive drug database 541 may be updated by a user operation via the touch panel 503.

[0347] (Medicine sorting device 1) As shown in FIG. 26, the medicine sorting device 1 includes a touch panel 3, a control unit 60a, a storage unit 80d, and a communication unit 101.

[0348] 26 shows only the configuration related to the discrimination process according to this embodiment among the configurations of the medicine sorting device 1. The medicine sorting device 1 according to this embodiment may include all of the configurations provided in the medicine sorting device 1 shown in FIG.

[0349] (Touch Panel 3) An operation unit (not shown) of the touch panel 3 accepts input operations by the user. In particular, the operation unit according to this embodiment accepts a user operation to instruct adding drug data of a reference drug to the user adopted drug list 810.

[0350] For example, the drug data of the reference drug added to the user adopted drug list 810 may be drug data of the reference drug that is not found in the user adopted drug list 810 but is found in the comprehensive drug database 541 in a search using a conversion character string. For example, when the operation input unit 66 receives a user operation instructing the addition of drug data of the reference drug, the drug database update unit 74 shown in FIG. 1 may add the drug data of the reference drug to the user adopted drug list 810. Furthermore, the user may request the manufacturer of the drug sorting device 1 to add to the user adopted drug list 810 drug data of the reference drug that is not found in the user adopted drug list 810 but is found in the comprehensive drug database 541.

[0351] The control unit 60a according to this embodiment has the following functions in addition to the functions described in the first embodiment.

[0352] (Feature extraction unit 64a) The feature extraction unit 64a performs OCR processing on the identification information of the target drug. The feature extraction unit 64a also determines whether or not the character string of the identification information after OCR contains any unidentifiable characters.

[0353] Furthermore, the feature extraction unit 64a determines whether the character string of the identification information after OCR contains a predetermined number of characters equal to or greater than a first number. For example, the feature extraction unit 64a determines whether the total number of identifiable characters and indistinguishable characters contained in the character string of the identification information is equal to or greater than the first number. The first number may be a number set by the user.

[0354] Furthermore, the feature extraction unit 64a determines whether the character string of the identification information after OCR contains more identifiable characters than a second predetermined number. For example, the feature extraction unit 64a may determine whether the number of identifiable characters is greater than the number of unidentifiable characters. If the number of characters included in the character string of the identification information after OCR is 8, the feature extraction unit 64a may determine whether the number of identifiable characters is 5 or more (greater than 4).

[0355] If the character string of the OCR-processed identification information contains a first number of characters or more and contains a second number of identifiable characters or more, the feature extraction unit 64a generates a converted character string. Specifically, the feature extraction unit 64a generates the converted character string by converting unidentifiable characters in the character string of the OCR-processed identification information into wildcards. The feature extraction unit 64a transmits a signal indicating the generated converted character string to the matching unit 64b.

[0356] (Collation unit 64b) The collating unit 64b searches for a reference drug of the same type as the target drug by collating the received converted character string with the character string of the identification information of the reference drug included in the user adopted drug list 810.

[0357] The collation unit 64b also transmits a signal indicating the conversion character string to the data management device 500 via the communication unit 101. The collation unit 64b acquires drug data of the reference drug searched for using the conversion character string from the comprehensive drug database 541 from the data management device 500 via the communication unit 101. The collation unit 64b determines the type of target drug based on the search results. The collation unit 64b also updates the determination result information 820 stored in the memory unit 80d. The determination result information 820 is information including the type of target drug determined by the collation unit 64b, drug data of the reference drug used for the determination, and all candidate drugs when there are multiple candidates for the target drug. The determination result information 820 may be stored in the memory unit 80 in association with the captured image 82 of the target drug.

[0358] (Processing example) 27 is a flowchart showing an example of the discrimination process of the medicine sorting device 1 of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 27, the feature extraction unit 64a performs OCR processing on the identification information of the target medicine (S501). Next, the feature extraction unit 64a determines whether or not the character string of the identification information after OCR contains an unidentifiable character (S502).

[0359] FIG. 28 shows an example of the identification information of a target drug, the drug data of a reference drug in the user's adopted drug list 810, and the drug data of a reference drug in the comprehensive drug database 541. D301 in FIG. 28 shows an example of the identification information in an image of the upper (front) side of the target drug. D302 in FIG. 28 shows an example of the identification information in an image of the lower (back) side of the target drug. In the example shown in D301 in FIG. 28, the identification information "ABC" is displayed in the upper row on the upper side of the target drug, and "123" is displayed in the lower row. As shown in C1 in D301 in FIG. 28, after OCR processing, the letter "C" in the identification information in the upper row on the upper side of the target drug is an unidentifiable character. Furthermore, as shown in C2 in D301 in FIG. 28, after OCR processing, the letter "2" in the lower row on the upper side of the target drug is an unidentifiable character. Furthermore, in the example shown in D302 in FIG. 28, the identification information "20" is displayed on the lower side of the target drug. As shown in C3 of D302 in Fig. 28, after OCR processing, the character "2" in the identification information on the lower side of the target drug is an unidentifiable character. In the example shown in D301 and D302 in Fig. 28, the characters shown in C1, C2, and C3 are unidentifiable characters, so the feature extraction unit 64a determines that the character string in the identification information after OCR includes an unidentifiable character.

[0360] If the character string of the identification information includes an unidentifiable character (YES in S502), the feature extraction unit 64a determines whether the character string of the identification information after OCR includes a first number or more of characters (S503). For example, in the example shown in D301 and D302 of FIG. 28, regardless of whether the character string is identifiable or unidentifiable, six-character identification information, "ABC" and "123," is displayed on the upper side, and two-character identification information, "20," is displayed on the lower side. That is, in the example shown in D301 and D302 of FIG. 28, a total of eight characters of identification information are displayed. If the first number is set to a number equal to or less than eight (e.g., 5), in the example shown in D301 and D302 of FIG. 28, the feature extraction unit 64a determines that the character string of the identification information after OCR includes the first number or more of characters.

[0361] If the character string of the identification information after OCR contains more than the first number of characters (YES in S503), the feature extraction unit 64a determines whether the character string of the identification information after OCR contains more than the second number of identifiable characters (S504). For example, in the example shown in D301 and D302 of FIG. 28, the "A" and "B" in the upper row on the upper side of the target drug, the "1" and "3" in the lower row, and the "0" on the lower side are identifiable characters, meaning that the character string of the identification information contains five identifiable characters. For example, the second number may be the number of indistinguishable characters among the characters included in the character string of the identification information displayed on the target drug. In this case, in the example shown in D301 and D302 of FIG. 28, the number of indistinguishable characters is three, and the number of identifiable characters (5) is greater than the number of indistinguishable characters (3). Therefore, the feature extraction unit 64a determines that the character string of the identification information after OCR contains more identifiable characters than the second number (the number of indistinguishable characters).

[0362] If the character string of the identification information after OCR contains more than the second number of identifiable characters (YES in S504), the feature extraction unit 64a converts the unidentifiable characters in the character string of the identification information after OCR to wildcards (S505) and generates a converted character string. For example, in the example shown in D301 and D302 of FIG. 28, the feature extraction unit 64a may generate a converted character string as follows:

[0363] First, the feature extraction unit 64a may divide the character string of the identification information into display areas using delimiters ("space", ":"). The display areas are the upper row on the upper side, the lower row on the upper side, the lower side, etc. In the example shown in D301 and D302 of FIG. 28, the feature extraction unit 64a generates "AB× 1×3:×0" (x is an unidentifiable character). Next, the feature extraction unit 64a converts the unidentifiable character into a wildcard (*). In addition, the feature extraction unit 64a adds a wildcard (*) to the beginning and end of the character string for each display area. That is, the character string on the upper row on the upper side becomes "*AB**", the character string on the lower row on the upper side becomes "*1*3*", and the character string on the lower side becomes "**0*". Note that the wildcard (*) indicates any character string of zero or more.

[0364] The process of adding wildcards (*) to the beginning and end of a character string is a process for preparing for the case where the feature extraction unit 64a has characters before the beginning or after the end of the character string that it has not recognized as characters. This process enables the reference drug search process to be performed appropriately when the feature extraction unit 64a has characters before the beginning or after the end of the character string that it has not recognized as characters.

[0365] Next, the collation unit 64b searches for a reference drug of the same type as the target drug using the user adopted drug list 810 (S506). D303 in FIG. 28 shows an example of drug data for a reference drug searched using the user adopted drug list 810. As shown in D303 in FIG. 28, the reference drug (adopted drug MB master) has identification information "ABC" displayed in the upper row (Upper1) on the upper side and "123" displayed in the lower row (Upper2) on the upper side. In addition, the reference drug has identification information "30" displayed on the lower side. In this example, the adopted drug MB master searched using the user adopted drug list 810 is a drug of a different type from the target drug.

[0366] Next, the collation unit 64b acquires the search results using the comprehensive drug database 541 (S507). D304 in FIG. 28 shows an example of drug data for a reference drug searched using the comprehensive drug database 541. As shown in D304 in FIG. 28, the reference drug (drug MA master) has identification information "ABC" displayed in the upper row (Upper1) on the upper side and "123" displayed in the lower row (Upper2) on the upper side. Furthermore, the reference drug has identification information "20" displayed on the lower side. In this example, drug A searched using the comprehensive drug database 541 is the same type of drug as the target drug.

[0367] Next, the collation unit 64b determines whether or not there is a reference drug that has been found (S508). Specifically, the collation unit 64b determines whether or not a reference drug of the same type as the target drug has been found in either the search using the user adopted drug list 810 or the search using the comprehensive drug database 541.

[0368] If there is a reference drug found (YES in S508), the collating unit 64b determines whether there are multiple reference drugs found (S509). For example, the collating unit 64b determines that there are multiple reference drugs found in the following cases:

[0369] (1) When one reference drug is found in a search using the user's adopted drug list 810 and when one reference drug is found in a search using the comprehensive drug database 541. (2) When multiple reference drugs are found in at least one of a search using the user's adopted drug list 810 and a search using the comprehensive drug database 541.

[0370] If multiple reference drugs are found (YES in S509), the collation unit 64b determines the type of the target drug as one of multiple candidate drugs (S510). For example, if a reference drug is found in both the user's adopted drug list 810 and the comprehensive drug database 541, the collation unit 64b may determine the reference drug found in the user's adopted drug list 810 as the type of the target drug. Furthermore, a discrimination priority indicating the discrimination priority may be set for the reference drugs included in the user's adopted drug list 810 and the comprehensive drug database 541. The collation unit 64b may determine the type of the target drug based on the discrimination priority. Subsequently, the collation unit 64b stores all of the multiple candidate drugs that are found as reference drugs in the storage unit 80d as discrimination result information 820 (S511), and the process ends.

[0371] If the character string of the identification information does not contain any unidentifiable characters (NO in S502), the process ends. For example, the determination process described in the first embodiment may be performed without converting the unidentifiable characters in the character string of the identification information into wildcards.

[0372] If the character string of the identification information after OCR does not contain the first number of characters or more (NO in S503), the collation unit 64b determines that the target drug is a suspected drug (S513), and the process ends. If the character string of the identification information after OCR does not contain more than the second number of identifiable characters (NO in S504), the process continues to S513. If there is no reference drug found (NO in S508), the process continues to S513.

[0373] If the retrieved reference drug is not plural (single) (NO in S509), the collating unit 64b determines the type of the target drug as the retrieved reference drug (S512), and the process ends.

[0374] For example, after the above-described discrimination process of the medicine sorting device 1 is completed, if the operation input unit 66 receives a user input via the operation unit 31 to display an image for visual inspection, the following process is performed. The display control unit 67 causes the display unit 32 to display a display image indicating a warning for a target drug that has multiple searched reference drugs. The image for visual inspection includes a warning indicating that there are multiple candidates, drug data for the multiple candidate drugs, etc. In the example shown in FIG. 28, the drug data in the adopted drug MB master and drug MA master for the candidate drugs for the target drug are included in the display image.

[0375] Furthermore, by checking this display image, if the drug data of the drug whose type has been determined is not included in the user's adopted drug list 810, the user inputs an instruction to add the drug data to the user's adopted drug list 810 from the operation unit 31 of the touch panel 3. When the operation input unit 66 receives the instruction, the drug database update unit 74 adds the drug data of the reference drug to the user's adopted drug list 810.

[0376] [Embodiment 14] (overview) As described above, the medicine sorting device 1 is capable of sorting medicines stored in the first storage unit 11 by type. Medicines stored in the first storage unit 11 include returned medicines and medicines brought by patients. In this embodiment, we will mainly describe an example of the configuration of the first storage unit 11A assuming that the medicine sorting device 1 will sort medicines brought by patients, an example of the process when the medicine sorting device 1 sorts medicines brought by patients, and an example of a display image (display screen) that can be displayed when the medicine sorting device 1 sorts medicines brought by patients. Medicines brought by patients are medicines (adopted medicines) that were once prescribed to a patient at a certain medical institution, and that the patient then brings to another medical institution due to hospitalization or the like, and that the patient is currently taking.

[0377] In this embodiment, the patient is prescribed a medication for multiple days, with multiple dosing times set for each day. The same type of medication is taken at the same dosing time on each day. A specific day among the multiple dosing days is referred to as a "predetermined dosing day." The predetermined dosing day is, for example, the start date of dosing, but it may also be any other specific day.

[0378] (Example of the first storage area, which is effective for sorting medications brought in by the patient) Figure 29 is a diagram showing an example of a first storage unit 11A. Unlike the first storage unit 11 shown in Figure 2, the first storage unit 11A shown in Figure 29 has an internal structure that enables the medicine sorting device 1 to efficiently sort brought-in medicines. The first storage unit 11A can be effectively used mainly when sorting brought-in medicines, but may also be used when sorting returned medicines.

[0379] In the example of FIG. 29, the first storage section 11A has four storage sections 111 to 114 with approximately the same volume. Each of the four storage sections 111 to 114 is further divided into four. The storage section 111 has three small storage sections 111a to 111c and one medium storage section 111d. The storage section 112 has three small storage sections 112a to 112c and one medium storage section 112d. The storage section 113 has three small storage sections 113a to 113c and one medium storage section 113d. The storage section 114 has three small storage sections 114a to 114c and one medium storage section 114d.

[0380] When storing patient-brought medications in the first storage unit 11A, the user classifies the patient-brought medications into first and second brought-to-patient medications and stores them accordingly. First brought-to-patient medications are medications prescribed to a patient PA by a medical institution for administration at each of a plurality of administration times on a predetermined administration date (predetermined administration time), and are subsequently brought to a medical institution other than the medical institution. Second brought-to-patient medications are medications prescribed to a patient PA by a medical institution and subsequently brought to a medical institution other than the first brought-to-patient medication, and are the remaining brought-to-patient medications other than the first brought-to-patient medication. In the storage unit 111, each of the small storage units 111a to 111c functions to store the patient PA's first brought-to-patient medications. The medium storage unit 111d functions to store the patient PA's second brought-to-patient medications. For example, if the patient PA is prescribed to take three doses each day, the three doses to be taken on the first day are the first brought-to-patient medications, and the medications to be taken on the second day and thereafter are the second brought-to-patient medications.

[0381] Since the number of first brought-home medicines contained in small containing sections 111a-111c is equal to or less than the number of second brought-home medicines contained in medium containing section 111d, the volume of small containing sections 111a-111c is smaller than the volume of medium containing section 111d. In consideration of the number and volume of small and medium containing sections, in the example of Figure 29, small containing sections 111a-111c are arranged circumferentially in the outer region of containing section 111, and medium containing section 111d is arranged in the remaining region (inner region) of containing section 111. The containing sections 112-114 have the same function and configuration as containing section 111.

[0382] The storage units 111-114 may each store, for example, first and second medications brought by different patients PA-PD. In this case, the first storage unit 11A can store up to four people's worth of medications at a time. However, in this case, the storage units 111-114 store the medications brought by patients PA-PD whose medication times on a given medication day are set to three or less (e.g., at least one of morning, afternoon, and evening). If a patient's medication times on a given medication day are set to four or more, two or more of the storage units 111-114 are used as storage locations for the patient's medications. Note that for the second medication, at least one middle storage unit out of the two or more storage units may be used. If the medication time is set to four or more, the first storage unit 11A can store up to three people's worth of medications at a time.

[0383] For example, if the number of doses on a given patient's prescribed dosing day is set to four to six times, two storage sections (e.g., storage sections 111 and 112) are used to store the patient's brought-in medications. For example, if the number of doses on a given patient's prescribed dosing day is set to six times, small storage sections 111a-111c and 112a-112c are used to store the first brought-in medication. Meanwhile, medium storage sections 111d and / or 112d are used to store the second brought-in medication.

[0384] Furthermore, indicators 111e to 114e are provided in the storage sections 111 to 114, respectively. The indicators 111e to 114e function as markers for identifying the storage sections 111 to 114, respectively. The indicators 111e to 114e have different colors from one another. Specifically, the indicators 111e to 114e may be regions each assigned a different color. For example, the color of indicator 111e may be red, the color of indicator 112e may be blue, the color of indicator 113e may be yellow, and the color of indicator 114e may be green, but this is not limiting. Furthermore, as long as the indicators 111e to 114e are distinguishable from one another, they do not necessarily have to have different colors from one another and may have different shapes or patterns from one another, for example.

[0385] Indicator 111e is arranged in two locations at the boundary between small housing sections 111a to 111c and medium housing section 111d. Indicator 112e is arranged in two locations at the boundary between small housing sections 112a to 112c and medium housing section 112d. Indicator 113e is arranged in two locations at the boundary between small housing sections 113a to 113c and medium housing section 113d. Indicator 114e is arranged in two locations at the boundary between small housing sections 114a to 114c and medium housing section 114d. However, the positions of indicators 111e to 114e are not limited to the above example as long as there is no inconvenience in identifying housing sections 111 to 114.

[0386] (Example of sorting and processing of medications brought in by the patient) The medicine sorting device 1 of this embodiment can be set to a normal sorting mode (returned medicine sorting mode) in which returned medicines are automatically sorted, and a brought-person medicine sorting mode in which brought-person medicines are automatically sorted.

[0387] The processing and operation of the medicine sorting device 1 when set to the normal sorting mode are as described above. That is, in the normal sorting mode, the medicine sorting device 1 takes out the multiple types of medicine stored in the first storage unit 11A one by one and determines the type of the medicine based on an image of the taken out medicine. Based on the determination result, the medicine sorting device 1 transports the medicine to either the second storage unit 14, the waiting tray 15, or the collection tray 16. In the normal sorting mode, the user may store the medicines to be sorted in any of the small storage unit and / or medium storage unit.

[0388] When the brought-by-user medication sorting mode is set, the user sorts the first brought-by-user medication and the second brought-by-user medication and stores them in the small storage section and / or the medium storage section, as described above. The control unit 60a sorts the first brought-by-user medication before the second brought-by-user medication. At this time, the order in which the brought-by-user medications are removed from the storage sections 111-114 and the order in which the brought-by-user medications are stored in the sorting cup 141 may be preset. The order in which the brought-by-user medications are removed from the storage sections 111-114 is set to, for example, the order of storage sections 111, 112, 113, and 114. Furthermore, the order in which the brought-by-user medications are stored in the sorting cup 141 is set to, for example, columns A to F in the first row, columns A to F in the second row, etc., when the sorting cup 141 is arranged in rows 1 to 7 and columns A to F. For example, consider a case where patient PA has five types of brought-in medication stored in storage unit 111 and patient PB has five types of brought-in medication stored in storage unit 112. In this case, the control unit 60a stores patient PA's brought-in medications in sorting cups 141 arranged in columns A to E of the first row, and then stores patient PB's brought-in medications in column F of the first row and columns A to D of the second row. In other words, the control unit 60a stores patient PA's brought-in medications in the sorting cups 141 in a predetermined order for each patient and each type of medication.

[0389] Furthermore, the discrimination unit 64 in the medicine sorting device 1 of this embodiment has a function of determining reference data for determining the type of the second brought-in medicine, for example, by one of the following two methods. The discrimination unit 64 stores the determined reference data in the memory unit 80.

[0390] (Method 1) The discrimination unit 64 determines reference data indicating information based on at least one characteristic of the first brought-over drug (e.g., the size, shape, or representative color described above) extracted from an image of the first brought-over drug. The discrimination unit 64 determines, as reference data, multiple characteristics managed as drug data for the first brought-over drug, obtained by the collation unit 64b comparing at least one characteristic of the first brought-over drug with a drug database. In this case, the collation unit 64b can compare the multiple characteristics of the first brought-over drug with at least one characteristic of the second brought-over drug.

[0391] (Method 2) The discrimination unit 64 determines at least one characteristic of the first brought-on medicine as reference data. For example, the discrimination unit 64 determines the size, shape, and representative color of the first brought-on medicine as reference data.

[0392] After sorting the first brought-by medication, the control unit 60a sorts the second brought-by medication. At this time, the control unit 60a is only required to use the reference data to sort the second brought-by medication based on the characteristics of the first brought-by medication. Therefore, even if the type of the first brought-by medication is not accurately identified or narrowed down, it is sufficient that the first brought-by medication and the second brought-by medication that are considered to be the same type are placed in the same sorting cup 141. In the above-mentioned method 1, the type of the first brought-by medication can be accurately identified or narrowed down by comparing the characteristics of the first brought-by medication with the medication database, but the amount of medication data managed in the medication database is enormous, which requires a corresponding amount of time. In the above-mentioned method 2, the discrimination unit 64 determines the characteristics of the first brought-by medication as reference data, thereby shortening the processing time of the discrimination unit 64 (the time required to create the reference data).

[0393] When the same small container contains multiple first brought-in medications, the matching unit 64b compares the reference data of each first brought-in medication to determine whether the reference data can be considered identical. The matching unit 64b may consider the reference data to be identical if the degree of match between at least one feature of the two first brought-in medications being compared is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. The number of features used to determine whether the degree of match is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, and the predetermined value, may be set through experiments, etc. The matching unit 64b may also perform a similar process when comparing at least one feature of the second brought-in medication with the reference data.

[0394] Furthermore, the matching unit 64b functions as a first matching unit that matches at least one feature of the second brought-over drug extracted from an image of the second brought-over drug with the reference data determined by the discrimination unit 64. The matching unit 64b does not match the features of the second brought-over drug with the drug database, at least for the second brought-over drug. Furthermore, the reference data is stored in the memory unit 80 only for the number of first brought-over drugs. Therefore, the matching time can be shortened compared to matching the features of the second brought-over drug with all drug data managed in the drug database. Furthermore, by narrowing down the features of the first brought-over drug included in the reference data (e.g., the size, shape, and representative color of the first brought-over drug), the matching time can be further shortened.

[0395] Furthermore, when the discrimination unit 64 determines the reference data by the above-mentioned method 1, the collation unit 64b functions as a second collation unit that narrows down the type of the first brought-over drug by comparing at least one feature of the first brought-over drug with the drug database. In this case, the collation unit 64b can accurately determine or narrow down the type of the first brought-over drug, and therefore can accurately determine or narrow down the type of the second brought-over drug.

[0396] Although the matching unit 64b is described as having the functions of both the first matching unit and the second matching unit, the control unit 60a may have the first matching unit and the second matching unit as separate functions.

[0397] (Screen description) FIG. 30 is a diagram showing an example of an initial image (initial screen) on which the results of medicine sorting can be displayed. The display control unit 67 normally displays the initial image on the display unit 32. The initial image shown in FIG. 30 includes a button B11 for displaying a menu related to the operation of the medicine sorting device 1. When the user operates button B11, the display control unit 67 displays a menu including a button B12 for displaying a submenu for switching the sorting mode of the medicine sorting device 1. When the user operates button B12, the display control unit 67 displays a submenu including a button B13 for setting the sorting mode to the normal sorting mode and a button B14 for setting the sorting mode to the brought-medicine sorting mode. When the user operates button B14, the control unit 60a sets the sorting mode to the brought-medicine sorting mode.

[0398] FIG. 31 is a diagram showing an example of a setting image (setting screen) for the user to set the storage method for the brought-medicines in the first storage unit 11A when the brought-medicines sorting mode is set. When the control unit 60a sets the sorting mode to the brought-medicines sorting mode, the display control unit 67 changes the image displayed on the display unit 32 from the initial image to a setting image. The setting image shown in FIG. 31 includes an input area PIR that accepts input of patient information. The user inputs patient information such as the patient's name, gender, age, and medical department in the input area PIR. The control unit 60a stores the input patient information in the memory unit 80.

[0399] The setting image shown in Fig. 31 further includes a button B21 for selecting a storage unit for storing brought-in medications. The button B21 includes areas corresponding to the colors of the indicators 111e to 114e. By operating the button B21, the user can select a storage unit having an indicator corresponding to the color of the operated area as the storage unit for storing brought-in medications.

[0400] The setting image shown in Fig. 31 further includes a button B22 for selecting another storage section for storing brought-by medications. As described above, if a patient's medication times on a given medication date are set to four or more times, two or more of the storage sections 111 to 114 are used as storage locations for the patient's brought-by medications. By operating button B22, the user can select a storage section having an indicator corresponding to the color of the operated area as the second storage section for storing brought-by medications.

[0401] Like button B21, button B22 includes an area for clearing the selection of a storage unit in addition to areas corresponding to the colors of indicators 111e to 114e. If the selection of a second storage unit is not necessary, the user can simply operate the area of ​​button B22 for clearing the storage unit that stores brought-in medications.

[0402] In the following description, it is assumed that the housing section 111 is selected by the button B21 and the housing section 112 is selected by the button B22.

[0403] The setting image shown in FIG. 31 further includes buttons B3 corresponding to the small containers 111a-111c and 112a-112c, respectively. The buttons B3 are used by the user to set the usage of the medications stored in the small containers 111a-111c and 112a-112c, respectively. When any of the buttons B3 is operated, the display control unit 67 displays a submenu (not shown) for selecting the usage of the medication stored in the small container corresponding to the button B3. In the submenu, the user can select usage such as "morning," "afternoon," "evening," "every time," "when waking up," "before going to bed," "before meals," "between meals," "after meals," "just before meals," and "just after meals." If there is no appropriate usage in the submenu (e.g., "when in pain"), the user can directly input the usage in text. However, the control unit 60a may not display the submenu and instead accept text input for all usages.

[0404] 31 further includes an image IA indicating the storage section 111 and an image IB indicating the storage section 112. In other words, the display control section 67 includes, in the setting image, images IA and IB corresponding to the storage sections 111 and 112 selected by the user by operating buttons B21 and B22. Image IA includes an image IAe corresponding to indicator 111e. Image IB includes an image IBe corresponding to indicator 112e. By referring to images IAe and IBe, the user can confirm that the selected storage sections are storage sections 111 and 112.

[0405] Image IA includes images IAa to IAd corresponding to the small containing sections 111a to 111c and the medium containing section 111d of the containing section 111, respectively. Image IA also includes image IAf showing the use of the brought-person's own medications to be contained in the small containing sections 111a to 111c, respectively. Similarly, image IB includes images IBa to IBd corresponding to the small containing sections 112a to 112c and the medium containing section 112d of the containing section 112, respectively. Image IB also includes image IBf showing the use of the brought-person's own medications to be contained in the small containing sections 112a to 112c, respectively.

[0406] The display control unit 67 causes the images IAf and IBf to reflect the usage of the brought-by medicines contained in the small containers 111a-111c and 112a-112c, respectively, selected by the user by operating button B3. The user refers to the images IAf and IBf and places the first brought-by medicine into the small containers 111a-111c and 112a-112c. The user also places the second brought-by medicine into the medium containers 111d and 112d.

[0407] The setting image shown in Fig. 31 further includes a button B41 for adding patient information, etc. about a patient who has brought in their own medication. By operating button B41, a tab for displaying a setting image for setting patient information, etc. of a new patient is added next to button B41. By selecting a tab, the user can register patient information for each patient and set in which storage section the patient's own medications will be stored, and in which small storage section the first patient's own medication, with which usage, will be stored.

[0408] 31 further includes a button B42 for deleting patient information, etc. When sorting of a patient's medications is no longer necessary, the user operates button B42 to delete the patient information, etc. of the patient. When the control unit 60a receives the user's operation of button B42, it deletes the patient information, etc. of the corresponding patient from the storage unit 80.

[0409] The setting image shown in Fig. 31 further includes a button B5 for starting sorting of brought-by medications. After the user has finished putting the brought-by medications into the first storage section 11A, the user operates button B5 to cause the medicine sorting device 1 to start sorting the brought-by medications. Note that, as shown in Fig. 30, button B5 is also included in the initial image.

[0410] On the other hand, when the user operates button B13 in the setting image shown in FIG. 30, the control unit 60a sets the sorting mode to the normal sorting mode. As described above, in the normal sorting mode, first and second brought-by medications are not sorted for each patient, and brought-by medications or returned medications may be stored in any small and / or medium storage unit. In this case, the display control unit 67 does not change the image displayed on the display unit 32 from the initial image to the setting image. After the user places the medications to be sorted into the first storage unit 11, the user operates button B5 included in the initial image. The control unit 60a starts sorting when button B5 is operated.

[0411] Figure 32 is a diagram showing an example of a sorting image for displaying the sorting status of brought-by medications when the brought-by medication sorting mode is set. After the control unit 60a starts sorting the brought-by medications, the display control unit 67 changes the image displayed on the display unit 32 from the initial image to a sorting image. The display control unit 67 updates the sorting image according to the progress of the sorting of brought-by medications by the control unit 60a. The sorting image shown in Figure 32 includes an image IC showing the sorting status of brought-by medications. The image IC includes an image showing the number of brought-by medications contained in each area corresponding to the sorting cups 141 of the second storage unit 14.

[0412] The display control unit 67 causes the color of the area corresponding to the sorting cup 141 to correspond to the color of the indicator of the storage unit that contained the brought-in medications sorted into the sorting cup 141. In the example shown in FIG. 32, the display control unit 67 causes the colors of columns A to D in the first row to correspond to the indicator 111e of the storage unit 111. The display control unit 67 also causes the colors of columns E and F in the first row to correspond to the indicator 112e of the storage unit 112. The display control unit 67 also causes the colors of columns C to E in the second row to correspond to the indicator 113e of the storage unit 113. The display control unit 67 also causes column F in the second row and column A in the third row to correspond to the indicator 114e of the storage unit 114.

[0413] The image IC also includes an image indicating whether or not a visual inspection of the brought-in medications stored in each sorting cup 141 of the second storage section 14 has been completed. In the example shown in Fig. 32, visual inspection has not been completed for any of the sorting cups 141. For this reason, the display control unit 67 displays the text "Not visually inspected" in the area corresponding to each sorting cup 141.

[0414] The image IC includes an image indicating the type of brought-in medication stored in each sorting cup 141 of the second storage unit 14 if the type of brought-in medication stored therein can be determined at the time of sorting. In the example shown in FIG. 32, the display control unit 67 indicates the type with multiple "*"s below the character string "not visually inspected" in columns A and C of the first row, column E of the second row, and column A of the third row. Furthermore, if the type of brought-in medication stored in each sorting cup 141 of the second storage unit 14 cannot be determined at the time of sorting, the image IC includes an image indicating that the type of brought-in medication stored in the sorting cup 141 is in a provisionally sorted state, in which the type of brought-in medication has not been determined. In the example shown in FIG. 32, the display control unit 67 displays "provisionally sorted" instead of a character string indicating the type in the area corresponding to the sorting cup 141 containing brought-in medications whose type has not been determined. The user can determine the type of brought-in medication in a provisionally sorted state through visual inspection and input the type into the medicine sorting device 1.

[0415] The sorting image shown in Figure 32 further includes a button B6 for starting packaging of the sorted brought-by medications. After completing the sorting and visual inspection of the brought-by medications, the user operates button B6 to cause the medicine sorting device 1 to start packaging the brought-by medications. When the user operates button B6, the printout control unit 69 controls the printout unit 4 to print a journal showing medication data related to the brought-by medications to be packaged. In addition, the packaging control unit 71 controls the packaging mechanism 6 to package the brought-by medications sorted into each sorting cup 141.

[0416] As described above, in the medicine sorting device 1, the display control unit 67 can easily identify the storage unit to which the user should place the medicines brought with them by referring to the image displayed on the display unit 32. This reduces the possibility of placing medicines in the wrong storage unit. Furthermore, by sorting and packaging medicines using the medicine sorting device 1, labor costs can be reduced and economic productivity can be improved. This can contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

[0417] [Software implementation example] The medicine sorting device 1, the information processing device 200, and the data management device 500 each include a computer that executes instructions from a program, which is software that realizes each function. This computer includes, for example, one or more processors and a computer-readable recording medium storing the program. The object of the present invention is achieved by the computer having the processor read and execute the program from the recording medium. The processor may be, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The recording medium may be a "non-transitory tangible medium," such as a ROM (Read Only Memory), a tape, a disk, a card, a semiconductor memory, or a programmable logic circuit. The device may also include a RAM (Random Access Memory) for expanding the program. The program may be supplied to the computer via any transmission medium capable of transmitting the program (such as a communication network or broadcast waves). One aspect of the present invention may also be realized in the form of a data signal embedded in a carrier wave, in which the program is embodied by electronic transmission.

[0418] [Additional Notes] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims. Embodiments obtained by appropriately combining the technical means disclosed in different embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

[0419] Another embodiment of the present invention can be described as follows.

[0420] A type discrimination device according to one embodiment of the present invention is a type discrimination device that discriminates the type of a target drug from an image of the target drug, and is equipped with a feature extraction unit that extracts first feature information that indicates the external characteristics of the target drug from the image, which is reflection area information that indicates the reflection area of ​​light irradiated onto the target drug, and a discrimination unit that compares the first feature information with second feature information that indicates the external characteristics of the reference drug, which is reflection area information that indicates the reflection area of ​​light irradiated onto a reference drug, and discriminates that the target drug is a coated tablet as the type of the target drug based on the result of the comparison, and the reflection area is an area located inside the outer edge of the target drug in the image.

[0421] In a type determination device according to one aspect of the present invention, the determination unit may compare the shape of the reflective area indicated by the reflective area information included in the first feature information with the shape of the reflective area indicated by the reflective area information included in the second feature information.

[0422] In one aspect of the type discrimination device of the present invention, the reflective area is an image area in the captured image having a saturation value higher than a predetermined value, and if the target drug is a coated tablet, may be a ring-shaped area formed on the surface of the coated tablet. [Explanation of symbols]

[0423] 1. Drug sorting device 11 First storage section 13 Imaging unit (imaging section) 14 Second storage section 15 Waiting tray (temporary storage area) 60 Computer (type determination device) 62 Sorting control unit (sorting determination unit) 64a Feature Extraction Unit 64b Matching unit (discrimination unit) 65 Priority determination section 73 Image processing section 74 Drug Database Update Department (Update Department) 82 Captured images 200 Information processing device 221 Acquisition unit (reception unit) 222 Image generation unit (generation unit) 1000 Image Generation System

Claims

1. A type discrimination device that discriminates the type of a target drug from an image of the target drug, a discrimination unit that compares fifth feature information indicating the characteristics of the appearance of the target drug, including target color information indicating the color of the target drug, extracted from the captured image, with sixth feature information including reference color information indicating the color of a reference drug, and discriminates the type of the target drug based on the comparison result; and an update unit that, when the discrimination unit fails to discriminate the type of the target drug, accepts a user operation to specify the type of the target drug that has failed to be discriminated, and then updates the reference color information of the reference drug corresponding to the type of the target drug specified by the user using the target color information of the target drug that has failed to be discriminated.

2. A feature extraction unit extracts third feature information indicating an appearance feature of the target drug from the captured image, the third feature information including at least reflection information indicating whether light irradiated onto the target drug is reflected by the target drug; The type determination device of claim 1, wherein the determination unit compares the third characteristic information with fourth characteristic information indicating the appearance characteristics of the reference drug, which includes at least reflection information indicating whether light irradiated onto the reference drug is reflected by the reference drug, and determines the type of the target drug based on the result of the comparison.

Images