Drug Identification Apparatus with Dual-Surface Pattern Matching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing drug identification technologies face challenges in efficiently identifying drug types from images, especially when drugs are packaged in a way that requires manual orientation and when multiple drugs are present, leading to ambiguity in correspondence between front and back surfaces, which increases user burden and reduces identification efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A drug identification apparatus and method that uses processors to store identification mark masters for both sides of drugs, detects and extracts marks from images, and performs pattern matching to differentiate determined from undetermined drugs on a second-surface image, allowing for automatic identification and clear presentation of identified drugs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If both sides of drugs are concurrently imaged, then it is easy to grasp correspondence relationship between front and back sides, but the device size necessarily increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by storing identification mark master data for both front and back sides of drugs before actual imaging. When only one side is imaged, the system can still determine drug identity by comparing with pre-stored master data, eliminating the need for concurrent dual-side imaging mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a digital copy (identification mark master) of both front and back drug surfaces that can be stored and referenced. This allows the system to virtually have both sides available for comparison without physically capturing both sides simultaneously, thus avoiding increased device size.
2Volume of moving object
If drugs are imaged one by one from front and back surfaces separately, then portability and space-saving demands can be satisfied, but user burden increases due to manual orientation requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-service by automatically determining which surface is being imaged and automatically comparing it with the corresponding stored master data. The system handles the complexity of matching front and back surfaces without requiring user intervention for manual orientation or correspondence tracking.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces the mechanical approach of manually orienting and tracking drug surfaces with an automated image processing and pattern recognition system. The processor automatically identifies and matches drug surfaces with stored master data, eliminating the need for manual orientation operations.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple drugs are present in the dish part, then drug identification capability is enhanced, but correspondence relationship between front and back surface images breaks when drugs are interchanged
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies local quality by storing separate identification mark master data for each drug's front and back surfaces with their specific positional characteristics. This allows the system to accurately match each drug's surfaces independently based on their unique local features, maintaining reliability even when multiple drugs are present and repositioned.
Data Source
AI summary
A drug identification apparatus determines which drug in the second-surface image of a package corresponds to a determined drug whose drug type has already been determined from the first-surface image which is an image of the other surface of the package, and present to a user, the determined drug and an undetermined drug in a second-surface image in such a manner that the determined drug and the undetermined drug may be differentiated from each other. Thus, the user may easily understand which drug needs the identification processing among the drugs in the second-surface image.