Visual Analysis Pill Dispenser with Real-Time Verification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Pharmacists face challenges in verifying the accuracy of dispensed pills, as only a small sample is visible, making it difficult to ensure that each pill matches the prescribed medication, especially when pills with similar characteristics are dispensed automatically.
Innovation Solution
A visual analysis validation system that includes a camera, processor, and display to record and verify the parameters of each pill dispensed, using a unique National Drug Code (NDC) to identify and compare pill characteristics, and a pill separator to divert pills outside predetermined thresholds, ensuring accurate dispensing and documentation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If automatic pill dispensing is used, then productivity is improved, but measurement precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates visual copies (images) of each dispensed pill using a camera, storing these images in memory for later verification. This allows the physical pill to be rapidly dispensed while its visual replica enables subsequent verification, resolving the conflict between fast dispensing and accurate verification.
Solution Approach 2:
The system captures images of pills during the dispensing process itself, before the pharmacist needs to verify them. This preliminary capture of visual data enables rapid verification later without slowing down the initial dispensing operation.
2Device complexity
If random sampling verification is used, then device complexity is reduced, but reliability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of physically handling and examining each pill, the system uses stored visual copies to enable complete verification. The pharmacist can review images of all dispensed pills without physical manipulation, maintaining simplicity while achieving 100% verification coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces manual physical inspection with automated image capture and display. The camera and display system substitute for the pharmacist's direct visual examination, enabling verification of every pill without the time and effort constraints of manual sampling.
3Measurement precision
If each pill is visually verified, then measurement precision is improved, but time consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs the time-consuming task of visual capture during dispensing, storing images for later review. This shifts the time investment to the dispensing phase, allowing rapid verification later without re-examining physical pills.
Solution Approach 2:
By working with stored images rather than physical pills during verification, the system eliminates the time required for pill handling, positioning, and re-positioning. The pharmacist only needs to review static images at their own pace.
Data Source
AI summary
This disclosure provides a visual analytical method of verifying dispensed pills. In a preferred embodiment, a camera captures one or more parameters of each pill as it travels along a dispense path. The camera stores the parameters, and a processor displays the parameters or evaluates whether the parameters are within a threshold limit for the dispensed pill. If the parameter is outside the threshold, the pill or the receptacle is separated and/or removed. If all the parameters are within the threshold, the pill is stored in a receptacle, and the images are processed and archived for future verification. The process is repeated for each pill in the dispenser. The system captures at least one verification image for every pill dispensed into the receptacle.