JP2014095652A - Medicine identifying method and medicine identifying apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a medicine identifying method and a medicine identifying apparatus for identifying a transparent medicine properly.SOLUTION: A medicine identifying method of identifying a plurality of medicines including a transparent medicine by imaging an inspection region irradiated with light includes: a light-shielding plate arrangement step of arranging a light-shielding plate 4 having a light-shielding pattern 40 formed of a transparent region 41 and a light-shielding region 42, between a planar illumination 3 and the inspection region; an irradiation step of irradiating the inspection region with light from the planar illumination 3; an imaging step of imaging the inspection region from a side opposite the side of the inspection region where the planar illumination 3 is arranged; and an image processing step of performing image processing on an image formed by capturing the inspection region. In the image processing step, a binarization step, an extraction step, and a mismatching part image acquiring step are repeated plurality of times, while changing the light-shielding pattern 40 of a region overlapping a transparent medicine region 11Aa in the light-shielding plate 4, and a composite image acquiring step and a determination step are implemented.

Description

  The present invention irradiates a test area where a plurality of drugs including a transparent drug formed in at least a transparent tablet or capsule form are present, and images the test areas by imaging the test areas. The present invention relates to a drug recognition method and a drug recognition apparatus for performing recognition.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in hospitals and pharmacies, drugs such as tablets and capsules for patients to take each time are stored in a packing bag by a drug packing device or an operator.
Thereafter, the state of the medicine accommodated in the sachet (whether or not the medicine according to the prescription is accommodated in the sachet) is inspected.

  When inspecting the state of the medicine accommodated in the sachet, set the area where the medicine contained in the sachet is present as the examination area, irradiate the examination area with transmitted illumination, In some cases, a packaged medicine inspection device that performs inspection of the state of the medicine after recognizing the plurality of medicines by imaging an examination region.

  As a recognition device corresponding to a medicine recognition device provided in a medicine packaging inspection device that inspects the state of a medicine contained in a packaging bag, for example, as shown in Patent Document 1, from behind the object such as a tablet. An optical system comprising a transmissive illumination for irradiating light and a camera installed on the opposite side of the transmissive illumination of the object, and projecting the imaging area by the camera while irradiating the imaging area with light from the transmissive illumination There is an object identification device that captures an image. The object identification device described in the cited document 1 is configured to recognize the shape of an object by binarizing the captured projection image.

  Further, the cited document 2 includes a camera that captures the surface of the medicine bag that is conveyed in a belt-like state, an illumination tool that irradiates the back surface of the medicine bag, and an image recognition device that receives an image from the camera. Image recognition means are described. In the image recognition device of the image recognition means described in the cited document 2, the opaque image and the translucent tablet among the tablets enclosed in the medicine bag are distinguished and recognized by binarizing the image captured by the camera. It is configured as follows.

JP 2009-8453 A JP-A-7-282219

In the case of the object identification device described in the above cited reference 1, if an opaque object and a transparent object are mixed in the object to be identified, the density between the area inside the transparent object and the background area where no object exists in the projected image. Since there is no difference, it is difficult to discriminate the area inside the transparent object from the background area in the binarized projection image, and the image of the transparent object cannot be recognized.
Further, in the case of the image recognition means described in the cited document 2, a value having a substantially intermediate density between the density of the translucent tablet and the density of the background is used as the threshold for binarizing the captured image. When a tablet enclosed in a medicine bag contains a transparent tablet having a higher transparency than translucent, it is difficult to discriminate the transparent tablet from the background by the binarization process. Therefore, the shape of the transparent tablet could not be recognized.

  Therefore, in the present invention, when the inspection area where a plurality of medicines including at least a transparent medicine exist is irradiated with transmitted illumination and the inspection area is imaged, the transparent medicine can be appropriately recognized by the captured image. A drug recognition method and a drug recognition device are provided.

A drug recognition method and a drug recognition apparatus that solve the above problems have the following characteristics.
That is, as described in claim 1, by irradiating light to an examination area where a plurality of medicines including at least a transparent medicine having a curved outer shape are present, and imaging the examination areas, A medicine recognition method for recognizing a medicine comprising a light-transmitting area that transmits light from the irradiation means and a light-shielding area that blocks the light between the irradiation means and the examination area. A light shielding plate arranging step of arranging a light shielding plate having a predetermined light shielding pattern, an irradiation step of irradiating the inspection area with light by the irradiation means, and a side of the inspection area on which the irradiation means is arranged is opposite An imaging process for imaging the inspection area irradiated with light from the irradiating means, and an image processing process for image processing the captured image of the inspection area. Imaging A binarization step of binarizing the image with a predetermined threshold value to obtain a binarized image, and an extraction step of extracting, from the binarized image, a region where the transparent drug is imaged as a transparent drug region And the binarized image of the transparent drug region and the light shielding pattern of the region overlapping with the transparent drug region on the light shielding plate, and extracting a portion where the density of both is different, Inconsistent partial image acquisition step of obtaining the non-matching partial image acquisition step performed a plurality of times in a state where the light shielding pattern of the region overlapping the transparent drug region in the light shielding plate is different. The obtained composite image acquisition step of superimposing a plurality of inconsistent partial images to obtain a composite image, the shape of the composite image obtained in the composite image acquisition step, and a previously registered transparent By comparing the shape of agent, the composite image is performed and a determination step of determining whether an image showing the transparent agent.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a pre-composite image processing for performing image processing for converting one density portion of the different densities in the composite image into the other density between the composite image acquisition step and the determination step. Perform processing steps.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, the light shielding plate is constituted by a liquid crystal shutter.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the light shielding plate is configured by a liquid crystal display, and the irradiation unit is configured by a backlight attached to the liquid crystal display.

  In addition, as described in claim 5, by irradiating light to an examination area where a plurality of medicines including at least a transparent medicine having a curved outer shape is present and imaging the examination area, the plurality of medicines A drug recognition apparatus that performs recognition, an irradiation unit that irradiates light to the inspection region, a light-transmitting region that is disposed between the irradiation unit and the inspection region, and transmits light from the irradiation unit; A light-shielding plate having a predetermined light-shielding pattern composed of a light-shielding region that shields the light, and a side opposite to the side where the irradiation unit is arranged in the inspection region, and the light from the irradiation unit is An imaging unit that images the irradiated inspection region and an image processing unit that performs image processing on a captured image of the inspection region, wherein the image processing unit converts the captured image of the inspection region to a predetermined threshold value of 2 Binary processing by binarization processing Obtained by the binarization processing unit, the transparent drug region extraction unit for extracting the region where the transparent drug is imaged from the binarized image, and the binarization processing unit. An operation of comparing the binarized image of the transparent drug region with the light-shielding pattern of the region overlapping with the transparent drug region on the light-shielding plate, extracting a portion having a different density, and obtaining a mismatched partial image of the two A plurality of mismatches obtained by the mismatched partial image acquisition unit and the mismatched partial image acquisition unit that are repeatedly executed a plurality of times in a state where the shielding pattern of the region overlapping the transparent drug region in the light shielding plate is different. Comparing the shape of the composite image obtained by the composite image acquisition unit obtained by superimposing the partial images and the composite image obtained by the composite image acquisition unit, and the shape of the transparent medicine registered in advance, Forming an image and a judging section that judges whether an image showing the transparent agent.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the determination unit performs image processing for converting one density portion of the different densities in the synthesized image into the other density, and then determines the shape of the synthesized image in advance. The shape of the transparent medicine registered is compared, and it is determined whether or not the composite image is an image showing the transparent medicine.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the light shielding plate is constituted by a liquid crystal shutter.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, the light shielding plate is configured by a liquid crystal display, and the irradiation unit is configured by a backlight attached to the liquid crystal display.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it becomes possible to improve the recognition precision of a transparent medicine, and to recognize a transparent medicine appropriately.

It is a figure which shows a chemical | medical agent recognition apparatus. It is an example of the light shielding pattern of the light shielding plate. It is a figure which shows a 1st binarized image. It is a figure which shows the light shielding pattern (extraction light shielding pattern) of the area | region which overlaps with the area | region where the transparent chemical | medical agent of the 1st binarized image exists in a light shielding board. It is a figure which shows the mismatching partial image obtained by the comparison with the pattern of the transparent chemical | medical agent area | region and extraction light-shielding pattern in a 1st binarized image. It is a figure which shows a 2nd binarized image. It is a figure which shows the light-shielding pattern (extraction light-shielding pattern) of the area | region which overlaps with the area | region where the transparent chemical | medical agent of a 2nd binarized image exists in a light-shielding plate. It is a figure which shows the mismatching partial image obtained by the comparison with the pattern of the transparent chemical | medical agent area | region and extraction light-shielding pattern in a 2nd binarized image. It is a figure which shows the synthetic | combination image obtained by synthesize | combining the mismatching partial image acquired based on the 1st binarized image, and the mismatching partial image acquired based on the 2nd binarized image. It is a figure which shows the 1st binarized image and the 2nd binarized image in the chemical | medical agent recognition apparatus comprised so that the position of the light-shielding pattern with respect to a chemical | medical agent might be changed by rotating and moving a light-shielding plate.

  Next, modes for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  1 is an embodiment of the drug recognition apparatus according to the present invention, and is formed in a particularly transparent tablet shape or capsule shape among a plurality of drugs 10 housed in a sachet 13. It is an apparatus for recognizing the transparent medicine 11 to be performed.

  The medicine recognizing device 1 emits light from the placement plate 2 on which the medicine 10 accommodated in the packaging bag 13 is placed and the back side (the lower surface side in FIG. 1) of the packaging bag 13 containing the medicine 10. The flat illumination 3, which is an irradiation means for irradiating, the light shielding plate 4 disposed between the mounting plate 2 and the flat illumination 3, and having a predetermined light shielding pattern, and the surface side of the packaging bag 13 (of the packaging bag 13) A camera 5 that is an imaging unit that is disposed on the side opposite to the side on which the planar illumination 3 is disposed and that images the medicine 10 that is stored in the packaging bag 13 irradiated with light from the planar illumination 3; 5 includes an image processing device 6 that is an image processing unit that performs image processing on the captured image captured by the image processing unit 5, and a storage device 7.

A plurality of medicines 10 including at least the transparent medicine 11 are stored in the packaging bag 13. In the present embodiment, the medicine 10 accommodated in the packaging bag 13 includes a transparent medicine 11 and an opaque medicine 12.
The transparent drug 11 and the opaque drug 12 are drugs formed in a tablet shape or a capsule shape. The transparent drug 11 is configured to be able to transmit light emitted from the flat illumination 3, and the opaque drug 12 is configured to be unable to transmit light irradiated from the flat illumination 3.
Moreover, the transparent medicine 11 is solid, and its outer shape is formed in a shape formed by a curved surface that is convex outward, such as a spherical shape or an elliptical spherical shape. Here, that the transparent medicine 11 is solid means that the inside of the transparent medicine 11 is filled with a transparent liquid or solid. In addition, the transparent medicine 11 may have an outer shape having a curved surface that protrudes inward.
The packaging bag 13 is made of a transparent material that can transmit light emitted from the flat illumination 3.

The mounting plate 2 is formed of a transparent member, and is configured to transmit light emitted from the flat illumination 3. Moreover, the mounting plate 2 is formed in the same size as the sachet 13, and one sachet 13 out of a plurality of sachets 13 connected in a band shape is placed as a whole. Can be placed.
The flat illumination 3 is configured to be able to irradiate the entire packaging bag 13 with light of uniform brightness. That is, the flat illumination 3 can irradiate at least all the medicines 10 stored in the packaging bag 13 with uniform light.

The light shielding plate 4 is a plate-like member having a predetermined light shielding pattern 40 constituted by a light transmitting region 41 that transmits light from the planar illumination 3 and a light shielding region 42 that shields light from the planar illumination 3.
For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the light-shielding pattern 4 of the light-shielding plate 4 includes a light-transmitting area 41 and a light-shielding area 42 that are formed in a square having the same size. The pattern is alternately arranged in parallel, that is, a so-called checkered pattern.
The light shielding plate 4 is configured to be movable in the horizontal direction (direction orthogonal to the irradiation direction from the flat illumination 3) by the light shielding plate driving mechanism 8.

Moreover, it is preferable to form the area of the translucent area | region 41 and the light-shielding area | region 42 of 1 division smaller than the area seen from the irradiation direction of the light by the plane illumination 3 in the transparent chemical | medical agent 11, respectively.
That is, the size of the light-transmitting area 41 and the light-shielding area 42 in one section is transparent regardless of where the transparent medicine 11 is located in the light-shielding pattern 40 when viewed from the light irradiation direction by the flat illumination 3. It is preferable to set so that the medicine 11 and the plurality of light-transmitting areas 41 and the light-shielding areas 42 overlap each other.

The camera 5 is configured to be able to image at least an area where all the medicines 10 stored in the packaging bag 13 are present. For example, the whole packaging bag 13 can be imaged.
Further, since the light from the flat illumination 3 irradiates the entire packaging bag 13, the camera 5 can image all the medicines 10 stored in the packaging bag 13. .
That is, it is possible to set a range in which all the medicines 10 stored in the packaging bag 13 exist as an examination area, and to image the set examination area with the camera 5.

The image processing device 6 can recognize the transparent drug 11 included in the drug 10 by performing image processing on an image captured by the camera 5 (hereinafter referred to as “captured image”). A binarization processing unit 61, a transparent medicine region extraction unit 62, a mismatched partial image acquisition unit 63, a composite image acquisition unit 64, a determination unit 65, and a counting unit 66 are provided.
The storage device 7 stores data related to the shape of the transparent drug 11 and the opaque drug 12 stored in the packaging bag 13, data related to the light shielding pattern 40 of the light shielding plate 4, and the like.

  Thus, the medicine recognition apparatus 1 arranges the flat illumination 3 on the back side of the packaging bag 13, arranges the light shielding plate 4 between the packaging bag 13 and the planar illumination 3, and the surface of the packaging bag 13. With the configuration in which the camera 5 is arranged on the side, the examination region including the medicine 10 and the background around the medicine 10 can be imaged while the medicine 10 stored in the packaging bag 13 is irradiated with transmitted illumination. The image picked up by the camera 5 is image-processed by the image processing device 6 so that the transparent medicine 11 contained in the medicine 10 is recognized.

  Next, a drug recognition method for recognizing the transparent drug 11 using the drug recognition device 1 will be described.

In the medicine recognition method according to the present embodiment, first, the light shielding plate 4 is interposed between the packaging bag 13 and the flat illumination 3 (light shielding plate arranging step), and the medicine 10 including the transparent medicine 11 and the opaque medicine 12 is stored. The packaging bag 13 thus placed is placed on the placement plate 2, and light is irradiated from the flat illumination 3 to the inspection region of the packaging bag 13 (irradiation step).
Next, the inspection area irradiated with the light from the flat illumination 3 is imaged by the camera 5 to obtain a first captured image (imaging process). In this case, since the light from the flat illumination 3 becomes transmitted light, in the first captured image, the portion of the inspection region that transmits the light from the flat illumination 3 becomes an image having a low density, and the light from the flat illumination 3 The portion that does not transmit light is a dark image.
Note that characters indicating the name of the patient to whom the medicine 10 is prescribed, the usage of the medicine 10, etc. are printed on the surface of the packaging bag 13. However, the first captured image has sufficient illuminance so that the density does not affect the recognition of the transparent drug 11.

The first captured image by the camera 5 is input to the image processing device 6 and subjected to image processing (image processing step). In the image processing step, first, the first captured image is binarized by the binarization processing unit 61 of the image processing device 6 to become a first binarized image (binarization step).
In the binarization processing in the binarization processing unit 61, a density between a portion having a low density and a portion having a high density in the captured image is set as a threshold, and a portion having a density lower than the threshold is displayed as “white”. This is a process of displaying a portion whose density is higher than the threshold value as “black”, and the binarized process converts the captured image into a first binarized image.

An image as shown in FIG. 3 is obtained as the first binarized image.
Specifically, in the first binarized image, an area 40Aa where the transparent drug 11 and the opaque drug 12 do not exist is an image having the same pattern as the light blocking pattern 40 of the light blocking plate 4. That is, the light-transmitting area 41 in the light shielding pattern 40 is a portion having a low density in the first captured image because the light from the flat illumination 3 is transmitted, and is represented by “white” in the first binarized image. Further, the light shielding area 42 is a portion having a high density in the first captured image in order to shield the light from the flat illumination 3, and is represented by “black” in the first binarized image.

  A region 12Aa where the opaque drug 12 exists in the first binarized image is represented by “black”. That is, the opaque drug 12 blocks the light from the flat illumination 3, and the region 12Aa where the opaque drug 12 is present is a portion having a high density in the first captured image, and therefore “black” in the first binarized image. It is represented by

The region 11Aa where the transparent medicine 11 is present in the first binarized image has a pattern in which the light shielding pattern 40 of the light shielding plate 4 is deformed.
That is, the transparent drug 11 is configured as a solid drug having a curved outer shape such as a spherical shape or an elliptical spherical shape, and is configured to transmit light from the flat illumination 3. The transparent medicine 11 acts as a lens when light is irradiated from the flat illumination 3. Therefore, the light shielding pattern 40 positioned on the plane illumination 3 side of the transparent medicine 11 is reflected in the area 11Aa where the transparent medicine 11 is present in the first binarized image. Due to the lens effect, the light shielding pattern 40 becomes a different pattern.

  In the case of the present embodiment, since the transparent medicine 11 is formed in an outer shape having a curved surface that protrudes outward, the light shielding pattern 40 is provided in the region 11Aa where the transparent medicine 11 of the first binarized image exists. An image of a pattern in which is enlarged is obtained. In the enlarged image of the light shielding pattern 40 appearing in the region 11Aa where the transparent drug 11 is present, the portion corresponding to the light transmitting region 41 is represented by “white” and the portion corresponding to the light shielding region 42 is represented by “black”. It is.

Next, the transparent medicine region extraction unit 62 of the image processing device 6 removes the region 40Aa having the same pattern as the light shielding pattern 40 and the region 12Aa where the opaque medicine 12 is present from the first binarized image, and is transparent. An area (transparent drug area) 11Aa where the drug 11 exists is extracted (extraction step).
The removal of the area 40Aa having the same pattern as the light shielding pattern 40 from the first binarized image is performed by, for example, storing a pattern corresponding to the light shielding pattern 40 in the storage device 7 in advance, This can be performed by pattern matching with the first binarized image. Similarly, the removal of the region 12Aa where the opaque drug 12 is present from the first binarized image is performed by, for example, storing a pattern corresponding to the outer shape of the opaque drug 12 in the storage device 7 in advance. It is possible to perform pattern matching between the pattern corresponding to the outer shape of the first binarized image and the first binarized image. Thereby, the transparent medicine region 11Aa in the first binarized image is extracted.

In the extraction process performed by the transparent medicine region extraction unit 62, in addition to the extraction of the transparent medicine region 11Aa, the light shielding plate 4 overlaps the region 11Aa where the transparent medicine 11 of the first binarized image exists. The extracted light shielding pattern 40a, which is the light shielding pattern 40 of the region, is extracted (see FIG. 4).
The extracted light shielding pattern 40a can be extracted using, for example, pattern data corresponding to the light shielding pattern 40 stored in the storage device 7 and the position of the transparent drug region 11Aa in the first binarized image. Is possible.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the mismatched partial image acquisition unit 63 compares the extracted pattern of the transparent drug region 11 </ b> Aa with the extracted light-shielding pattern 40 a to acquire the mismatched partial image 90 a (mismatched partial image acquisition step). ).
The inconsistent portion image 90a represents a portion where the pattern of the transparent medicine region 11Aa and the extracted light shielding pattern 40a are different (inconsistent) by “black”, and the portion where the pattern of the transparent medicine region 11Aa and the extracted light shielding pattern 40a match. Is an image represented by “white”. The background of the inconsistent partial image 90a is “white”.

  For example, in the inconsistent partial image 90a, the transparent drug region 11Aa has a pattern of “black” and the extracted light shielding pattern 40a is “white”, and the transparent drug region 11Aa has a pattern of “white” and the extracted light shielding. The portion where the pattern 40a is “black” is represented by “black” because both patterns are different, the portion where the pattern of the transparent drug region 11Aa and the extracted light shielding pattern 40a are both “white”, and the pattern of the transparent drug region 11Aa A portion where both of the extracted light shielding patterns 40a are “black” is represented by “white” because both patterns match.

In the present embodiment, in the inconsistent partial image 90a, about half of the total area is occupied by “black”, the remaining area is occupied by “white”, and about half of the periphery is “ The black portion is the remaining portion, and the remaining portion is the white portion, and the shape of the inconsistent partial image 90a is represented by a worm-eaten portion by the black portion.
Since the shape of the mismatched partial image 90a is the same as the shape of the transparent drug region 11Aa, the shape of the transparent drug region 11Aa is partially represented by the mismatched partial image 90a.

Next, the light shielding plate 4 is moved in the horizontal direction by the light shielding plate driving mechanism 8 so that the pattern shown in the region 11A where the transparent medicine 11 of the binarized image exists is different from the pattern shown in FIG. The
For example, the light shielding plate 4 is moved in the connecting direction of the plurality of packaging bags 13 by a distance different from the repetition pitch of the light transmitting region 41 and the light shielding region 42 in the light shielding plate 4.

Thereafter, the above-described imaging process, binarization process, extraction process, and inconsistent partial image acquisition process are performed again.
By performing this second binarization step, a second binarized image as shown in FIG. 6 is obtained.

In the second binarized image obtained by the second binarization process shown in FIG. 6, the region 40Ab where the transparent drug 11 and the opaque drug 12 do not exist is the same as the case of the first binarized image. Similarly, the image has the same pattern as the light shielding pattern 40 of the light shielding plate 4.
Further, the region 12Ab where the opaque medicine 12 is present in the second binarized image is also represented by “black” as in the case of the first binarized image.

On the other hand, the pattern of the image of the region 11Ab where the transparent medicine 11 is present in the second binarized image is a pattern in which the light shielding pattern 40 of the light shielding plate 4 is deformed, and the pattern is the first binarized image. This is different from the pattern of the image of the area 11Aa where the transparent medicine 11 is present.
That is, when the second imaging process is performed and when the first imaging process is performed, the position of the light shielding pattern 40 with respect to the transparent drug 11 and the opaque drug 12 is changed. The pattern of the area 11Ab in the binarized image is different from the pattern of the area 11Aa in the first binarized image.

  In the second extraction step, the region 11Ab where the transparent medicine 11 exists is extracted from the second binarized image, and the region 11Ab where the transparent medicine 11 of the second binarized image exists on the light shielding plate 4. The extracted light shielding pattern 40b, which is the light shielding pattern 40 in the overlapping area, is extracted.

In the second mismatched partial image acquisition step, the extracted pattern of the transparent drug region 11Ab and the extracted light shielding pattern 40b are compared, and a mismatched partial image 90b is acquired.
In the case of the present embodiment, also in the inconsistent partial image 90b, about half of the total area is occupied by “black”, the remaining area is occupied by “white”, and about half of the periphery is “ The black portion is the remaining portion, and the remaining portion is the white portion, and the shape of the inconsistent partial image 90a is represented by a worm-eaten portion by the black portion. Also in the inconsistent partial image 90b, the shape of the transparent drug region 11Aa is partially represented by the “black” portion.
In this case, the pattern appearing in the mismatched partial image 90b is different from the pattern appearing in the mismatched partial image 90a.

  As described above, in the medicine recognition method in the present embodiment, the imaging process, the binarization process, the extraction process, and the inconsistent partial image acquisition process are performed in a state where the light shielding pattern 40 of the area overlapping the transparent medicine area 11Aa is different. By performing a plurality of times, a plurality of inconsistent partial images 90a and 90b are acquired.

Thereafter, the composite image acquisition unit 64 combines the plurality of mismatched partial images 90a and 90b to obtain a composite image 91 (see FIG. 9). In the composite image 91, an area that is “black” in at least one of the mismatched partial image 90a and the mismatched partial image 90b is “black”.
The pattern of the mismatched partial image 90a is different from the pattern of the mismatched partial image 90b (the position of “black” in the mismatched partial image 90a is shifted from the position of “black” in the mismatched partial image 90b). In the image 91, the area occupied by “black” and the length of the peripheral edge are larger than the area occupied by “black” and the length of the peripheral edge in each of the mismatched partial images 90a and 90b. That is, the composite image 91 more accurately represents the shape of the transparent medicine 11 than the mismatched partial images 90a and 90b.

Next, the determination unit 65 compares the acquired composite image 91 with the shape data of the transparent medicine 11 registered in the storage device 7 in advance, and the composite image 91 indicates the transparent medicine 11 based on the degree of coincidence. It is determined whether it is an image.
If the determination unit 65 determines that the composite image 91 is an image indicating the transparent drug 11, the determination unit 65 recognizes that the transparent drug 11 is stored in the packaging bag 13.
When the determination unit 65 recognizes the transparent drug 11 stored in the packaging bag 13, the counting unit 66 counts the transparent drug 11 as the drug 10 stored in the packing bag 13.

  As described above, the determination unit 65 recognizes the shape of the transparent drug 11 from the composite image 91 obtained by combining the plurality of mismatched partial images 90a and 90b. However, the composite image 91 includes the mismatched partial images 90a and 90b. Since the shape of the transparent medicine 11 is more accurately represented than that, the recognition accuracy is improved by recognizing the shape of the transparent medicine 11 from the composite image 91, and the transparent medicine 11 can be appropriately recognized.

  In this embodiment, the imaging process, the binarization process, the extraction process, and the mismatched partial image acquisition process are performed twice to obtain the mismatched partial image 90a and the mismatched partial image 90b. It is also possible to improve the recognition accuracy of the transparent medicine 11 by repeating more than once and acquiring more inconsistent partial images.

In the present embodiment, as described above, when the inconsistent partial images 90a and 90b are obtained, a portion where the pattern of the transparent drug region 11Aa and the extracted light shielding pattern 40a are different is represented by “black”, and a plurality of portions When combining the inconsistent partial images 90 a and 90 b to obtain the composite image 91, at least one of the inconsistent partial image 90 a and the inconsistent partial image 90 b is “black”, and the “black” portion is combined. It is configured to represent the shape of the image 91.
However, when the inconsistent partial images 90a and 90b are obtained, a portion where the pattern of the transparent drug region 11Aa and the extracted light shielding pattern 40a are different is represented by “white”, and a plurality of inconsistent partial images 90a and 90b are combined and combined. When obtaining the image 91, an area that is “white” in at least one of the mismatched partial image 90a and the mismatched partial image 90b is “white”, and the shape of the composite image 91 is represented by the “white” portion. Is also possible.

Further, in the composite image 91 obtained by combining the plurality of mismatched partial images 90a and 90b, the “white” portion in the “black” portion representing the shape of the composite image 91 is worm-eaten. Therefore, depending on the area and position of the “white” portion, when the composite image 91 is compared with the shape data of the transparent medicine 11 registered in the storage device 7 in advance, the composite image 91 is It may be difficult to determine that the image is 11.
In such a case, by increasing the number of mismatched partial images 90a and 90b used when obtaining the composite image 91 (increasing the number of times of performing the mismatched partial image acquisition process), the area of the “white” portion is decreased. Although it can be easily determined that the composite image 91 is an image showing the transparent drug 11, the recognition process of the transparent drug 11 requires a lot of time.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, it is possible to easily and quickly determine that the composite image 91 is an image showing the transparent drug 11 by performing the following processing.
For example, after synthesizing a plurality of mismatched partial images 90a and 90b to obtain a composite image 91, the determination unit 65 converts a “white” portion remaining in a worm-eaten state into “black” in the composite image 91. After performing the image processing to be performed in advance, the composite image 91 and the shape data of the transparent medicine 11 registered in the storage device 7 in advance can be compared.
That is, the composite image acquisition step of superimposing a plurality of mismatched partial images 90a and 90b to obtain a composite image 91 is compared with the shape of the composite image 91 and the shape of the transparent medicine 11 registered in advance. Between the determination step of determining whether or not the image 91 is an image showing the transparent medicine 11, one density portion of different densities (“white” and “black”) in the composite image 91 is changed to the other. A composite image preprocessing step for performing image processing for conversion into density can be performed.
In this case, as the image processing for converting the “white” portion of the composite image 91 into “black”, the “white” portion surrounded by the “black” portion and the outline (outer periphery) of the composite image 91 is used. Can be converted to black.

  Thus, after performing the pre-process which converts the "white" part which remains in the worm-eaten state in the synthetic image 91 into "black", the synthetic image 91 and the data of the shape of the transparent medicine 11 registered in advance , The recognition accuracy of the transparent drug 11 can be further improved, and the transparent drug 11 can be recognized more appropriately.

  In the present embodiment, since the shape of the composite image 91 is represented by the “black” portion, the “white” portion of the composite image 91 is converted to “black” in the composite image preprocessing step. However, if the “white” portion is configured to represent the shape of the composite image 91, the “black” portion of the composite image 91 is changed to “white” in the composite image preprocessing step. Perform image processing to convert.

Further, in the present embodiment, the light shielding plate 4 having the light shielding pattern 40 is configured to move linearly in the connecting direction of the plurality of packaging bags 13, but by rotating the light shielding plate 4. In addition, the position of the light shielding pattern 40 with respect to the medicine 10 can be changed.
In this case, as shown in FIG. 10, for example, the pattern of the region 40Ab in which the transparent drug 11 and the opaque drug 12 do not exist in the second binarized image is the transparent drug 11 and the opaque drug 12 in the first binarized image. This is a pattern in which the pattern of the region 40Aa in which no is present is moved along the circumferential direction around the center of rotation.
On the other hand, the position of the region 11Aa where the transparent medicine 11 exists in the first binarized image, the position of the region 12Aa where the opaque medicine 12 exists, and the region 11Ab where the transparent medicine 11 exists in the second binarized image. Since the position and the position of the region 12Ab where the opaque medicine 12 exists are the same, the pattern of the region 11Ab in the second binarized image is different from the pattern of the region 11Aa in the first binarized image. Is possible.

Further, the light shielding plate 4 can be configured using a liquid crystal shutter. That is, by controlling the arrangement of the liquid crystals in the liquid crystal shutter, the light shielding pattern 40 having the light transmitting region 41 that transmits the light from the flat illumination 3 and the light shielding region 42 that shields the light from the flat illumination 3 is configured. it can.
Thus, by configuring the light shielding plate 4 with the liquid crystal shutter, the position of the light shielding pattern 40 with respect to the medicine 10 can be changed by changing the light shielding pattern 40 by controlling the arrangement of the liquid crystals. Accordingly, it is possible to switch the light shielding pattern 40 in a shorter time than when the light shielding plate 4 is moved by the light shielding plate driving mechanism 8. Moreover, since the light-shielding plate drive mechanism 8 for driving the light-shielding plate 4 is not necessary, the medicine recognition device 1 can be reduced in size.

Further, a liquid crystal display provided with a backlight can be used as the light shielding plate 4 and the flat illumination 3 of the medicine recognition device 1.
In this case, for example, in the liquid crystal display, the light shielding pattern 40 can be configured by displaying the portion that becomes the light transmitting region 41 in white and displaying the portion that becomes the light shielding region 42 in black. And the position of the light shielding pattern 40 with respect to the medicine 10 can be changed by changing the positions of the white display portion and the black display portion in the liquid crystal display.
In this way, by configuring the light shielding plate 4 and the flat illumination 3 with a liquid crystal display with a backlight, the switching of the light shielding pattern 40 is shorter than when the light shielding plate 4 is moved by the light shielding plate driving mechanism 8. It can be done in time. Moreover, since the light-shielding plate drive mechanism 8 for driving the light-shielding plate 4 is not necessary, the medicine recognition device 1 can be reduced in size.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Drug recognition apparatus 2 Mounting board 3 Planar illumination 4 Light-shielding board 5 Camera 6 Image processing apparatus 7 Storage device 8 Light-shielding plate drive mechanism 10 Drug 11 Transparent medicine 12 Opaque medicine 13 Packaging bag 61 Binary processing part 62 Transparent medicine area | region Extraction unit 63 Unmatched partial image acquisition unit 64 Composite image acquisition unit 65 Determination unit 66 Count unit

Claims (8)

A medicine recognition method for recognizing the plurality of medicines by irradiating light onto an examination area where there are a plurality of medicines including at least a transparent medicine having a curved outer shape and imaging the examination area. Because
A light-shielding plate having a predetermined light-shielding pattern composed of a light-transmitting area that transmits light from the irradiation means and a light-shielding area that shields the light is disposed between the irradiation means and the inspection area. A light shielding plate arranging step;
An irradiation step of irradiating the inspection region with light by the irradiation means;
An imaging step of imaging the inspection area irradiated with light from the irradiation means from the opposite side of the inspection area where the irradiation means is disposed;
An image processing step of performing image processing on a captured image of the inspection region,
In the image processing step,
A binarization step of binarizing the captured image of the inspection region with a predetermined threshold to obtain a binarized image;
An extraction step of extracting, from the binarized image, an area where the transparent medicine is imaged, as a transparent medicine area;
The binarized image of the transparent drug region is compared with the light-shielding pattern of the region that overlaps the transparent drug region on the light-shielding plate, and a portion having a different density is extracted to obtain a mismatched partial image of both. The inconsistent partial image acquisition step,
While repeatedly performing a plurality of times in a state where the light shielding pattern of the region overlapping with the transparent drug region in the light shielding plate is different,
A composite image obtaining step of obtaining a composite image obtained by superimposing a plurality of mismatched partial images obtained in the mismatched partial image obtaining step performed a plurality of times;
Judgment to determine whether or not the composite image is an image showing the transparent medicine by comparing the shape of the composite image obtained in the composite image acquisition step with the shape of the transparent medicine registered in advance. Carry out the process,
A method for recognizing a drug. Between the synthetic image acquisition step and the determination step,
Performing a composite image preprocessing step of performing image processing for converting one density portion of the different densities in the composite image into the other density;
The method for recognizing a medicine according to claim 1. The light shielding plate is configured by a liquid crystal shutter.
The drug recognition method according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein The light shielding plate is constituted by a liquid crystal display,
The irradiation means is configured by a backlight attached to the liquid crystal display.
The drug recognition method according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein A drug recognition apparatus for recognizing the plurality of drugs by irradiating light to an examination area where a plurality of drugs including at least a transparent drug having a curved outer shape is present and imaging the examination area. ,
Irradiating means for irradiating the inspection area with light;
A light-shielding plate having a predetermined light-shielding pattern, which is disposed between the irradiation means and the inspection area and includes a light-transmitting area that transmits light from the irradiation means and a light-shielding area that blocks the light. ,
An imaging unit that is disposed on the opposite side of the inspection region from the side on which the irradiation unit is disposed, and that images the inspection region irradiated with light from the irradiation unit;
Image processing means for image processing the captured image of the inspection area,
The image processing means includes
A binarization processing unit that binarizes the captured image of the inspection region with a predetermined threshold to obtain a binarized image;
From the binarized image, a transparent drug region extraction unit that extracts a region where the transparent drug is imaged as a transparent drug region;
The binarized image of the transparent drug region obtained by the binarization processing unit is compared with the light-shielding pattern of the region overlapping the transparent drug region on the light-shielding plate. The operation of extracting and obtaining a mismatched partial image of both is repeatedly performed a plurality of times in a state where the light shielding pattern of the region overlapping with the transparent drug region in the light shielding plate is different,
A composite image obtaining unit that obtains a composite image by superimposing a plurality of mismatched partial images obtained by the mismatched partial image obtaining unit;
Judgment to determine whether or not the composite image is an image showing the transparent medicine by comparing the shape of the composite image obtained by the composite image acquisition unit with the shape of the transparent medicine registered in advance. Having a part,
A drug recognition apparatus characterized by that. The determination unit
After performing image processing for converting one density portion of the different densities in the synthesized image into the other density, the shape of the synthesized image is compared with the shape of the transparent drug registered in advance. Determining whether the composite image is an image showing the transparent medicine;
The drug recognition device according to claim 5. The light shielding plate is configured by a liquid crystal shutter.
The drug recognition apparatus according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that The light shielding plate is constituted by a liquid crystal display,
The irradiation means is configured by a backlight attached to the liquid crystal display.
The drug recognition apparatus according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that

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