JP2025024210A - Medicine sorting device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a patient-brought medication sorting device capable of automatically and efficiently sorting patient-brought medications by patient.
[Solution] The medicine sorting device (1) includes a first storage section (11) that stores multiple types of medicine, multiple sorting cups (141) that store medicines that are considered to be of the same type, a first camera (13) that captures images of the medicines removed from the first storage section, a transport/sorting unit (12) that transports the medicines to one of the multiple sorting cups based on characteristics of the medicine extracted from the image captured by the first camera, and a collection tray (16) that stores foreign objects. For medicines identified by a user as medicines that cannot be taken by a patient or that should be avoided, the transport/sorting unit transports the medicines to one of the multiple sorting cups or to the collection tray, regardless of the characteristics of the medicine.
[Selected Figure] Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a medicine sorting device and a medicine sorting device for sorting medicines.

Patent Document 1 discloses a drug identification system that includes a drug imaging device that captures images of drugs and a computer that identifies drugs based on the image data of the drugs obtained by the drug imaging device.

International Publication No. 2015/152225

A drug sorting device according to one aspect of the present invention includes a first storage unit that stores multiple types of drugs, multiple sorting containers that store drugs that are considered to be of the same type, an imaging unit that images the drugs removed from the first storage unit, a transport unit that transports the drugs to one of the multiple sorting containers based on characteristics of the drugs extracted from the image captured by the imaging unit, and a collection tray that stores foreign objects. The transport unit transports drugs identified by a user as drugs that cannot be taken by a patient or that should be avoided to one of the multiple sorting containers or to the collection tray.

1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a medicine sorting device. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a medicine sorting device. 4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating an example of a configuration of a first storage section. FIG. 1A to 1C are diagrams illustrating an example and a modified example of packaging by a packaging mechanism. A diagram showing an example of a flow of sorting and packaging of medications brought by a patient by a medicine sorting device. 13A and 13B are diagrams illustrating another example of the first storage section. 13A and 13B are diagrams for explaining an example of packaging processing in a pre-visual inspection packaging mode. 13A and 13B are diagrams for explaining an example of packaging processing in a packaging mode after visual inspection; FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a discrimination result image displaying a brought-medicine discrimination result. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a medicine dispensing system according to a second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a control unit of the medicine sorting device of the second embodiment. 13A to 13C are diagrams showing an example of a result of sorting by the medicine sorting device of embodiment 2, and an example of a medicine package containing the medicines sorted by the medicine sorting device. 13A to 13C are diagrams showing another example of the result of sorting by the medicine sorting device of embodiment 2, and another example of a medicine package containing medicines sorted by the medicine sorting device.

[Embodiment 1]
[Overview of the medicine sorting device 1]
First, an overview of the medicine sorting device 1 (brought-in medicine sorting device) will be described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the medicine sorting device 1. Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the medicine sorting device 1, in which 2001 is a perspective view of the medicine sorting device 1 and 2002 is a perspective view showing the basic configuration of the medicine sorting area 2. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the medicine sorting device 1 includes a medicine sorting area 2, a touch panel 3, a print output unit 4, a first RFID (Radio Frequency Identifier) reader/writer unit 5, a packaging mechanism 6 (packaging unit), and a second RFID reader/writer unit 18.

The medicine sorting device 1 takes an image of each of the multiple types of medicine, determines the type of medicine based on the image obtained as a result of the imaging, and sorts the medicines by type. This process is carried out in the medicine sorting area 2. The medicine sorting area 2 (the 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.

In this embodiment, the multiple types of medicines are medicines that are not contained in a container or that are not packaged, and examples of such medicines are tablets or capsules. In addition, the multiple types of medicines are returned medicines. The returned medicines are medicines that are to be prescribed to each of multiple patients, or medicines that have been prescribed to each of the patients and have been dispensed. The medicines are "brought-in medicines" that may include medicines issued by other pharmacies or hospitals in addition to the adopted medicines, which are adopted medicines (adopted medicines) that were once prescribed to a patient at a certain medical institution and then brought to another medical institution for hospitalization or the like, and that are currently being taken by the patient. After the medicines are returned, the medicine sorting device 1 can automatically perform processes from imaging to sorting.

Furthermore, the discrimination of the type of drug is not limited to a unique discrimination of the type of drug, but may refer to a discrimination of whether or not the drugs are considered to be of the same type based on at least one characteristic of the drug (e.g., color, shape, size). If the drugs are considered to be of the same type, the discrimination result may be multiple types that have at least one identical or similar characteristic.

The touch panel 3 accepts various user inputs at the operation unit 31 and displays various images (e.g., an image showing the progress of drug sorting, an image for visual inspection) on the display unit 32. The print output unit 4 prints a journal showing drug data related to the drug after visual inspection (e.g., data showing the drug name and patient name) according to the user input after visual inspection. The drug data may include image data showing a drug-specific image.

The packaging mechanism 6 packages the sorted medicines. By providing the packaging mechanism 6 to the medicine sorting device 1, it is possible for the medicine sorting device 1 to 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 above processes from sorting to packaging can be performed automatically, except for visual inspection.

The packaging mechanism 6 can be a packaging unit of a conventional tablet packaging machine or powder packaging machine. In this case, for example, drugs in a sorting cup 141 that have been sorted into the same drug type can be packaged into one or multiple packages.

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 their respective dosing times based on the prescription data" and the meaning of "simply packaging the drugs sorted into the second container 14 regardless of the prescription data."

The first RFID reader/writer unit 5 is provided on the medicine removal side of the base 19, as shown in 2002 in FIG. 2. 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. Examples of the data include data indicating the number of medicines stored, medicine identification data (e.g., GS1 code) for identifying the medicine, 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 and the images acquired by the imaging unit 13 are stored in the memory unit 80 in association with the sorting cup identification information.

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 drug stored in the corresponding sorting cup 141 is (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. These drug data may also be linked to the sorting cup identification information and stored in the drug database.

The second RFID reader/writer unit 18, like the first RFID reader/writer unit 5, writes various data to the RFID tag or reads various data stored in the RFID tag. The second RFID reader/writer unit 18 is provided below the second storage section 14. Specifically, it is provided so as to face the bottom of each sorting cup 141 when reading or writing data related to medicines stored in the RFID tag of each sorting cup 141.

The drug sorting device 1 may also be equipped with a barcode reader 7. The barcode reader 7 reads, for example, a barcode indicating drug data for the drug, which is printed on a drug packet (packaging paper) in which the packaging mechanism 6 packages the drugs after sorting. This allows the control unit 60a to perform processing based on the read barcode. The packaging mechanism 6 may also be equipped with a barcode printing mechanism (not shown) that prints a barcode indicating drug data for the drug packaged in the drug packet on the drug packet.

The barcode reader 7 may be any reading device capable of reading information indicating drug data printed on a drug package or the like. Furthermore, 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 obtain the above information by communicating with an external device equipped with a barcode reader 7.

In addition, as shown in 2001 of FIG. 2, the medicine sorting device 1 is equipped with an opening/closing shutter 51 and an opening/closing door 52 that enable the medicine removal side to be opened and closed.

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

As shown in 2002 of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the drug 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, and a drug insertion port 17. Each component except for the transport/sorting unit 12 is provided on a base 19.

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 the storage unit adjacent to that storage unit become the target for transport. The first storage unit 11 may also be provided so as to be rotatable about the Z axis (the center of the cylindrical shape). In this case, the control unit 60a may rotate the first storage unit 11, for example, when one storage unit becomes empty, so that the transport/sorting unit 12 can easily obtain the medicines.

Figure 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the first storage unit 11. In the example of 3001 in Figure 3, the first storage unit 11 has four storage units 111 to 114 with approximately the same volume. In the example of 3002 in Figure 3, in the first storage unit 11, two storage units 111 and 113 of the four storage units shown in 3001 in Figure 3 are further divided into three equal parts, each of which has three small storage units 111a to 111c and three small storage units 113a to 113c. The first storage unit 11 shown in 3001 in Figure 3 is mainly used when sorting returned medicines, and the first storage unit 11 shown in 3002 in Figure 3 is mainly used when sorting brought-in medicines. Not limited to this, for example, the first storage unit 11 shown in 3001 in Figure 3 may be used when sorting brought-in medicines. The method of using the first storage unit 11 when sorting brought-in medicines will be described later.

The transport and sorting unit 12 transports the medicines stored in the first storage section 11 to a receiving area where the imaging unit 13 receives the medicines. The transport and sorting unit 12 includes a second camera 121, a suction and shutter mechanism 122, and a transport mechanism 123.

The second camera 121 sequentially captures images of the first storage section 11 in order to identify the medicine to be transported. 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) facing the base 19. The second camera 121 may be provided at the tip of the suction mechanism described below.

The suction/shutter mechanism 122 includes an suction mechanism that suctions the medicine identified as the object to be transported, 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 approximately parallel to the XY plane.

When acquiring a drug, the suction mechanism extends from the end, adsorbs the identified drug at its tip, and then returns to the position of the end. In this state, the shutter mechanism moves to a position opposite the end, and maintains the position of the shutter mechanism during drug transport (closed state). When the suction/shutter mechanism 122 moves to a position opposite the drug placement stage 133a of the drug holding mechanism 133 arranged in the receiving area, the shutter mechanism moves to a position not opposite the end (open state). Then, after extending from the end, the suction mechanism releases the suction state, placing the drug on the drug placement stage 133a.

The transport mechanism 123 moves the suction/shutter mechanism 122 in the X-axis and Y-axis directions. This transport mechanism 123 enables the movement of the suction/shutter mechanism 122 when searching for the drug to be transported on the first storage unit 11, or transport of the drug from the first storage unit 11 to the drug placement table 133a. It also enables transport of the drug from the drug placement table 133a to the second storage unit 14, the waiting tray 15, or the collection tray 16.

The imaging unit 13 is placed on the drug placement table 133a and captures an image of the drug placed in the placement area (imaging area) where the drug to be imaged is placed. The imaging unit 13 includes a first camera 131 (imaging section), a rotation mechanism 132, a drug holding mechanism 133, and an illuminator 134.

The first camera 131 captures an image of a drug placed in a placement area facing the first camera 131 so that the control unit 60a can determine the type of drug. The illuminator 134 emits light that is irradiated onto the drug when capturing an image of the drug.

The rotation mechanism 132 rotates the first camera 131 so as to revolve around the placement area (the drug placement table 133a placed at that position) where the drug to be imaged is placed. The first camera 131 images the drug placed in the placement area 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 placement area. Therefore, the first camera 131 can image the drug from multiple directions while maintaining the positional relationship of the first camera 131 and the illuminator 134 with respect to the placement area.

The drug holding mechanism 133 is a mechanism for holding drugs. The drug holding mechanism 133 has a shaft portion that rotates about the Z axis as the axis of rotation and extends approximately perpendicular to the Z axis, and two drug placement tables (petri dishes) 133a provided at each end of the shaft portion. By rotating the shaft portion, the two drug placement tables 133a can move between the receiving area (collection tray 16 side) and the placement area.

Specifically, when a drug transported from the first storage unit 11 is placed on one of the drug placement tables 133a, the drug holding mechanism 133 moves one of the drug placement tables 133a from the receiving area to the placement area. At this time, the other drug placement table 133a moves from the placement area to the receiving area. The first camera 131 then captures an image of the drug placed on one of the drug placement tables 133a. Because the drug placement table 133a is transparent, the first camera 131 can capture an image of the drug placed on the drug placement table 133a from multiple directions through the drug placement table 133a. When the image capture is completed, one of the drug placement tables 133a moves from the placement area to the receiving area, and the other drug placement table 133a moves from the receiving area to the placement area. If no medicine is placed on the other medicine placement stage 133a, a medicine delivered from the first container 11 can be placed on the other medicine placement stage 133a during the above image capture. This allows the first camera 131 to continuously capture images of the medicine.

The second storage section 14 stores drugs according to the type of drug. The second storage section 14 is provided with multiple compartments (drug storage positions) so that multiple drugs can be stored by type. Specifically, the second storage section 14 is provided with multiple sorting cups 141 that are removably placed. The control section 60a determines the type of drug based on an image of the drug captured by the imaging unit 13, and determines the sorting cup 141 in which to store the drug based on the determination result. The drug is transported to the determined sorting cup 141 by the transport/sorting unit 12 and stored therein.

The waiting tray 15 is a temporary storage section where medicines are temporarily placed. For example, when all of the sorting cups 141 are filled with medicines, the control unit 60a temporarily stores medicines that are determined to be of a type other than the type of medicine stored in each sorting cup 141 in the waiting tray 15. The medicines stored in the waiting tray 15 may be transported from the waiting tray 15 to the sorting cup 141 after the medicines are removed from the sorting cup 141.

The collection tray 16 is a storage unit that stores items whose type cannot be determined by the control unit 60a (e.g., foreign objects other than medicine). Examples of foreign objects other than medicine include pieces of PTP (press through pack) sheets. The control unit 60a also stores in the collection tray 16 medicines that are registered in the medicine database as medicines to be discarded, or medicines that the user wishes to discard (e.g., medicines with old manufacturing dates).

The medicine inlet 17 is for transporting medicine stored in the second storage section 14 to the packaging mechanism 6 by the transport/sorting unit 12.

[Computer Overview]
1, the medicine sorting device 1 includes a computer 60 that controls the above-mentioned components (hardware) of the medicine sorting device 1. The computer 60 includes a control unit 60a and a storage unit 80. The control unit 60a includes a transport control unit 61, a sorting control unit 62, an imaging control unit 63, a determination unit 64, a collation unit 65, an operation input unit 66, a display control unit 67, an RFID control unit 68, a print output control unit 69, and a packaging control unit 71. The processing of the determination unit 64 will be described in the section "Sorting processing of brought-in medicines" below.

The transport control unit 61 controls the transport and sorting unit 12 to transport the medicine contained in the first container 11 to the receiving area. Specifically, the transport control unit 61 controls the suction and shutter mechanism 122 to perform the medicine suction or release operation by the suction and shutter mechanism 122. The transport control unit 61 controls the transport mechanism 123 to move the suction and shutter mechanism 122 in the X-axis and Y-axis directions.

The sorting control unit 62 controls the transport and sorting unit 12 based on the result of discrimination of the type of medicine (the result of matching by the matching unit 65) to transport the medicine placed in the receiving area to a specified sorting cup 141 in the second storage unit 14, a waiting tray 15, or a collection tray 16.

When the sorting control unit 62 receives the discrimination result of the medicine, it determines a sorting position to store the medicine, and associates the discrimination result with the determined sorting position and stores them in the memory unit 80. 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.

When the same discrimination result as the above discrimination result is stored, the sorting control unit 62 determines the sorting cup 141 linked to the stored discrimination result as the sorting position. Also, when the sorting position linked to the stored discrimination result (e.g., estimated drug) is the waiting tray 15, the sorting control unit 62 determines the waiting tray 15 as the sorting position. On the other hand, when the same discrimination result as the above discrimination result is not stored, the sorting control unit 62 determines the sorting cup 141 that does not contain any drug (the sorting cup 141 that has not been determined as the sorting position) as the sorting position. When all the sorting cups 141 contain drugs, the sorting control unit 62 determines the waiting tray 15 as the sorting position. Note that, for estimated drugs, the sorting control unit 62 may determine one of the sorting cups 141 in the second storage unit 14 as the sorting position instead of the waiting tray 15.

When the sorting control unit 62 determines the sorting position, it controls the transport mechanism 123 in the same way as the transport control unit 61 to move the transport/sorting unit 12 above the receiving area. Like 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. The sorting control unit 62 then controls the transport mechanism 123 to transport the medicines to the determined sorting cup 141 or waiting tray 15. After transporting the medicines, the sorting control unit 62 releases the suction to store the medicines in the sorting cup 141 or waiting tray 15. The sorting control unit 62 also counts the number of medicines stored in the sorting cup 141, and stores the number in the memory unit 80 in association with the sorting position.

After the sorting control unit 62 transports the medicines (medicines after identification) on the medicine placement table 133a arranged in the receiving area to the sorting position, the transport control unit 61 transports the medicines stored in the first storage unit 11 to the now empty medicine placement table 133a and places them there. This allows the medicine sorting device 1 to continuously identify the type of medicine.

In addition, if the sorting control unit 62 receives a result indicating that the type of medicine could not be identified, the object placed in the receiving area after the identification is a foreign object, and so the sorting control unit 62 transports the foreign object to the collection tray 16.

The data on the medicine stored in the sorting cup 141 by the sorting control unit 62 is stored in an RFID tag provided in the sorting cup 141 by the second RFID reader/writer unit 18. The sorting control unit 62 causes the RFID control unit 68 to write data on the medicine each time a medicine is stored in the sorting cup 141. The sorting control unit 62 also stores the data in the memory unit 80.

The imaging control unit 63 controls the imaging of the medicine by the second camera 121 when the transport/sorting unit 12 adsorbs the medicine to be transported. The transport control unit 61 and the sorting control unit 62 identify one of the medicines included in the image captured by the second camera 121 as the medicine to be transported.

The imaging control unit 63 also controls the imaging of the drug in the placement area by the imaging unit 13, the pivoting movement of the first camera 131 and the illuminator 134, and the movement of the drug holding mechanism 133. The imaging control unit 63 stores the image captured by the first camera 131 in the memory unit 80.

The collation unit 65 functions as a discrimination unit that discriminates the type of drug based on the image of the drug captured by the first camera 131. Specifically, the collation unit 65 extracts the characteristics of the drug contained in the image by analyzing the image of the drug. Examples of the characteristics of the drug include size, shape, marking, print, dividing line, and representative color (color of the area with the marking or print). When OCR (Optical Character Recognition) or the like is performed, other information such as the name of the drug represented by the marking or print (e.g., identification code) or identification information indicating the manufacturer (identification information that identifies the drug), expiration date, etc. are extracted as the characteristics of the drug. The collation unit 65 links the extracted information indicating the characteristics of each drug to the image of the drug and stores it in the storage unit 80. The extraction of the characteristics of the drug may be performed by a known technology.

The matching unit 65 identifies the type of drug by matching the characteristics of each drug with a drug database. For example, the matching unit 65 ranks candidates for drug data related to the imaged drug from the drug database based on the representative color. The matching unit 65 then identifies the type based on other characteristics according to the above ranking.

The collation unit 65 may also narrow down candidates for drug data related to the imaged drug from the drug database 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, engraving, print, dividing line, and representative color. The collation unit 65 then performs OCR or the like to read the identification information or the like shown on the engraving or print, and further narrows down the drug types from the above candidates using pattern matching or the like. The collation unit 65 may also rank the above candidates based on the degree of agreement between the extracted drug characteristics and the drug characteristics included in the drug database.

In addition, even if the drug characteristics (target characteristics) extracted using pattern matching or the like are not in the drug database, if the matching unit 65 estimates that the drug is a drug (tablet or capsule) based on at least a portion of the target characteristics, the matching unit 65 determines 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.

The matching unit 65 may also match at least one of the target features with at least one of the drug features (matching features) extracted up to that point, and determine the type of drug based on the matching result. Specifically, when the image of the drug sorted into the sorting cup 141 is used as a reference image, the matching unit 65 compares the drug features (target features) contained in a subsequently acquired image with the drug features (matching features) contained in the reference image. This allows the above matching to be performed using the reference image instead of the drug database, making it possible to sort drugs into the sorting cup 141 even if the drugs have not been preregistered in the drug database.

The collation unit 65 outputs the result of the drug type determination to the sorting control unit 62. For example, if the drug type can be identified as one, or if the number of candidates has been narrowed down to a predetermined number or less, the collation unit 65 outputs the drug data for the drug as the determination result. In this case, the collation unit 65 stores the drug data for the drug in the storage unit 80 in association with an image of the drug.

When the collation unit 65 determines that the type of drug is a suspected drug, it outputs the characteristics of the drug (the characteristics of the object suspected to be a suspected drug) as the determination result. On the other hand, when the collation unit 65 determines that the drug is registered in the drug database as a drug to be discarded, or when it determines that the object contained in the first container 11 is a foreign object other than a drug, it outputs the determination result that the drug is not to be sorted.

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 print output control unit 69 controls the print output unit 4 according to the user input received by the operation input unit 66.

The packaging control unit 71 controls the transport and sorting unit 12 to transport the medicine stored in the sorting cups 141 to the medicine inlet 17. The packaging control unit 71 also controls the packaging mechanism 6 to package the medicine contained in each sorting cup 141.

The computer 60 also includes a storage unit 80. The storage unit 80 prestores a drug database (drug master) that manages drug data related to multiple types of drugs, and also stores images of drugs captured by the first camera 131. Images that have been subjected to image processing by the imaging control unit 63 may be stored as images of the drugs.

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

[Sorting and packaging medications brought in by patients (sorting mode set by type of medication)]
The medicine sorting device 1 of this embodiment can be set to a returned medicine sorting mode in which returned medicines are automatically sorted, and a brought-in medicine sorting mode in which brought-in medicines are automatically sorted.

In the returned drug sorting mode, as described above, the drug sorting device 1 takes out the multiple types of drugs stored in the first storage unit 11 one by one and determines the type of drug based on an image of the taken drug. Based on the determination result, the drug sorting device 1 transports the drug to either the second storage unit 14, the waiting tray 15, or the collection tray 16. Therefore, in the returned drug sorting mode, multiple types of drugs may be stored in the first storage unit 11 as desired, and it is not necessarily necessary for the first storage unit 11 to be provided with multiple storage units. Furthermore, in the case of returned drugs, since there is no patient waiting for the sorting process, there is no need to increase the efficiency of the sorting process in order to quickly return the drugs to the patient.

On the other hand, the patient's own medications are necessary for the doctor to create a new prescription for the patient who brought the medications with them. For example, the doctor will consider the type of medication brought with them and the details of the surgery, and check whether any of the medications brought with them should be discontinued before creating a new prescription. In addition, in order to create this prescription, the medication brought with them is identified by a pharmacist. Therefore, by having the medication sorting device 1 sort the medications brought with them by type on a patient-by-patient basis, it is possible to support the pharmacist's identification and the doctor's work of creating prescriptions. However, considering that it is preferable for the doctor to create a prescription as soon as possible after acquiring the medication brought with them, it is preferable that the sorting process of the medication brought with the doctor by the medication sorting device 1 be performed more efficiently than in the case of returned medications.

When the patient-brought-in medication sorting mode is selected, the drug sorting device 1 of this embodiment can further select between a drug type sorting mode and a drug type discrimination mode. The drug type sorting mode is a mode in which the patient-brought-in medications are sorted by medication that is considered to be of the same type, and then packaged by type. The drug type discrimination mode is a mode in which the patient-brought-in medications are re-packaged according to the time of taking them. Here, we will first explain the method of storing, sorting, and packaging the medications brought by the patient by the drug sorting device 1 in the drug type sorting mode.

<Sorting and processing of medications brought in by patients>
When the drug type sorting mode is selected, the first storage unit 11 functions as a unit for separating and storing the patient's own drugs by patient. The first storage unit 11 also functions as a unit for separating and storing at least one first drug and the remaining second drugs among a plurality of types of drugs that have been prescribed for one patient at a certain medical institution and then brought to another medical institution.

For example, in the example of 3002 in FIG. 3, storage units 111 and 112 function as storage units for storing medications brought by a patient PA, and storage units 113 and 114 function as storage units for storing medications brought by a patient PB other than patient PA.

Here, patients PA and PB have been prescribed medication for multiple days, and multiple dosing times are set for each day. The type of medication taken at the same dosing time on each day is the same. A specific day out of the multiple dosing days is referred to as a "specified dosing day." The specified dosing day is, for example, the start date of dosing, but it may also be any other specific day.

Each of the small storage units 111a to 111c functions as a storage unit for the first brought-in medication, which is prescribed for the patient PA to take at each of the multiple times on a specific date (specific time of taking). For example, the small storage unit 111a stores the brought-in medication for the morning dose on a certain date, the small storage unit 111b stores the brought-in medication for the afternoon dose on the same date, and the small storage unit 111c stores the brought-in medication for the evening dose on the same date. The storage unit 112 stores the remaining brought-in medication, which is prescribed for the patient PA to take at the same times as the multiple times on dates other than the specific date, as the second brought-in medication. The storage units 113 (small storage units 113a to 113c) and 114 have the same functions as the storage units 111 and 112, and function as a storage unit for the first brought-in medication or the second brought-in medication of the patient PB, respectively.

The number of first brought-in medications stored in storage unit 111 is equal to or less than the number of second brought-in medications in storage unit 112. This makes it possible to reduce the amount of reference data (described below) created based on images of the first brought-in medications, and makes it possible to sort the second brought-in medications, which are greater than the number of first brought-in medications, based on the reduced amount of reference data. Therefore, the medication sorting device 1 can efficiently sort brought-in medications.

The storage section 111 of the first storage section 11 may function as a storage section for storing the first brought-in medication that is prescribed for the patient PA to take on a specified date and brought in by the patient PA. In this case, the storage section 112 may function as a storage section for storing the remaining brought-in medication that is prescribed for the patient PA to take on dates other than the specified date and brought in by the patient PA as the second brought-in medication. For example, if the medication is prescribed to be taken in the morning and evening, the small storage section 111a stores the brought-in medication for the morning dose on a certain date, and the small storage section 111b stores the brought-in medication for the evening dose on that date. The storage section 112 stores the brought-in medication for the morning and evening doses on dates other than the specified date (the remaining brought-in medication). If the medication is prescribed to be taken in the morning, afternoon, or evening of a day, the small storage section 111a stores the medication brought by the patient for the morning, afternoon, or evening on a certain day, and storage section 112 stores the medication brought by the patient for the morning, afternoon, or evening on days other than the certain day (the remaining medication brought by the patient). Similarly, storage sections 113 and 114 function to store the first medication or second medication brought by the patient PB, respectively.

The storage section 111 of the first storage section 11 shown in 3001 of FIG. 3 may function as a storage section for storing the first brought-in medicine that is prescribed to be taken by the patient PA at a specified time (specified time of taking) on a specified day of taking, and brought with the patient. In this case, the storage section 112 may function as a storage section for storing the remaining brought-in medicine that is prescribed to be taken by the patient PA at a time other than the specified time, and brought with the patient. For example, the storage section 111 stores the brought-in medicine for the morning of a certain day of taking, and the storage section 112 stores the remaining brought-in medicine. Similarly, the storage section 113 and the storage section 114 function as storage sections for the first brought-in medicine or the second brought-in medicine of the patient PB, respectively. In this case, the number of the first brought-in medicines stored in the storage section 111 can be equal to or less than the number of the second brought-in medicines stored in the storage section 112. In this case, it is sufficient that the patient PA and PB are prescribed at least one day's worth of medicine, and it is sufficient that multiple times of taking the medicine are set in one day.

The storage locations for the medications brought by patients PA and PB can be set arbitrarily. For example, the storage units 111 and 114 may be storage locations for medications brought by patient PA, and the storage units 112 and 113 may be storage locations for medications brought by patient PB. Small storage units may be provided in the storage units 112 and 114, and medications brought by patients of any taking time may be stored in each small storage unit. The first storage unit 11 may be further divided so that the first and second medications brought by three or more patients can be stored in the first storage unit 11 on a patient-by-patient basis. However, storage data indicating the storage unit in which the first and second medications brought by a certain patient are stored and the storage unit in which the first and second medications brought by another patient are stored in advance in the memory unit 80. The first storage unit 11 may be capable of storing the first and second medications brought by one patient.

The second storage section 14 functions to store the first and second brought-in medications for each patient and for each brought-in medication that is considered to be of the same type. In the second storage section 14, storage areas for brought-in medications are set for each patient. Figure 4 is a plan view of the second storage section 14. As shown by the dashed dotted lines in Figure 4, in the example of Figure 4, storage areas AR1 to AR4 are set as storage areas for storing the brought-in medications of four patients, respectively.

The storage position of the patient's own medication in the first storage unit 11 (the position where the patient's own medication is removed) and the storage position of the patient's own medication in the second storage unit 14 (the section where the patient's own medication is stored) are linked on a patient-by-patient basis and managed as storage position data. In the storage position data, for example, storage units 111 and 112 are linked to storage area AR1, and storage units 113 and 114 are linked to storage area AR2, and the data is stored in memory unit 80. The size and number of the storage areas can be set arbitrarily.

The imaging unit 13 functions to capture images of the first or second patient-brought medications taken from the first storage section 11 on a patient-by-patient basis. When there are multiple first medications, the imaging unit 13 captures images of the first medications taken out in sequence by the transport/sorting unit 12. The same applies to the second medications.

The determination unit 64 determines the reference data, for example, by one of the following two methods. The determination unit 64 stores the determined reference data in the storage unit 80.

(Method 1) The determination unit 64 determines reference data indicating information based on at least one characteristic of the first brought-in drug (e.g., the size, shape, or representative color described above) extracted from an image of the first brought-in drug. The determination unit 64 determines, as reference data, multiple characteristics managed as drug data for the first brought-in drug, which are obtained by the comparison unit 65 comparing at least one characteristic of the first brought-in drug with a drug database. In this case, the comparison unit 65 can compare the multiple characteristics of the first brought-in drug with at least one characteristic of the second brought-in drug.

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

The control unit 60a only needs to be able to use the reference data to sort the second brought-in medication based on the characteristics of the first brought-in medication. Therefore, even if the type of the first brought-in medication is not accurately determined or narrowed down, it is sufficient that the first brought-in medication and the second brought-in medication that are considered to be the same type are contained in the same sorting cup 141. By comparing the characteristics of the first brought-in medication with the medication database, the type of the first brought-in medication can be accurately determined or narrowed down, but since the amount of medication data managed in the medication database is enormous, this takes time. By having the determination unit 64 determine the characteristics of the first brought-in medication as reference data using method 2 above, the processing time of the determination unit 64 (the time to create the reference data) can be shortened.

When the first container 11 contains multiple first brought-in medications, the matching unit 65 compares the reference data of each of the first brought-in medications to determine whether the reference data can be considered identical. The matching unit 65 may consider the reference data to be identical when the degree of match of at least one characteristic of the two first brought-in medications being compared is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. The number of characteristics used to determine whether the degree of match is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, and the predetermined value, may be set by experiment, etc. The same process may also be used to compare at least one characteristic of the second brought-in medication with the reference data.

The matching unit 65 also functions as a first matching unit that matches at least one feature of the second brought-in drug extracted from an image of the second brought-in drug with the reference data determined by the determination unit 64. The matching unit 65 does not match the features of the second brought-in drug with the drug database, at least for the second brought-in drug. Furthermore, only the number of first brought-in drugs is stored in the memory unit 80 as reference data. Therefore, the matching time can be reduced compared to the case where the features of the second brought-in drug are matched with all drug data managed in the drug database. Furthermore, by narrowing down the features of the first brought-in drug included in the reference data (e.g., the size, shape, and representative color of the first brought-in drug), the matching time can be further reduced.

When the determination unit 64 determines the reference data by the above method 1, the matching unit 65 functions as a second matching unit that narrows down the type of the first brought-in medication by matching at least one characteristic of the first brought-in medication with the medication database. In this case, the matching unit 65 can accurately determine or narrow down the type of the first brought-in medication, and can therefore accurately determine or narrow down the type of the second brought-in medication.

Note that the matching unit 65 is described as having the functions of both the first matching unit and the second matching unit, but the control unit 60a may have the first matching unit and the second matching unit as separate functions.

The transport and sorting unit 12 stores the first and second medications brought by each patient in the second storage section 14.

The sorting control unit 62 controls the transport/sorting unit 12 to store the first brought-in medicine in each sorting cup 141 of the second storage unit 14 based on the result of the comparison between the reference data by the comparison unit 65. If the reference data of the first brought-in medicine to be stored in the sorting cup 141 is deemed to be identical to the reference data of the first brought-in medicine already stored in the sorting cup 141, the sorting control unit 62 stores the first brought-in medicine to be stored in the sorting cup 141 in which the first brought-in medicine is already stored. If the reference data of the first brought-in medicine to be stored in the sorting cup 141 is not deemed to be identical to the reference data of the first brought-in medicine already stored in the sorting cup 141, the sorting control unit 62 stores the first brought-in medicine to be stored in an unused sorting cup 141. The sorting control unit 62 also stores the first brought-in medicine that is the first target of sorting in an unused sorting cup 141. As a result, the sorting control unit 62 can sort all of the first brought-in medications stored in the first storage unit 11 into groups of first brought-in medications that can be considered to be of the same type and store them in the second storage unit 14.

The transporting and sorting unit 12 also stores the second brought-in medicine, which is deemed to be of the same type as the first brought-in medicine, in the same compartment as the compartment in which the first brought-in medicine is stored, based on the result of the comparison by the comparison unit 65 of at least one characteristic of the second brought-in medicine against the reference data. If the sorting control unit 62 determines that at least one characteristic of the second brought-in medicine is identical to any of the reference data, it controls the transporting and sorting unit 12 to store the second brought-in medicine in a sorting cup 141 in which the first brought-in medicine corresponding to the reference data is stored. If the sorting control unit 62 determines that at least one characteristic of the second brought-in medicine is not identical to any of the reference data, it controls the transporting and sorting unit 12 to store the second brought-in medicine in an unused sorting cup 141 (a sorting cup 141 in which the first brought-in medicine is not stored).

As mentioned above, the number of reference data is significantly smaller than the number of drug data in the drug database. Therefore, the drug sorting device 1 can efficiently and quickly sort the drug brought by the patient by storing the first drug brought by the patient and the second drug brought by the patient separately in the first storage section 11 and sorting the second drug brought by the patient based on the reference data of the first drug brought by the patient.

Here, in the returned medicine sorting mode, the returned medicine is stored in any position in the first storage unit 11 regardless of the patient. The medicine sorting device 1 takes out the medicines stored in the first storage unit 11 one by one, and stores them in the second storage unit 14 according to the type determined based on the image capture result by the image capture unit 13. On the other hand, in the medicine type sorting mode of the brought-in medicine sorting mode, the medicine sorting device 1 takes out the brought-in medicines stored in the first storage unit 11 on a patient-by-patient basis, as described above, and sorts them in the second storage unit 14 into brought-in medicines that are considered to be of the same type on a patient-by-patient basis. Therefore, the medicine sorting device 1 can package the brought-in medicines stored in the second storage unit 14 on a patient-by-patient basis. In addition, the user (e.g., a pharmacist) can handle the brought-in medicines sorted by the medicine sorting device 1 on a patient-by-patient basis. Therefore, the user can efficiently perform the identification work of the brought-in medicines. In addition, users can efficiently reuse (repackage) medications brought in by patients, or return them to patients or their caregivers, in accordance with new prescriptions (follow-up medication instructions) from doctors.

If the medication brought with the patient is a half tablet, the control unit 60a does not determine the type of medication, but stores them all together in a single sorting cup 141.

<Visual Inspection>
During the sorting process of the brought-in medicines, or after the sorting process is completed, the display control unit 67 displays images of the brought-in medicines stored in each sorting cup 141 (images captured by the first camera 131) and the types of brought-in medicines on the display unit 32. When the characteristics of the first brought-in medicine are compared with the medicine database, the display control unit 67 displays the types of brought-in medicines as the comparison result (narrowing result) on the display unit 32. When the characteristics of the first brought-in medicine are not compared with the medicine database, the comparison unit 65 narrows down the types of the medicines (determines the types) by comparing any of the characteristics of the brought-in medicines stored in the sorting cup 141 with the medicine database. After that, the display control unit 67 displays the narrowed-down types of brought-in medicines on the display unit 32. The user uniquely identifies the type of brought-in medicine by visually checking the display on the display unit 32, and inputs the identification result via the operation unit 31 (visual inspection). The operation input unit 66 links the input identification result to the sorting cup identification information and stores it in the memory unit 80.

<Processing of medicines brought in by patients>
The packaging mechanism 6 packages the first and second brought-in medicines for each of the first and second brought-in medicines contained in the same compartment of the second storage unit 14 (stored in the same sorting cup 141). Therefore, the packaging mechanism 6 can package brought-in medicines for each type identified by visual inspection. Furthermore, the packaging mechanism 6 packages the first and second brought-in medicines for each of the first and second brought-in medicines contained in the same compartment on a patient-by-patient basis. Therefore, the packaging mechanism 6 can provide the brought-in medicines packaged for each patient to the user. Furthermore, since the brought-in medicines are packaged together for each patient, it is easy for the user to return the brought-in medicines to the patient or their caregiver.

5001 and 5002 in FIG. 5 are diagrams showing an example of packaging by the packaging mechanism 6. As a result of the above-mentioned sorting process of patient-brought medications, patient PA's brought-in medications (drug names: DA1 to DA4) are stored in storage area AR1 of second storage unit 14, and patient PB's brought-in medications (drug names: DB1 to DB4) are stored in storage area AR2 of second storage unit 14. 5001 in FIG. 5 is an example showing the state in which patient PA's brought-in medications have been packaged, and 5002 in FIG. 5 is an example showing the state in which patient PB's brought-in medications have been packaged.

The packaging control unit 71 controls the transport and sorting unit 12 to take out drugs one by one from the sorting cup 141 in which the drug with drug name DA1 is stored in the storage area AR1, and transports them to the packaging mechanism 6 via the drug input port 17. Hereinafter, this will be referred to as drug DA1. The same applies to drugs with drug names DA2 to DA4 and drug names DB1 to DB4.

The packaging control unit 71 removes all of the medications DA1 from the sorting cup 141 and transports them to the packaging mechanism 6, and then uses the packaging mechanism 6 to package the medications DA1 into single packets. While packaging medication DA1 is in progress or after packaging is complete, the packaging control unit 71 controls the transport/sorting unit 12 to remove all of the medications DA2 from the sorting cup 141 and use the packaging mechanism 6 to package medication DA2 into single packets. The packaging control unit 71 packages medications DA3 and DA4 in the same manner. When packaging of medications brought by the patient in storage area AR1 (patient PA) is complete, the packaging control unit 71 packages medications brought by the patient in storage area AR2 (patient PB) in the same manner.

As shown by 5001 and 5002 in FIG. 5, the packaging control unit 71 controls the packaging mechanism 6 to print information such as the patient name, drug name (type of drug), number of drugs, and sorting date on each packet. By printing the above information on each packet, the user can efficiently perform the above-mentioned tasks.

The print output control unit 69 may print the above information in a journal. In this case, too, the user can efficiently perform the above-mentioned tasks by visually checking the journal.

For example, depending on the type of surgery, there may be some medications that the patient cannot take or should refrain from taking before surgery (medications to be discontinued). By printing as described above, the user can easily inform the patient or his/her caregiver of the package containing the medications that the patient cannot take, or the package containing the medications that the patient can take. The patient or his/her caregiver can also easily determine whether or not the medications can be taken. This reduces the possibility that the patient will mistakenly take medications that cannot be taken. The user can also separate the package containing the medications that cannot be taken and hand over only the medications that can be taken to the patient or his/her caregiver. In this way, by packaging the medications by type for each patient, it is possible to support the user's outpatient work, such as returning the medications mentioned above. This support can also be used to support patients who are hospitalized before surgery, for example.

In addition, for a brought-in medication that is to be discontinued, the user may input via the operation unit 31 that the brought-in medication is to be discontinued. This allows the control unit 60a to identify the brought-in medication to be discontinued. Therefore, the control unit 60a can print information on the packet paper or journal indicating that the medication cannot be taken (e.g., information such as "Do not take this medication before hospitalization" or "No need to take this medication") in addition to the above information. In this case, the user, patient, or their caregiver can more easily determine whether or not the brought-in medication can be taken.

<Modification of packaging process for medications brought in by parents>
5003 in Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a modified example of packaging by the packaging mechanism 6. Whether in the returned medicine sorting mode or the medicine type sorting mode of the brought-medicine sorting mode, the packaging mechanism 6 packs the same type of medicine contained in the second container 14 into each package Pa by crimping the horizontal crimped portion Cr1 and the vertical crimped portion Cr2 of the packaging paper. The packaging mechanism 6 crimps the horizontal crimped portion Cr1 while transporting the packaging paper and crimps the vertical crimped portions Cr2 at any intervals by using, for example, a pair of roller mechanisms (not shown) extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the transport direction of the packaging paper and arranged to sandwich the packaging paper.

In this modified example, the packaging control unit 71 controls the packaging mechanism 6 to package the patient's own medications stored in the second storage unit 14 for each dosing time based on the prescription data. In this case, as shown in 5003 of FIG. 5, the packaging control unit 71 may divide each packet Pa into a first packaging area Pa1 and a second packaging area Pa2 by providing a vertical crimping portion Cr3 (partition) in each packet Pa. The first packaging area Pa1 is an area for storing patient's own medications that can be taken by the patient, and the second packaging area Pa2 is an area for storing patient's own medications that cannot be taken by the patient (e.g., patient's own medications to be discontinued). This allows the patient's own medications to be packaged separately according to whether they can be taken or not, even when the patient's own medications are packaged for each dosing time in each packet Pa.

The packaging control unit 71 may also print information on the packaging paper, such as "medicinal drugs can be taken in the first packaging area Pa1" and "medicinal drugs cannot be taken in the second packaging area Pa2." This reduces the possibility that a patient will mistakenly take a medicine that cannot be taken.

The packaging control unit 71 may package ingestible and non-ingestible brought-in medications together separately from ingestible brought-in medications. The packaging control unit 71 may also package ingestible and non-ingestible brought-in medications into separate packets for each taking time, rather than packaging ingestible and non-ingestible brought-in medications separately in one packet as described above. Packaging in this way can further reduce the possibility that a patient will mistakenly take an iningestible brought-in medication.

<Process for sorting and packaging medications brought in by patients>
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a flow of sorting process (a method for sorting brought-in medications) and packaging process by the medication sorting device 1.

The transport control unit 61 controls the transport and sorting unit 12 to take out the first brought-in medication of the patient PA stored in the storage unit 111 one by one and transport them to the imaging unit 13 (S1). The imaging control unit 63 controls the imaging unit 13 to capture an image of the first brought-in medication (S2; first imaging step). The determination unit 64 determines reference data using at least one characteristic of the first brought-in medication based on the imaging result (S3; determination step).

If there is already determined reference data, the collation unit 65 compares the reference data with the reference data determined in S3. The sorting control unit 62 determines the sorting position (sorting cup 141) of the first brought-in medicine in the storage area AR1 based on the collation result of the collation unit 65 and the above-mentioned storage position data. If there is no already determined reference data, the sorting control unit 62 determines an unused sorting cup 141 in the storage area AR1 as the storage position of the first brought-in medicine based on the above-mentioned storage position data. Thereafter, the sorting control unit 62 controls the transport/sorting unit 12 to store the first brought-in medicine in the determined storage position in the storage area AR1 (S4; first storage process).

The control unit 60a also executes processes S1 to S4 for the first medication brought by the patient PB stored in the storage unit 113, thereby storing the first medication in the determined storage position in the storage area AR2.

When all the first medications are stored in the second storage section 14, the transport control section 61 controls the transport and sorting unit 12 to take out the second medications of the patient PA stored in the storage section 112 one by one and transport them to the imaging unit 13 (S5). The imaging control section 63 controls the imaging unit 13 to capture an image of the second medications (S6; second imaging process). The collation section 65 compares the image capture result with the reference data (S7; collation process). The sorting control section 62 determines the sorting position of the second medication in the storage area AR1 based on the collation result, and controls the transport and sorting unit 12 to store the second medication in the sorting position (S8; second storage process).

The control unit 60a also executes the processes of S5 to S8 for the second medication brought by the patient PB stored in the storage unit 114, thereby storing the second medication in the determined storage position in the storage area AR2.

When all the second medications are stored in the second storage section 14, the packaging control section 71 controls the transport and sorting unit 12 to transport the medications stored in the storage area AR1 to the packaging mechanism 6. Before the medications are transported to the packaging mechanism 6, the user visually inspects them based on an image of the medication. The packaging control section 71 controls the packaging mechanism 6 to package the transported medications. The packaging control section 71 performs the same process for the medications stored in the storage area AR2. In this way, the packaging control section 71 packages the medications stored in the second storage section 14 on a patient-by-patient basis (S9).

The control unit 60a may store the patient PA's brought-in medications stored in storage units 111 and 112 in storage area AR1, and then store the patient PB's brought-in medications stored in storage units 113 and 114 in storage area AR2. The control unit 60a may store the patient PA's brought-in medications in storage area AR1, then perform a packaging process for the brought-in medications, and then store the patient PB's brought-in medications in storage area AR2.

[Additional Information]
In the above description, the first storage section 11 is capable of storing the first and second brought-to-patient medications by dividing them into groups for each patient, and the imaging unit 13 is described as capturing an image of the first or second brought-to-patient medication taken out of the first storage section 11 for each patient. Also, the transport/sorting unit 12 is described as storing the first and second brought-to-patient medications in the second storage section 14 for each patient.

However, the first and second medicines brought by a patient do not have to be stored in the first storage unit 11 on a patient-by-patient basis. In other words, the first storage unit 11 may store only the first and second medicines brought by a single patient. For example, in the case of a patient whose daily dosing time is set to six, the medicines brought by the patient on a specific dosing date may be stored in the small storage units 111a-111c and 113a-113c as the first medicines brought by the patient, and the remaining medicines may be stored in the storage units 112 and 114. The medicine sorting device 1 may then store the first and second medicines brought by a single patient and stored in the first storage unit 11 in the second storage unit 14 after the above-mentioned process. Even in this case, the medicine sorting device 1 can efficiently and quickly perform the sorting process of the medicines brought by the patient. Furthermore, the medicine sorting device 1 can support the user in efficiently performing the above-mentioned various tasks by packaging the medicines brought by the patient by type.

Furthermore, the drug sorting device 1 may be communicatively connected to an external device in which software for creating a brought-in medication identification report (brought-in medication identification software) is installed. In this case, the external device can create a brought-in medication identification report by receiving drug data for brought-in medications that have been sorted by the drug sorting device 1 and whose type has been identified by the user's visual inspection.

Furthermore, the control unit 60a may obtain the expiration date and lot information of the medication brought by the patient from the barcode printed on the packet paper at the time of dispensing (when the patient first receives the medication). In this case, the control unit 60a can reprint the expiration date and lot information of the medication brought by the patient on the packet paper or journal after sorting the medication brought by the patient.

[Sorting and packaging medications brought in by patients (drug type identification mode setting)]
When set to the drug type discrimination mode, the control unit 60a determines the type of the medication contained in each of the multiple packets containing medications brought by each patient for one day (e.g., the first packet of the multiple packets) for each packet, and repackages each packet. For example, if three dosing times, morning, afternoon, and evening, are set for one day, there will be three packets for the daily dose. In the following explanation, it is assumed that three dosing times, morning, afternoon, and evening, are set for one day, but this is not limited to the above.

When the drug type identification mode is set, the user takes out the patient's own medication from one packet (here, a packet containing the patient's own medication for the morning dose) of the patient's daily dose and stores it in an empty sorting cup 141 (one section in the second storage unit 14). As a prerequisite, the display control unit 67 displays a selection image on the touch panel 3 for selecting the first patient's daily medication time. The selection image displays selectable medication times, such as when waking up, in the morning, midday, evening (evening), before going to bed, or other medication times. Here, the user selects "morning" as the medication time. When the operation input unit 66 accepts a user input indicating the selected medication time via the touch panel 3, the display control unit 67 displays a first instruction image on the touch panel 3. The first instruction image is an image for prompting the user to store the patient's own medication in the empty sorting cup 141 and then place the sorting cup 141 on the first RFID reader/writer unit 5.

When the sorting cup 141 is placed on the first RFID reader/writer unit 5, the control unit 60a writes information indicating the selected dosing time (here, "morning") based on the user input to the RFID tag of the sorting cup 141.

The same process is performed on the remaining packets (here, packets containing the patient PP's brought-in medications for the day and evening) for the patient PP. As a result, the control unit 60a writes information indicating the selected dosing time "daytime" to the RFID tag of the sorting cup 141 that stores the patient PP's brought-in medications for the daytime. The control unit 60a also writes information indicating the selected dosing time "evening" to the RFID tag of the sorting cup 141 that stores the patient PP's brought-in medications for the evening.

In this embodiment, 40 sorting cups 141 can be placed in the second storage section 14 (see Figure 4). Therefore, in the case where there are three packets for one day's dose (three dosing times are set per day), 13 patients' own medications can be stored in separate sorting cups 141 for each dosing time per day. When the above process is performed for patient PQ, who follows patient PP, the control section 60a identifies the brought-in medication stored in the sorting cup 141 as the brought-in medication for the second patient. For the brought-in medications of subsequent patients, the control section 60a identifies them as the brought-in medications of the third, fourth, ... patients, in order.

The control unit 60a controls each component to take out the medications brought in one by one from each sorting cup 141, takes an image of the medication, and uses the image capture result and, for example, a medication database to determine the type of medication or narrow down the types. The process from capturing the image of the medication brought in to determining the type is as described above. The control unit 60a links the determination result (narrowing down result) and the captured image to the sorting cup identification information and stores them in the memory unit 80.

The packaging control unit 71 takes out the patient's own medications for each sorting cup 141 and packages the medications. The packaging control unit 71 prints the patient's order (information indicating which patient the patient is), the time of administration, and a barcode on each packet. For example, in the case of patient PP's morning dose of medication brought by the patient, the words "First patient" and "Morning" and a barcode are printed. The patient's name may be printed instead of the patient's order.

When the barcode is read by the barcode reader 7, the display control unit 67 displays a visual inspection image on the touch panel 3 for the user to perform a visual inspection. The barcode is linked to the discrimination result and the captured image. Therefore, the display control unit 67 can display the discrimination result and the captured image together in the visual inspection image. By visually checking the visual inspection image, the user identifies the type of medication brought in by the user contained in the packet from which the barcode was read. The visual inspection image may display candidates for the type of medication brought in by the user so that the user can select it, or may display an area in which the type (e.g., engraving) can be entered. When the medication is identified, the print output control unit 69 prints the identification result (e.g., medication name) in a journal. The barcode reading process, visual inspection, and journal printing process are performed for each packet.

In this way, in the drug identification mode, the drug sorting device 1 stores the medications brought by patients in the sorting cups 141 for each patient and for each time that the medication is taken in a day. The RFID of each sorting cup 141 links and manages information indicating the patient (or the order of the patient) and information indicating the time that the medication is taken in a day. Therefore, the drug sorting device 1 can repackage the medications brought by patients for each time that the medication is taken in a day.

[Modifications]
When the first storage unit 11 shown in 3001 in FIG. 3 is used, the storage units 111 to 114 may function as storage units for storing different patients' brought-in medicines. In this modification, the control unit 60a may not have the determination unit 64. In this modification, the collation unit 65 collates at least one characteristic of the brought-in medicine taken out from the first storage unit 11 with the medicine database. Based on the collation result of the collation unit 65, the sorting control unit 62 stores the brought-in medicines that are considered to be of the same type in the second storage unit 14. For example, the sorting control unit 62 stores the medicines determined to be of the same type in the same sorting cup 141, and stores the suspected medicines in a sorting cup 141 different from the sorting cups 141 stored by type.

For example, the medications brought by patient PA stored in storage unit 111 are stored in storage area AR1, and the medications brought by patient PB stored in storage unit 112 are stored in storage area AR2. Furthermore, the medications brought by patient PC stored in storage unit 113 are stored in storage area AR3, and the medications brought by patient PD stored in storage unit 114 are stored in storage area AR4.

After all of the patient's own medications contained in the first storage unit 11 are stored in the second storage unit 14, the user visually inspects them. This uniquely identifies the types of all of the patient's own medications stored in the second storage unit 14. The packaging control unit 71 then packages the patient's own medications by identified type for each patient.

[Another example of the first storage section]
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another example of the first storage section 11. The first storage section 11 shown in FIG. 7 may be used instead of the first storage section 11 shown in 3002 in FIG. 3. In the example of FIG. 7, the first storage section 11 has four storage sections 111 to 114 having 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 111d to 111f and one medium storage section 111g. Similarly, the storage sections 112 to 114 each have three small storage sections 112d to 112f and one medium storage section 112g, three small storage sections 113d to 113f and one medium storage section 113g, and three small storage sections 114d to 114f and one medium storage section 114g. The first storage section 11 shown in FIG. 7 is mainly used when sorting medicines brought with you.

In the storage section 111, each of the small storage sections 111d to 111f functions to store a first brought-in medication of a patient, similar to the small storage sections 111a to 111c shown in 3002 in FIG. 3. The medium storage section 111g functions to store a second brought-in medication of a patient, similar to the storage section 112 shown in 3002 in FIG. 3. Since the number of first brought-in medications stored in the small storage sections 111d to 111f is equal to or less than the number of second brought-in medications stored in the medium storage section 113g, the volume of the small storage sections 111d to 111f is smaller than the volume of the medium storage section 113g. In consideration of the number and volume of the small and medium storage sections, in the example of FIG. 7, the small storage sections 111d to 111f are arranged circumferentially on the outside of the storage section 111, and the medium storage section 113g is arranged in the remaining area (inside) of the storage section 111. Storage units 112 to 114 have the same function and configuration as storage unit 111.

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

For example, if the dosing time for a patient on a given dosing day is set to 4 to 6 times, two storage sections (e.g., storage sections 111 and 112) are used to store the patient's brought-in medication. For example, if the dosing time for a patient on a given dosing day is set to 6 times, small storage sections 111d-111f and 112d-112f are used to store the first brought-in medication. Meanwhile, medium storage sections 111g and/or 112g are used to store the second brought-in medication.

[Another example of packaging medications brought in by patients - packaging depending on whether or not visual inspection is performed]
In the above-described example of packaging processing, the medicine sorting device 1 performs packaging processing after visual inspection of each of the brought-person medicines that are regarded as the same type and that are stored in the second storage unit 14. Not limited to this, when the medicine sorting device 1 selects the medicine type sorting mode of the brought-person medicine sorting mode, it may be possible to select a packaging mode before visual inspection and a packaging mode after visual inspection.

<Pre-visual inspection packaging mode>
In the packaging mode before visual inspection, the control unit 60a does not execute the process of accepting a user input to start visual inspection after the sorting process of the brought-in medications, nor the process of displaying the image captured by the first camera 131 on the display unit 32. After the first brought-in medication and the second brought-in medication are sorted into the second storage unit 14, the control unit 60a automatically executes the packaging process without executing the above process.

In the case of the packaging mode before visual inspection, the display control unit 67 causes the display unit 32 to display images of all the medicines stored in the sorting cup 141 specified by the user, for example, after packaging processing. This allows the user to visually inspect the medicines stored in the sorting cup 141.

Figure 8 is a diagram for explaining an example of packaging processing in the pre-visual inspection packaging mode. In the example of Figure 8, the medications brought by a certain patient PR are sorted into five sorting cups 141a to 141e.

Sorting cup 141a stores drug DA1, and sorting cup 141b stores drug DA2. These sorting cups 141 store medications brought by the patient whose type has been identified by matching based on method 1 above. Specifically, these sorting cups 141 store a first medication brought by the patient whose type has been identified based on matching using a medication database, and then store a second medication brought by the patient that is deemed to be of the same type as the first medication.

On the other hand, medications brought by the patient that fall under any of the following (1) to (3) are stored (temporarily sorted) in a sorting cup 141 different from sorting cups 141a and 141b. In the example of Figure 8, the medications brought by the patient are stored in sorting cups 141c and 141d.

(1) Medications brought by the patient whose type could not be identified by matching based on the above method 1. Specifically, a first medication brought by the patient whose type could not be identified based on matching using a drug database, and a second medication brought by the patient whose type was deemed to be the same as the first medication based on the characteristics of the first medication.

(2) A second medication brought in by the patient that is deemed to be of a different type from the first medication whose type was identified based on the above comparison.

(3) Medications brought by the patient that are stored in the second storage section 14 after matching based on the above method 2. Specifically, a first medication brought by the patient, the type of which was not identified because a medication database was not used, and a second medication brought by the patient that was deemed to be of the same type as the first medication based on the characteristics of the first medication.

When there are multiple second drugs that are considered to be different from the first drugs, the collation unit 65, for example, compares the characteristics of the second drugs extracted from the images captured by the first camera 131 to determine whether to store them in the same sorting cup 141. In addition, in FIG. 8, the drug in the sorting cup 141c is identified as drug DA2 and the drug in the sorting cup 141d is identified as drug DA3 by visual inspection after the packaging process. Furthermore, when the collation unit 65 identifies the brought-in drug as a half tablet or other shape (deformed shape) based on the image captured by the first camera 131, the brought-in drug is stored in a sorting cup 141 other than the sorting cup 141 in which the brought-in drug is stored. The brought-in drug having other shapes refers to brought-in drugs that have a shape other than a circle or an ellipse (excluding a half tablet) when viewed in a plane, for example, a quarter tablet. In the example of FIG. 8, the brought-in drug identified as a half tablet is stored in the sorting cup 141e.

In the pre-visual inspection packaging mode, when the transport of the patient's own medication contained in the first storage unit 11 to the second storage unit 14 is completed, the packaging process by the packaging mechanism 6 automatically begins. In the example of FIG. 8, the packaging mechanism 6 packages the patient's own medication into medicine packets (packets) MP1 to MP5 for each sorting cup 141a to 141e, and prints the patient's name and drug name on each medicine packet MP1 to MP5. For medicine packets containing unspecified types of patient's own medication, such as medicine packets MP3 and MP4, a message that identifies the patient is printed instead of the drug name. In the example of FIG. 8, the medicine packets MP3 and MP4 are printed with "provisional sorting" as the drug name. The packaging mechanism 6 may also print other information such as the number of medications and the sorting date.

If the medications stored in the sorting cup 141 cannot be contained in one medicine packet (if the number exceeds the specified number that can be contained in one medicine packet), the packaging mechanism 6 divides the medications into multiple packets and packages them. In the example of Figure 8, for example, the sorting cup 141a contains 28 tablets, so if the specified number is 10 tablets, the packaging mechanism 6 will generate three medicine packets MP1 in succession. The number of medications printed on each medicine packet may be the total number of medications stored in each sorting cup 141, or the number of medications contained in each medicine packet.

The packaging mechanism 6 may also print barcodes Ba1 to Ba5 on each of the medicine packages MP1 to MP5. The barcodes Ba1 to Ba5 contain information for reading images for visually inspecting the medicine contained in each medicine package MP1 to MP5, and may contain, for example, sorting cup identification information indicating the sorting cup 141 from which the medicine was packaged. By having the barcode reader 7 read the barcodes Ba1 to Ba5, the display control unit 67 can display, on the display unit 32, an image of the medicine stored in the sorting cup 141, which is managed in association with the sorting cup identification information. This allows the user to visually inspect the medicine after the packaging process.

As described above, the print output control unit 69 may control the print output unit 4 to print the sorting results of each sorting cup 141a to 141e in journals Jo1 to Jo5. As shown in FIG. 8, the print output control unit 69 prints information such as the sorting date of the brought-in medication into the sorting cup 141, the name of the brought-in medication, the markings displayed on the brought-in medication, the total drug price of the brought-in medication stored in the sorting cup 141, and the number of brought-in medications, as well as a barcode. The name of the medication that is uniquely identified by visual inspection is printed as the medication name. The barcodes printed in the journals Jo1 to Jo5 also include information indicating the type of brought-in medication that is uniquely identified by visual inspection (e.g., GS1 code).

As described above, the packaging mechanism 6 packages patient-brought medications together on a patient-by-patient basis. The packaging mechanism 6 packages patient-brought medications of a specific type separately from provisionally sorted patient-brought medications and/or patient-brought medications of a deformed shape. In this case, for example, deformed patient-brought medications are not stored in the collection tray 16, reducing the possibility that a user will have to sort multiple deformed patient-brought medications by patient after they are stored in the collection tray 16. In the example of FIG. 8, the patient PR's medications are packaged as a series of medication packets.

Furthermore, the packaging mechanism 6 may preferentially package the patient's own medications of a specific type, and then package the temporarily sorted or deformed medications, thereby forming a series of medication packet groups on a patient-by-patient basis. In the example of FIG. 8, for the medications brought by patient PR, the medications DA1 and DA2 of specific types are preferentially packaged, and then the temporarily sorted and half-tablets of the patient's own medications are packaged, forming a series of medication packet groups.

The packaging mechanism 6 may package the type-specified brought-in medications on a patient-by-patient basis, and then package the temporarily sorted brought-in medications and/or deformed brought-in medications on a patient-by-patient basis. In this case, a series of first medicine packet groups containing the type-specified brought-in medications and a series of second medicine packet groups containing the temporarily sorted brought-in medications and/or deformed brought-in medications may be formed on a patient-by-patient basis. In other words, the first and second medicine packet groups may be formed for each patient.

In the example of Figure 8, the provisionally sorted medications brought in by the patient are identified as medications DA2 and DA3 through visual inspection, but the medications may be medications whose type cannot be identified (e.g., no markings).

The packaging control unit 71 may package non-reusable drugs separately from the specified type of brought-in drugs, in the same way as for the temporarily sorted brought-in drugs, even if the type of brought-in drug is identified. The packaging control unit 71 may package non-reusable drugs after packaging the specified type of brought-in drugs, in the same way as for the temporarily sorted brought-in drugs. Note that for non-reusable drugs, information indicating that the drug is non-reusable is linked to the drug data for the drug in, for example, a drug database. Therefore, the packaging control unit 71 can package non-reusable drugs separately from the specified type of brought-in drugs (e.g., after the specified type of brought-in drugs have been packaged) by referring to the drug database.

<Visual inspection and packaging mode>
In the packaging mode after visual inspection, the control unit 60a does not automatically execute packaging processing after the first and second brought-to-pill medications are sorted into the second storage unit 14, but waits for a user input to start visual inspection so that the user can perform visual inspection. The control unit 60a starts packaging processing of brought-to-pill medications after visual inspection of the brought-to-pill medications stored in each sorting cup 141 is completed and a user input to start packaging processing is received. In other words, the control unit 60a executes the processing until packaging processing starts as described with reference to FIG. 6.

Figure 9 is a diagram for explaining an example of packaging processing in the packaging mode after visual inspection. In Figure 9, as in Figure 8, the medications brought by a certain patient PR are sorted into five sorting cups 141a to 141e.

In the case of the visual inspection followed by packaging mode, after the sorting process of the brought-in medications stored in the first storage unit 11 into the second storage unit 14 is completed, the user visually inspects the brought-in medications stored in each sorting cup 141. As a result, the type of brought-in medication stored in each sorting cup 141 is uniquely identified. In the example of FIG. 9, the types of brought-in medications stored in sorting cups 141a and 141b are identified by the matching unit 65 as medications DA1 and DA2. On the other hand, the types of brought-in medications stored in sorting cups 141a and 141b are identified by visual inspection as medications DA2 and DA3.

After that, when the packaging process begins, the packaging control unit 71 places the brought-in medications stored in different sorting cups 141 but identified by visual inspection as being the same type in the same medicine packet. When the packaging control unit 71 identifies multiple sorting cups 141 in which the brought-in medications are stored, it controls the transport/sorting unit 12 to sequentially remove the brought-in medications from these sorting cups 141 and transport them to the medicine input port 17. This allows the packaging mechanism 6 to pack the brought-in medications in the same medicine packet. As with the pre-visual inspection packaging mode, if the brought-in medications cannot be packed in a single medicine packet, the packaging mechanism 6 may pack them into multiple packets.

In the example of FIG. 9, the patient's own medication stored in sorting cup 141b and the patient's own medication stored in sorting cup 141c are both medication DA2. Therefore, the packaging mechanism 6 packages these medications together into one or more medicine packets MP2. The patient's own medication stored in sorting cup 141d is identified as medication DA3 by visual inspection, but is a different type of medication (medicines DA1 and DA2) from the medications stored in sorting cups 141a and 141b. Therefore, the patient's own medication stored in sorting cup 141d is contained in medicine packet MP4, which is different from medicine packets MP1 and MP2.

In this way, when using the visual inspection and packaging mode, medications of the same type can be packaged together, saving packaging paper.

In the post-visual inspection packaging mode, as in the pre-visual inspection packaging mode, the packaging mechanism 6 may preferentially package the patient's own medicines with a specific type, and subsequently package the patient's own medicines with an unspecified type and/or deformed shape. However, the patient's own medicines with a specific type also include the patient's own medicines with a specific type that have been temporarily sorted and have been identified by visual inspection. The patient's own medicines with an unspecified type are the patient's own medicines with a specific type that have been temporarily sorted and have been identified by visual inspection. In the example of FIG. 9, the patient's own medicines, DA1, DA2, and DA3, with a specific type, are preferentially packaged, and the patient's own medicines in half-tablet form are packaged afterwards, forming a series of medicine packages. In addition, the packaging control unit 71 may package the patient's own medicines with a specific type but that cannot be reused separately from the patient's own medicines with a specific type (e.g., after the patient's own medicines with a specific type have been packaged).

The packaging mechanism 6 may also print barcodes Ba1, Ba2, Ba4, and Ba5 on each of the drug packages MP1, MP2, MP4, and MP5, as in the packaging mode before visual inspection. However, in the packaging mode after visual inspection, the type of medication brought by the patient is identified by visual inspection before the packaging process. Therefore, unlike the packaging mode before visual inspection, the barcodes Ba1, Ba2, Ba4, and Ba5 contain information indicating the type of medication brought by the patient (e.g., GS1 code).

In addition, in the above-mentioned packaging mode after visual inspection, visual inspection is performed before packaging. Therefore, in the above-mentioned packaging mode after visual inspection, the packaging mechanism 6 may package the patient's own medications for each time of taking them based on the prescription data, instead of packaging each patient's own medication stored in the sorting cup 141. In this case, the packaging mechanism 6 may package the patient's own medications that can be taken and the patient's own medications that cannot be taken together in one medicine packet, or may store the patient's own medications that can be taken in the first packaging area Pa1 and the patient's own medications that cannot be taken in the second packaging area Pa2, as shown in 5003 in FIG. 5.

[Example of processing not compatible with packaging]
After the brought-home medications stored in the first storage section 11 are sorted into the second storage section 14, it is not necessarily necessary to package the brought-home medications stored in the second storage section 14 by the packaging mechanism 6.

As described above, the first storage unit 11 may contain a mixture of brought-in medications that are to be discontinued and brought-in medications that may be taken continuously (normally taken brought-in medications). In this case, the packaging control unit 71 may leave the normally taken brought-in medications stored in the sorting cup 141 as is, without packaging them with the packaging mechanism 6. This allows the user to freely handle the normally taken brought-in medications, for example by removing the sorting cup 141 containing the normally taken brought-in medications from the medication sorting device 1 and using them as new medications to be prescribed to the patient who brought the medication. Information on which brought-in medications are to be discontinued (normally taken brought-in medications) may be specified by user input.

On the other hand, for medications brought by the patient that are to be discontinued, the packaging control unit 71 may package them using the packaging mechanism 6 for disposal or return to the patient.

In addition, a drug sorting device 1 that is not compatible with packaging processing for patient-brought medications may not be equipped with a packaging mechanism 6. In this case, for example, the sorting control unit 62 may transport all patient-brought medications to be discontinued to the collection tray 16 for disposal. Alternatively, the sorting control unit 62 may store patient-brought medications to be discontinued in the sorting cup 141, similar to normal patient-brought medications, for disposal or return to the patient.

[Display of identification results of medications brought in by patients]
10 is a diagram showing an example of a discrimination result image displaying a brought-medication discrimination result. When the operation input unit 66 receives a user input indicating that the visual inspection of all brought-medications of a certain patient PR has been completed via the operation unit 31, the display control unit 67 may display a discrimination result image as shown in FIG. 10 on the display unit 32.

In the example of FIG. 10, the classification result image includes the patient's name, the times during the day when the medication is taken, and the names and images of the medications taken at each time, and this information is displayed in a list. The classification result image also includes a print button. When the print button is pressed, the print output control unit 69 controls the print output unit 4 to print a list of the classification results (e.g., patient's name, directions for use (name and amount of medication taken at each time)) in a journal. When the print button is pressed, the medication sorting device 1 can be linked to the brought-in medication classification software. For example, when the control unit 60a receives the press of the print button, it can create a brought-in medication classification report by sending medication data of the brought-in medication whose type has been identified by visual inspection to an external device in which the brought-in medication classification software is installed.

[About drugs subject to classification]
In the above-mentioned brought-in-pill sorting mode, the medicines to be sorted are brought-in medicines. However, the medicine sorting device 1 may perform the sorting process adopted in the brought-in-pill sorting mode on the outpatient prescription medicines stored in the first storage unit 11, and may perform packaging process after the sorting process. The outpatient prescription medicine refers to the medicine (prescription medicine) prescribed for an outpatient.

For outpatient prescription drugs, by packaging them by type using the drug sorting device 1, the user can separate prescription drugs to be discontinued from prescription drugs that can be taken normally, and hand them over to the patient or caregiver. Prescription drugs to be discontinued refer to, for example, prescription drugs that cannot be taken before surgery or that need to be refrained from taking due to the nature of the surgery, or prescription drugs that can be discontinued when symptoms have subsided. Prescription drugs that can be taken normally refer to prescription drugs that can be taken continuously.

In this case, the patient or caregiver receives instructions from the user about how to take the prescription drugs, which are packaged by type, while receiving the prescription drugs, making it easier for the patient or caregiver to understand the instructions about how to take each prescription drug by linking them to each prescription drug.

In addition, since the patient or caregiver can manage prescription drugs packaged by type in a single medicine bag, it becomes easier to manage prescription drugs at home. This type of management makes it easier for both the user and the patient or caregiver to identify prescription drugs to be discontinued when the user provides medication instructions remotely or the patient or caregiver makes inquiries by phone. Furthermore, it reduces the possibility of taking the wrong drug or missing a dose. It also reduces the possibility of unnecessary medication, such as continuing to take a drug even when symptoms have subsided.

Here, it is also possible to put the prescription drug to be discontinued and the prescription drug to be normally taken in separate medicine bags and hand them over to the patient or caregiver. In this case, however, the patient or caregiver needs to prepare both medicine bags when taking both the prescription drug to be discontinued and the prescription drug to be normally taken, such as before discontinuing the medication or until the symptoms subside. This can make the patient or caregiver's management of the prescription drugs cumbersome, as it requires the patient or caregiver to take the prescription drugs from both medicine bags and put them back into the medicine bags. Furthermore, cumbersome management can lead to mistakes in taking the drugs or missed doses. If the prescription drug to be discontinued and the prescription drug to be normally taken can be managed in a single medicine bag as described above, it can reduce the possibility of cumbersome management of the prescription drugs and mistakes in taking the drugs or missed doses due to cumbersome management.

In addition, when handing the prescription drug to the patient or caregiver, the user can use a marker or the like to mark the medicine package containing the prescription drug to be discontinued with a letter, symbol, mark, or the like indicating that the package contains the prescription drug to be discontinued. In this case, the patient or caregiver can more easily determine whether or not the prescription drug can be taken.

Furthermore, as with brought-in medications that are to be discontinued, the user may input via the operation unit 31 that a prescription medication that is to be discontinued is to be discontinued. In this case, the control unit 60a can print information on the medication packet (packaging paper) or journal that the medication cannot be taken, allowing the user, patient, or caregiver to more easily determine whether or not the prescription medication can be taken.

The above-mentioned effects of prescription drugs packaged by type can also be applied to cases where the patient's own drugs are packaged by type, so that drugs to be discontinued and drugs that are normally taken are stored in separate drug packages. Drugs to be discontinued may include drugs that can be discontinued when symptoms subside.

[Availability of drug database]
The control unit 60a may temporarily not use the drug data of a drug that has not been packaged in the packaging machine for a predetermined period of time, even if the drug data of the drug is included in the drug database. The control unit 60a is communicably connected to the packaging machine and can receive information indicating the type of packaged drug and the date and time when the drug was packaged from the packaging machine. For example, when the control unit 60a determines that the drug has not been packaged for 30 days since the last time it was packaged, the control unit 60a does not use the drug data of the drug in the drug database because the drug will not be returned to the drug sorting device 1. This allows the control unit 60a to exclude drug data of drugs that are unlikely to be returned from the objects of comparison when performing the discrimination process, thereby improving processing efficiency.

On the other hand, when a drug whose drug data is set as unused is packaged in a packaging machine, the control unit 60a allows the use of the drug data because there is a possibility that the drug will be returned to the drug sorting device 1.

The control unit 60a may also disuse drug data for drugs that have not been sorted by the drug sorting device 1 for a specified period of time, even if the drug data for the drug is included in the drug database. The drug database contains drug data for drugs (adopted drugs) used in medical institutions such as pharmacies or hospitals, but some drugs have never actually been returned. Therefore, by disuse of the drug data for the drug as described above, the control unit 60a can exclude drug data for drugs that are unlikely to be returned from the targets for matching when performing the discrimination process, thereby improving processing efficiency.

When the operation input unit 66 receives a user input via the operation unit 31 to permit the use of unused drug data, the control unit 60a may permit the use of the drug data.

Depending on the type of drug, the drug data may always be used in the discrimination process regardless of the frequency of packaging or sorting. For example, the drug data for the drug may be accompanied by information indicating that the drug will always be used in the discrimination process (information indicating "absolute use"). The control unit 60a will not discard the drug data for the drug to which this information is accompanied, even if the drug has not been packaged or sorted for a specified period of time.

Some of the drugs used are used at different frequencies depending on the season, for example. Such drugs are not packaged at all during certain times (e.g. summer), but are packaged more frequently during other times (e.g. winter). If there is no record of sorting the drug during the period when it is packaged more frequently, and the drug data remains unused, it will not be possible to perform appropriate discrimination processing. To avoid this situation, information indicating "always used" is added to the drug data for the drug.

[Method of filling medicine into a packaging machine]
When filling (returning) the medicine stored in the sorting cup 141 into a cassette containing the medicine provided in the packaging machine, the packaging machine may determine whether or not to fill the cassette with the medicine stored in the sorting cup 141 as follows.

For example, the user removes the cassette from the packaging machine and has an RFID reader installed in the packaging machine read the data about the drug stored in the RFID tag of the cassette. The data about the drug includes, for example, information indicating the type of drug (e.g., GS1 code). The user also carries the sorting cup 141 to the packaging machine and has the RFID reader installed in the packaging machine read the data about the drug stored in the RFID tag of the sorting cup 141. The order in which the above two pieces of drug-related data are read does not matter.

The packaging machine compares the data on the two drugs and, if it determines that the drug contained in the cassette and the drug stored in the sorting cup 141 are the same type, it allows the drug stored in the sorting cup 141 to be packed into the cassette.

[Heater Roller Preheat Control]
The packaging mechanism 6 includes a pair of roller mechanisms (not shown) as described above. By pressing the packaging paper with the pair of roller mechanisms, the medicine can be packaged one by one, for example, for each type or each administration time. The roller mechanism is, for example, a heater roller that presses the packaging paper by thermal pressing. In this case, in order to enable the pressing function of the heater roller to be exerted, it is necessary to preheat the heater roller for a predetermined time (e.g., about 10 minutes) before packaging.

When starting the packaging process after all the drugs contained in the first container 11 have been contained in the second container 14 based on the results of drug type discrimination, the packaging control unit 71 starts heating the heater roller, for example, when starting the packaging process. After the packaging process is completed, the packaging control unit 71 stops heating the heater roller. This reduces power consumption and reduces the possibility of excess heat being released outside the device.

However, in the case of control to heat the heater roller only during the packaging process, it is necessary to wait until the temperature of the heater roller rises to a level where it can perform the crimping function before starting the packaging process. Therefore, in order to reduce the waiting time until the packaging process starts, the control unit 60a may execute, for example, the following process.

When the transport/sorting unit 12 removes drugs from the first storage unit 11, the imaging control unit 63 controls the second camera 121 to capture an image of the inside of the first storage unit 11 (e.g., the inside of one storage unit). The imaging control unit 63 analyzes the captured image to recognize the distribution of drugs inside the first storage unit 11 and determines which of the following categories (1) to (4) the distribution falls into. When the control unit 60a starts the process of sorting all drugs stored in the first storage unit 11, the imaging control unit 63 executes the above process each time a drug is removed from the first storage unit 11.

(1) "No drug": There is absolutely no drug inside the first storage section 11.

(2) "Medicine present (small amount)": No medicine is present near the center inside the first storage section 11.

(3) "Drug present (large amount)": The drug is present near the center above.

(4) "Drug present (final)" - Only one drug is left (the last tablet is left).

The transport control unit 61 identifies the drug to be transported based on the image captured by the second camera 121. At this time, the transport control unit 61 identifies the drug to be transported from the drug near the center. In this case, as the drug is removed from the first container 11, the drug near the center disappears, and the state transitions to one in which the drug is only present on the inner wall side of the first container 11 (transition from state (3) to state (2) above).

When the imaging control unit 63 determines that the above state (2) is in place, the packaging control unit 71 starts heating the heater roller.

The inventors have determined, based on experiments, that the number of remaining medicines contained in the first container 11 when the imaging control unit 63 determines that the above state (2) is in place is approximately 30. Since it takes approximately 30 seconds for one medicine to be taken out of the first container 11 and for the medicine to be contained in the second container 14 based on the type of medicine determined, it takes approximately 15 minutes for all the medicines to be contained in the second container 14 from the above state (2). On the other hand, it takes approximately 10 minutes for the temperature of the heater roller to rise to a level at which it can perform its crimping function. Therefore, the inventors have discovered that by starting to heat the heater roller in the above state (2), it is possible to raise the temperature of the heater roller to a level at which it can perform its crimping function before the start of the packaging process.

Therefore, when the packaging control unit 71 reaches the state (2) above, that is, when the number of medicines contained in the first container 11 falls below a predetermined number, the heater roller starts to heat, thereby reducing the possibility of the above-mentioned waiting time occurring. This reduces the time from the start of medicine sorting to the completion of packaging. Note that the same process as above may also be performed when all medicines contained in the waiting tray 15 are contained in the second container 14 and then packaged.

[Display process indicating that the printed empty package is an unnecessary drug package]
If ink runs out during packaging, the display control unit 67 displays a warning of ink running out, and the packaging control unit 71 temporarily stops the packaging process. The packaging control unit 71 performs printing on the medicine packets before the medicine packets are filled with medicine. Therefore, when the packaging process is stopped, the packaging control unit 71 has printed information about the medicine to be packaged (e.g., medicine name, number of tablets, barcode) on at least one medicine packet.

When the ink shortage condition is resolved, the display control unit 67 stops the warning display, and the packaging control unit 71 resumes the packaging process. At this time, the packaging control unit 71 ejects the medicine packets that had been printed up until the packaging process was stopped as unnecessary medicine packets, and reprints information about the medicine that was to be packaged on new medicine packets.

In this way, even empty packets are discharged with the information printed on them, so a user who sees an empty packet may conclude that the medicine was not contained in the packet due to a malfunction of the packaging mechanism 6. In other words, even if the empty packet was discharged due to ink running out and not due to a malfunction of the packaging mechanism 6, the user may conclude that the empty packet was caused by a malfunction of the packaging mechanism 6.

When the barcode reader 7 reads the barcode, for example, the display control unit 67 displays an image of the drug corresponding to the drug data linked to the barcode (e.g., an inspection image for visually inspecting the sorted drugs) on the display unit 32. Therefore, the user may become anxious because the drug displayed on the display unit 32 is not contained in a drug packet, thinking that the drug has been lost.

Therefore, when the barcode printed on the empty package is read by the barcode reader 7, the display control unit 67 may display a message indicating that the empty package is a medicine package generated under normal operating conditions of the medicine sorting device 1 and is an unnecessary medicine package.

When multiple medicine packets each contain the same type of medicine, the packaging control unit 71 prints the same barcode on each medicine packet. However, if the packaging process is temporarily stopped, when the packaging process is resumed, the packaging control unit 71 prints a barcode on a new medicine packet that will package the medicine, which is different from the barcode (barcode number) printed on the medicine packet that was to package the medicine. In addition, the packaging control unit 71 invalidates the barcode printed on the medicine packet that was to package the medicine. Therefore, when the barcode is read, the display control unit 67 recognizes that it is invalid and can display the above message.

Therefore, when the user has the barcode of the blank package read by the barcode reader 7, the user can confirm the above message and recognize that the blank package is an unnecessary drug package in the first place. Therefore, even if a printed blank package is discharged, the user can recognize that the blank package was not generated due to a malfunction of the packaging mechanism 6. This reduces the possibility that the user will have to check the cause of the blank package or search for the drug. It also reduces the possibility that the user will be worried that they have lost the drug.

[Embodiment 2]
[Configuration of the drug dispensing system]
Fig. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the medicine dispensing system 100. The medicine dispensing system 100 is a system that dispenses various medicines based on, for example, prescription data, and is a system installed in a medical institution such as a pharmacy or a hospital. As shown in Fig. 11, the medicine dispensing system 100 includes, for example, a medicine shelf 110, a medicine dispensing device 120, a dispensing management device 130, and a medicine sorting device 1A. The dispensing management device 130 is communicably connected to the medicine dispensing device 120 and the medicine sorting device 1A.

The medicine shelf 110 is a shelf capable of storing various medicines (i.e., various medicines to be handled by the medicine dispensing system 100) that can be used in the pharmacy or hospital where the medicine dispensing system 100 is installed. In other words, the medicine shelf 110 is a shelf capable of storing various medicines that can be sorted by the medicine sorting device 1A.

The drug dispensing device 120 is a device that dispenses drugs based on, for example, prescription data. The drug dispensing system 100 may include only one drug dispensing device 120 or multiple drug dispensing devices 120. Examples of the drug dispensing device 120 include a tablet packaging machine that packages tablets, a powder packaging machine that packages powdered medicine, and a PTP (Press Through Package) dispensing device that dispenses PTP (Press Through Package) sheets that contain tablets. In this embodiment, the drug dispensing device 120 is described as a tablet packaging machine (also simply referred to as a packaging machine). In the case of a tablet packaging machine, the drug dispensing device 120 includes multiple cassettes (not shown) that contain drugs by type. The drug dispensing device 120 can contain drugs that can be sorted by the drug sorting device 1A in each of the multiple cassettes.

The dispensing management device 130 accepts input of information about drugs prescribed by a doctor to a patient (e.g., type of drug (e.g., name of drug), dosage (number of drugs), and method of administration). The dispensing management device 130 issues prescription data including the input information and transmits it to the drug dispensing device 120. In this way, the dispensing management device 130 manages dispensing from the drug dispensing device 120. When the drug dispensing system 100 includes multiple drug dispensing devices 120, the dispensing management device 130 determines which drug dispensing device 120 will dispense the drug from, and issues prescription data for each drug dispensing device 120 including information about the drug to be dispensed by each drug dispensing device 120.

Like the drug sorting device 1, the drug sorting device 1A is a device that sorts each of the multiple types of drugs stored in the first storage unit 11 (see Figures 1 and 2) by type based on images of each of the multiple types of drugs. For example, the drug sorting device 1A may accept drugs dispensed (packaged) by the drug dispensing device 120 as returned drugs and sort them by type. Similarly to the drug sorting device 1A, the drug sorting device 1A also includes a packaging mechanism 6 (see Figures 1 and 2) that packages the sorted drugs.

[Lot number and expiration date management]
<Management by payment management device>
The dispensing management device 130 also manages the lot number and expiration date of the medicine that can be sorted by the medicine sorting device 1A. The lot number is a number that can identify the manufacturing location and manufacturing date of the medicine. The dispensing management device 130 manages information indicating the lot number and expiration date in association with information indicating the type of medicine that can be sorted by the medicine sorting device 1A (medicine identification information) in, for example, a storage unit (not shown) of the dispensing management device 130. The dispensing management device 130 may manage this information by receiving it from the medicine dispensing device 120, or may manage this information by inputting it into the dispensing management device 130 by the user. The dispensing management device 130 may also manage information indicating the lot number and expiration date in association with information indicating the type of medicine contained in the medicine dispensing device 120.

In addition, when the medicine dispensing device 120 is filled with medicines that can be sorted by the medicine sorting device 1A, the dispensing management device 130 updates the lot numbers and expiration dates of the filled medicines. This allows the dispensing management device 130 to update all lot numbers and expiration dates of medicines filled into the medicine dispensing device 120 every time medicines are filled into the medicine dispensing device 120.

When new medicine is to be filled into the medicine dispensing device 120, the dispensing management device 130 registers information indicating the type of medicine and information indicating the lot number and expiration date, which are received from the medicine dispensing device 120 or input by the user. The dispensing management device 130 also transmits this information to the medicine sorting device 1A. In this case, the medicine sorting device 1A registers this information in the memory unit 80. These registration processes may also be referred to as updating the lot number and expiration date.

The dispensing management device 130 transmits information indicating the lot number and expiration date to the drug sorting device 1A. In this embodiment, the dispensing management device 130 transmits information indicating the lot number and expiration date to the drug sorting device 1A at a predetermined period. The above-mentioned predetermined period can be set arbitrarily by the user, and may be set or changed as appropriate depending on the drug dispensing status in the drug dispensing system 100, for example. In this embodiment, the dispensing management device 130 transmits information indicating the lot number and expiration date to the drug sorting device 1A at a certain fixed time (e.g., when the information managed by the dispensing management device 130 is updated at a regular time every day or when the date changes). In this embodiment, the dispensing management device 130 transmits information indicating the lot number and expiration date of the drug that has been updated among the multiple lot numbers and expiration dates that it manages to the drug sorting device 1A together with the prescription data issued to the drug dispensing device 120.

The dispensing management device 130 does not necessarily need to transmit information indicating the lot number and expiration date to the drug sorting device 1A at predetermined intervals (at a certain fixed time). The dispensing management device 130 may transmit information indicating the lot number and expiration date to the drug sorting device 1A, for example, when the lot number and expiration date are updated. In other words, the dispensing management device 130 may transmit information indicating the lot number and expiration date to the drug sorting device 1A at a regular time or at any time. Furthermore, when the dispensing management device 130 transmits information indicating the lot number and expiration date, it does not necessarily need to also transmit the prescription data issued to the drug dispensing device 120.

When a drug that can be sorted by the drug sorting device 1A is loaded into the drug dispensing device 120, the dispensing management device 130 updates the lot number and expiration date of the loaded drug, for example, by any of the methods described below.

(Method α) When a medical professional such as a pharmacist takes out a drug from the drug shelf 110 and loads the drug into the drug dispensing device 120, for example, the following tasks and processes are performed.

That is, a medical professional such as a pharmacist uses a barcode reader (not shown) provided in the medicine dispensing device 120 to read the barcode information (e.g., GS1 code) attached to the medicine taken out from the medicine shelf 110. The medical professional also takes out a cassette containing the medicine from the medicine dispensing device 120. The medical professional then has an RFID reader (not shown) provided in the medicine dispensing device 120 read data about the medicine (e.g., information indicating the type of medicine contained in the cassette) stored in the RFID tag (not shown) of the cassette.

Then, the medicine dispensing device 120 compares the barcode information attached to the medicine taken from the medicine shelf 110 with the data (information) about the medicine attached to the cassette taken from the medicine dispensing device 120. If, through this comparison, the medicine dispensing device 120 finds that the type of medicine taken from the medicine shelf 110 matches the type of medicine that the cassette is intended to store, the medicine dispensing device 120 allows the medical staff to store the medicine taken from the medicine shelf 110 in the cassette. This allows the medical staff to fill the cassette with the medicine taken from the medicine shelf 110.

The drug dispensing device 120 also acquires information indicating the lot number and expiration date of the drug to be filled from the barcode information. The drug dispensing device 120 may accept the information indicating the lot number and expiration date by input via a touch panel (not shown) provided on the drug dispensing device 120. The drug dispensing device 120 transmits the acquired information indicating the lot number and expiration date to the dispensing management device 130. The dispensing management device 130 determines whether the lot number and expiration date indicated by the received information match the lot number and expiration date corresponding to the drug to be filled that are managed by the dispensing management device 130. If the dispensing management device 130 determines that the two lot numbers and expiration dates do not match, it updates the lot number and expiration date of the drug to be filled to the lot number and expiration date indicated by the received information.

(Method β) When a medical professional such as a pharmacist takes out a drug from the drug shelf 110 and loads the drug into the drug dispensing device 120, for example, the following tasks and processes are performed.

That is, a medical professional such as a pharmacist inputs information indicating the lot number and expiration date of the drug to be filled into the drug dispensing device 120 via an operation unit (e.g., a keyboard) provided on the dispensing management device 130. The dispensing management device 130 determines whether the lot number and expiration date indicated by the input information match the lot number and expiration date managed by the dispensing management device 130 that correspond to the drug to be filled. If the dispensing management device 130 determines that the above two lot numbers and expiration dates do not match, it updates the lot number and expiration date of the drug to be filled to the lot number and expiration date indicated by the input information.

The medicine dispensing device 120 also determines whether the medicine taken out from the medicine shelf 110 can be stored in the cassette by the above comparison, as shown in the above method α. If the storage of the medicine in the cassette is permitted, the medical staff can store the medicine in the cassette. This operation may be performed before or after inputting information indicating the lot number and expiration date into the medicine dispensing device 120.

<Management using drug dispensing device>
Fig. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a control unit 60Aa of the medicine sorting device 1A of the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, as shown in Fig. 12, the medicine sorting device 1A includes a computer 60A including a control unit 60Aa. In this respect, the medicine sorting device 1A differs from the medicine sorting device 1 of the first embodiment. The control unit 60Aa includes a lot management unit 72 in addition to the functions included in the control unit 60a of the first embodiment (see Fig. 1). However, in the present embodiment, the control unit 60Aa does not necessarily have to include the determination unit 64.

The lot management unit 72 manages the lot number and expiration date of the medicine in association with the type of medicine that may be sorted by the medicine sorting device 1A. The lot management unit 72 stores information indicating the lot number and expiration date obtained from the dispensing management device 130 in association with information indicating the type of medicine. For example, the lot management unit 72 may associate the information indicating the obtained lot number and expiration date with medicine identification information managed in a medicine database stored in the memory unit 80. For example, the medicine database manages images of medicines (master images) captured in advance as medicine data related to multiple types of medicines that may be sorted by the medicine sorting device 1A in association with the medicine identification information of each of the multiple types of medicines.

The lot management unit 72 also updates the lot number and expiration date managed in the memory unit 80 by receiving the lot number and expiration date from the dispensing management device 130. In this embodiment, the lot management unit 72 updates the lot number and expiration date at each predetermined period when it receives information indicating the lot number and expiration date from the dispensing management device 130.

As described above, the dispensing management device 130 updates the lot number and expiration date managed by the dispensing management device 130 when the drug is filled into the drug dispensing device 120. Therefore, for the lot number and expiration date updated by the dispensing management device 130, the lot management unit 72 can update the lot number and expiration date managed in the memory unit 80 when received from the dispensing management device 130.

The display control unit 67 may display the lot number and expiration date managed by the lot management unit 72 on the touch panel 3 (see Figures 1 and 2). For example, assume that the operation input unit 66 receives a user input via the touch panel 3 to display the lot number and expiration date of one of the multiple types of drugs managed in the drug database. In this case, the display control unit 67 identifies the lot number and expiration date of the drug specified by the user input from the information indicating the lot numbers and expiration dates of the multiple types of drugs managed by the lot management unit 72, and displays the lot number and expiration date on the touch panel 3. This allows the user to check the lot number and expiration date of the desired drug.

The user can also change the lot number and expiration date displayed on the touch panel 3. The lot management unit 72 changes the lot number and expiration date managed by the lot management unit 72 to the lot number and expiration date accepted by user input. In other words, the lot management unit 72 can update the lot number and expiration date by user input even if the lot number and expiration date have not been received from the dispensing management device 130.

The lot management unit 72 also associates the number of drugs sorted by the transport/sorting unit 12 with the lot number and expiration date managed by the lot management unit 72 for each type of drug sorted by the transport/sorting unit 12 under the control of the sorting control unit 62. As described in the first embodiment, the sorting control unit 62 counts the number of drugs stored in the sorting cup 141 (see FIG. 2) and stores the number in the memory unit 80 in association with the sorting position. The sorting position is also associated with the discrimination result of the type of drug. That is, the sorting position is associated with the drug identification information of the drug stored in the sorting cup 141 at the sorting position and stored in the memory unit 80. Therefore, the lot management unit 72 can manage the drug identification information, information indicating the lot number and expiration date, information indicating the sorting position, and information indicating the number of drugs stored in the sorting cup 141 at the sorting position in association with each other for the sorted drugs.

[Packaging by medicine sorting device]
The packaging mechanism 6 also functions as a printing unit that prints the lot number and expiration date managed by the lot management unit 72 and corresponding to the medicine to be packaged by the packaging mechanism 6, on packaging paper when the packaging mechanism 6 packages the medicine sorted by the conveying/sorting unit 12. The packaging mechanism 6 prints the lot number and expiration date managed in association with information indicating the sorting position of the medicine to be packaged, on the packaging paper on which the medicine to be packaged is packaged. Every time the packaging mechanism 6 packages a medicine, it prints the lot number and expiration date of the medicine on the packaging paper on which the medicine is packaged. The printing on the packaging paper by the packaging mechanism 6 is controlled by the packaging control unit 71.

In this way, the medicine sorting device 1A can print the lot number and expiration date of the medicine on each packet of sorted medicine (medicine packet) by managing information indicating the lot number and expiration date of the medicine that can be sorted by the medicine sorting device 1A. Therefore, the user can confirm the lot number and expiration date of the medicine contained in the medicine packet by visually checking the lot number and expiration date printed on the medicine packet. For example, the user can confirm the lot number and expiration date of the medicine at the destination where the medicine is to be returned (e.g., medicine shelf 110 or medicine dispensing device 120). The lot number and expiration date of the medicine can also be managed at the destination where the medicine is to be returned.

This allows the user to check the lot number and expiration date of the medicine removed from the medicine sorting device 1A, which increases the likelihood of improving the traceability of the medicines sorted by the medicine sorting device 1A.

Note that although printing on the packaging paper is performed by the packaging mechanism 6, this is not limiting, and printing on the packaging paper may be performed by a printing unit provided separately from the packaging mechanism 6.

[Example of use]
Reference numeral 13001 in Figure 13 is a diagram showing an example of the sorting result (counting result) by the medicine sorting device 1A, and reference numeral 13002 is a diagram showing an example of drug packages MP11 to MP15 containing drugs sorted by the medicine sorting device 1A.

For example, suppose that on April 1, 2021, medications MA to MZ with lot number "1234" and expiration date "December 2022" are filled into the medication dispensing device 120. In this case, for example, using method α or β, the dispensing management device 130 updates the information indicating the lot numbers and expiration dates of medications MA to MZ and transmits the information to the medication sorting device 1A. When the information is received, the lot management unit 72 updates the information indicating the lot numbers and expiration dates of medications MA to MZ stored in the memory unit 80.

Let us assume that the drug sorting device 1A sorted drugs MA to ME on the same day after the update by the lot management unit 72. In the memory unit 80, the lot management unit 72 manages information indicating the number of drugs stored in the sorting cup 141 for each drug MA to ME, as well as information indicating the lot number and expiration date. Therefore, as shown by reference numeral 13001 in FIG. 13, the display control unit 67 can display on the touch panel 3, as the sorting result, the number of drugs stored in the sorting cup 141, the lot number "1234", and the expiration date "2022/12" for each drug MA to ME.

The packaging control unit 71 also controls the packaging mechanism 6 to package each of the drugs MA to ME contained in the sorting cup 141, and discharges the drug packages MP11 to MP15, as shown by reference numeral 13002 in FIG. 13. Before packaging the drugs MA to ME, the packaging control unit 71 refers to the memory unit 80 to obtain information indicating the lot numbers and expiration dates of the drugs MA to ME. Therefore, as shown by reference numeral 13002 in FIG. 13, the packaging control unit 71 controls the packaging mechanism 6 to print the lot number "1234" and expiration date "2022/12" of the drugs MA to ME on each of the drug packages MP11 to MP15.

Reference numeral 14001 in FIG. 14 shows another example of the results (counting results) of sorting by the medicine sorting device 1A, and reference numeral 14002 shows an example of drug packages MP21 to MP23 in which drugs sorted by the medicine sorting device 1A are packaged.

For example, on April 2, 2021, the medicine dispensing device 120 is filled with medicines MF to MJ with lot number "5678" and expiration date "April 2023". The filling of the medicines MF to MJ is performed, for example, when all of the medicines MF to MJ with lot number "1234" and expiration date "December 2022" filled into the medicine dispensing device 120 on April 1, 2021 are dispensed from the medicine dispensing device 120. When this filling is performed, the dispensing management device 130 updates information indicating the lot numbers and expiration dates of the medicines MF to MJ, for example, by method α or β, and transmits the information to the medicine sorting device 1A. When the information is received, the lot management unit 72 updates the information indicating the lot numbers and expiration dates of the medicines MF to MJ stored in the memory unit 80.

In other words, after the update, the dispensing management device 130 and the medicine sorting device 1A manage the medicines MA-ME and MK-MZ with the lot number "1234" and the expiration date "2022/12". On the other hand, the dispensing management device 130 and the medicine sorting device 1A manage the medicines MF-MJ with the lot number "5678" and the expiration date "2023/4".

After the update by the lot management unit 72 and on the same day, the drug sorting device 1A sorts the drugs MA, MC, and MF. In this case, as shown by reference numeral 14001 in FIG. 14, the display control unit 67 causes the touch panel 3 to display, as the sorting results for the drugs MA and MC, the number of drugs stored in the sorting cup 141, the lot number "1234", and the expiration date "2022/12". Similarly, the display control unit 67 causes the touch panel 3 to display, as the sorting results for the drug MF, the number of drugs contained in the sorting cup 141, the lot number "5678", and the expiration date "2023/4".

The packaging control unit 71 also controls the packaging mechanism 6 to package the drugs MA, MC, and MF stored in the sorting cup 141, and discharges the drug packages MP21 to MP23, as shown by reference numeral 14002 in FIG. 14. Also, as shown by reference numeral 14002 in FIG. 14, the packaging control unit 71 controls the packaging mechanism 6 to print the lot number "1234" of the drugs MA and MC and the expiration date "2022/12" on each of the drug packages MP21 and MP22 before discharging them. Also, the packaging control unit 71 controls the packaging mechanism 6 to print the lot number "5678" of the drug MF and the expiration date "2023/4" on the drug package MP23 before discharging it.

In this way, the medicine sorting device 1A can manage information indicating the updated lot number and expiration date, and print the updated lot number and expiration date on the packaging paper.

[About lot numbers and expiration dates]
In the present embodiment, the information indicating the lot number and the expiration date is transmitted and received, updated, and printed on the packaging paper in the medicine dispensing system 100. However, either the information indicating the lot number or the information indicating the expiration date may be transmitted and received, updated, and printed on the packaging paper. In this case, the medicine dispensing device 120, the dispensing management device 130, and the medicine sorting device 1A manage either the information indicating the lot number or the information indicating the expiration date, and print it on the packaging paper. In the medicine dispensing device 120, the dispensing management device 130, and the medicine sorting device 1A, the information indicating the lot number and the expiration date may be managed by calculating the expiration date from the lot number or calculating the lot number from the expiration date.

[Software implementation example]
The control blocks of the medicine sorting devices 1 and 1A (particularly the control unit 60a and each part of the control unit 60Aa) may be realized by a logic circuit (hardware) formed in an integrated circuit (IC chip) or the like, or may be realized by software.

In the latter case, the drug sorting device 1 includes a computer that executes the instructions of a program, which is software that realizes each function. The computer includes, for example, one or more processors, and a computer-readable recording medium that stores the program. The object of the present invention is achieved by the processor reading the program from the recording medium and executing it in the computer. The processor can be, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The recording medium can be a "non-transient tangible medium", such as a ROM (Read Only Memory), tape, disk, card, semiconductor memory, programmable logic circuit, etc. The device may also include a RAM (Random Access Memory) that expands the program. The program may be supplied to the computer via any transmission medium (such as a communication network or broadcast waves) that can transmit the program. One aspect of the present invention can also be realized in the form of a data signal embedded in a carrier wave, in which the program is embodied by electronic transmission.

[Additional Information]
The medicine discrimination system of the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 is not necessarily suitable for an operation in which medicines brought by multiple patients are sorted by type.

One aspect of the present invention aims to realize a patient-brought medication sorting device that can automatically and efficiently sort patient-brought medications by patient.

In order to solve the above problem, a patient-brought medication sorting device according to one aspect of the present invention separates and stores at least one first patient-brought medication, which is a medication prescribed for one patient and is subsequently brought to a medical institution, and the remaining second patient-brought medications, and includes a first storage unit that separates and stores the first patient-brought medication and the second patient-brought medication by patient, a second storage unit that stores the first patient-brought medication and the second patient-brought medication by patient and for each patient-brought medication that is considered to be of the same type, and a second storage unit that stores the first patient-brought medication and the second patient-brought medication taken out of the first storage unit. The device includes an imaging unit that images the first or second medication brought by the patient, a determination unit that determines reference data indicating at least one characteristic of the first medication extracted from the image of the first medication, or reference data indicating information based on the characteristic, a first comparison unit that compares at least one characteristic of the second medication extracted from the image of the second medication with the reference data, and a sorting unit that stores the first medication in the second storage unit and stores the second medication, which is considered to be of the same type as the first medication, in the same compartment as the compartment in which the first medication is stored based on the comparison result of the first comparison unit.

Furthermore, in order to solve the above problem, a patient-brought-in medication sorting method according to one aspect of the present invention is a method for sorting patient-brought-in medications, which is a method executed by a patient-brought-in medication sorting device that includes a first storage unit that separates and stores at least one first patient-brought-in medication, which is a medication prescribed for one patient and is subsequently brought to a medical institution, and the remaining second patient-brought-in medications, and a second storage unit that stores the first patient-brought-in medication and the second patient-brought-in medication of the patient for each patient-brought-in medication that is considered to be of the same type, and includes a first imaging step of imaging the first patient-brought-in medication taken out of the first storage unit, and a second imaging step of extracting the first patient-brought-in medication from the image of the first patient-brought-in medication. The method includes a determination step of determining reference data indicating at least one characteristic of the first brought-to-person drug taken out or reference data indicating information based on the characteristic; a first storage step of storing the first brought-to-person drug in the second storage unit after determining the reference data; a second imaging step of imaging the second brought-to-person drug taken out of the first storage unit; a collation step of comparing at least one characteristic of the second brought-to-person drug extracted from an image of the second brought-to-person drug taken out of the second storage unit with the reference data; and a second storage step of storing the second brought-to-person drug, which is considered to be of the same type as the first brought-to-person drug, in the same compartment as the compartment in which the first brought-to-person drug is stored based on the result of the collation step.

The patient-brought-in medication sorting device according to one aspect of the present invention comprises a first storage unit having a compartment in which at least one first patient-brought-in medication, which is a medication prescribed for one patient and is subsequently brought to a medical institution, is stored by a person, and a compartment in which the remaining second patient-brought-in medications prescribed for a patient to be taken at a time other than the predetermined time are stored by a person; a second storage unit for storing the first patient-brought-in medication and the second patient-brought-in medication of the patient that are considered to be of the same type; and a storage unit for storing the first patient-brought-in medication and the second patient-brought-in medication of the patient that are removed from the first storage unit. the first brought-by-drug image capturing unit capturing an image of the first brought-by-drug or the second brought-by-drug captured by the patient; a determination unit determining reference data indicating at least one characteristic of the first brought-by-drug extracted from the captured image of the first brought-by-drug or reference data indicating information based on the characteristic; a first comparison unit comparing at least one characteristic of the second brought-by-drug extracted from the captured image of the second brought-by-drug with the reference data; and a sorting unit storing the second brought-by-drug in the second storage unit based on a comparison result of the first comparison unit. All the first brought-by medicines taken out from the compartments where the first brought-by medicines are stored are sorted into the first brought-by medicines that are considered to be of the same type and stored in the second storage unit. Then, for the second brought-by medicines taken out from the compartments where the second brought-by medicines are stored in the first storage unit, the second brought-by medicines that are considered to be of the same type as the first brought-by medicines stored in the compartments are stored in the same compartments as the compartments where the first brought-by medicines are stored based on the collation results of the first collation unit. In the first storage unit, the first brought-by medicines and the second brought-by medicines are sorted into groups by patient and by person. The first and second brought-by-patient medications are stored in a storage unit, and storage position data linking the storage positions of the first and second brought-by-patient medications in the first storage unit with the storage area in the second storage unit in which the first and second brought-by-patient medications are stored on a patient-by-patient basis is stored in a memory unit. The imaging unit images the first or second brought-by-patient medications taken out of the first storage unit on a patient-by-patient basis, and the sorting unit determines the sorting position of the first brought-by-patient medication on a patient-by-patient basis based on the storage position data, and stores the second brought-by-patient medication in the second storage unit on a patient-by-patient basis based on the comparison result of the first comparison unit.

The device for sorting personal medication according to one aspect of the present invention includes a second matching unit that narrows down the type of the first personal medication by matching at least one characteristic of the first personal medication with a medication database that manages medication data for multiple types of medication, and the determination unit may determine, as the reference data, multiple characteristics that are managed as medication data for the first personal medication in the medication database and that are obtained by matching with the second matching unit.

In one aspect of the present invention, in a patient-brought medication sorting device, the determination unit may determine at least one characteristic of the first patient-brought medication as the reference data.

In one aspect of the present invention, in a patient-brought medication sorting device, the first patient-brought medication may be a medication that is prescribed and brought by the patient to be taken on a specified date that is the specified time of administration, and the second patient-brought medication may be a medication that is prescribed and brought by the patient to be taken on a date other than the specified date of administration.

In one embodiment of the present invention, in the patient-brought medication sorting device, the first patient-brought medication may be a medication that is prescribed and brought by the patient to be taken at a specified time on a specified date, which is the specified time of taking the medication, and the second patient-brought medication may be a medication that is prescribed and brought by the patient to be taken at a time other than the specified time.

The device for sorting personal medications according to one aspect of the present invention may include a packaging unit that packages the first and second personal medications for each of the first and second personal medications stored in the same compartment of the second storage unit.

In one aspect of the present invention, in a patient-brought medication sorting device, the sorting unit may store the first patient-brought medication and the second patient-brought medication in the second storage unit, and the packaging unit may package the first patient-brought medication and the second patient-brought medication in packages.

The present invention relates to a method for sorting patient-brought medications, which is a method for sorting patient-brought medications, and which is executed by a patient-brought medication sorting device that includes a first storage unit having a section in which at least one first patient-brought medication, which is a medication prescribed for one patient and is subsequently brought to a medical institution, is stored by a person, and a section in which the remaining second patient-brought medications prescribed for a patient to be taken at a time other than the specified time are stored by a person, and a second storage unit that stores the first patient-brought medication and the second patient-brought medication of the patient for each patient-brought medication considered to be of the same type, and which includes a first storage unit that stores the first patient-brought medication and the second patient-brought medication of the patient for each patient-brought medication considered to be of the same type, and which includes a first storage unit that stores the first patient-brought medication and the second patient-brought medication of the patient, and which includes a second storage unit that stores the first patient-brought medication and the second patient-brought medication of the patient, ... that is considered to be of the same type, and which includes a first storage unit that stores the first patient-brought medication and the second a first imaging step of imaging the first brought-to-person drug; a determination step of determining reference data indicating at least one characteristic of the first brought-to-person drug extracted from an image of the first brought-to-person drug, or reference data indicating information based on the characteristic; a first storage step of storing the first brought-to-person drug in the second storage unit after determining the reference data; a second imaging step of imaging the second brought-to-person drug taken out of the first storage unit; a collation step of comparing at least one characteristic of the second brought-to-person drug extracted from an image of the second brought-to-person drug taken out of the second storage unit with the reference data; and a second storing step of storing the first brought-home medicines in a compartment in which the first brought-home medicines are stored, the second brought-home medicines being considered to be of the same type, and the second brought-home medicines being removed from the compartment in which the second brought-home medicines are stored in the first storage unit, and then, for the second brought-home medicines removed from the compartment in which the second brought-home medicines are stored in the first storage unit, a second brought-home medicine being considered to be of the same type as the first brought-home medicine stored in the compartment based on the comparison result in the comparison step is stored in the same compartment as the compartment in which the first brought-home medicines are stored, and the first storage unit stores the first brought-home medicines and the second brought-home medicines in a compartment in which the first brought-home medicines and the second brought-home medicines are stored in a compartment in which the second brought-home medicines are considered to be of the same type as the first brought-home medicine stored in the compartment, The first and second brought-by-patient medications are stored in a storage unit in such a manner that the storage positions of the first and second brought-by-patient medications in the first storage unit and the storage areas in the second storage unit in which the first and second brought-by-patient medications are stored are linked on a patient-by-patient basis, and in the first imaging step and the second imaging step, images of the first or second brought-by-patient medications taken out of the first storage unit on a patient-by-patient basis are captured, and in the first storage step, a sorting position for the first brought-by-patient medication is determined on a patient-by-patient basis based on the storage position data, and in the second storage step, the second brought-by-patient medication is stored in the second storage unit on a patient-by-patient basis based on the comparison results in the comparison step.

[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.

1. Medicine sorting device (medicine sorting device for patients brought with them)
6 Packaging mechanism (packaging section)
11 First storage section 12 Conveying and sorting unit (sorting section)
14 Second storage section 13 Imaging unit (imaging section)
64 Determination unit 65 Collation unit (first storage unit, second storage unit)

Claims (2)

A first storage section that stores a plurality of types of medicines;
A plurality of sorting containers containing medicines that are considered to be of the same type;
an imaging unit that images the medicine taken out of the first storage unit;
a transport unit that transports the medicine to one of the plurality of sorting containers based on the characteristics of the medicine extracted from the image captured by the imaging unit;
A collection tray for accommodating foreign objects;
A drug sorting device in which the transporting unit transports a drug identified by a user as a drug that a patient cannot take or should refrain from taking to one of the multiple sorting containers or to the collection tray, regardless of the characteristics of the drug. The plurality of types of medicines contained in the first container are medicines prescribed for a patient and then brought to a medical institution,
The conveying unit is
Regarding the medication brought by the user that is identified by the user as a medication that the patient cannot take or needs to refrain from taking, the medication is transported to the collection tray regardless of the characteristics of the medication brought by the patient;
The medicine sorting device according to claim 1 , wherein a patient's own medicine specified by a user as a medicine that the patient may continue to take is transported to one of the plurality of sorting containers.

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