JPH05245186A - Formulation identifying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To identify the formulation without any help of man-power by constituting the device so that an image of a tablet and a capsule drug is inputted from an image pickup device, a feature value of the formulation is calculated by using an image processing technique, and it is collated with a formulation feature database prepared in advance. CONSTITUTION:An image of formulation photographed by a formulation image pickup part 1 is sent as analog color information to an image input part 2. The image input part 2 extracts various image feature values by converting the information to a digital color image, and processing it by an image processing part 3. Subsequently, by collating these extracted image feature values, as the feature value of the identification object formulation, with the feature value accumulated in a formulation feature database 7 through a database operating part 5, a brand of the formulation is identified. Next, by retrieving a medical supplies information database 8 through a database operating part 5 by a formulation brand identification part 4 by using a brand name, the notice for use such as the effect and adverse reaction of medicine can be obtained.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a drug product identification device, and in particular, a drug product image is inputted and a drug product is processed by image processing technology.
The present invention relates to a drug product identification device for identifying brands of (tablets, capsules, etc.).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, there are thousands of types of pharmaceutical products commercialized by pharmaceutical companies. These are packaged at a pharmacy by a dispensing or automatic packaging machine under the instruction of a doctor. At this time, it is necessary to finally confirm with the pharmacist whether or not the formulation is as instructed. Also, after the formulation is in the hands of the patient,
If the patient discontinues taking the drug, the pharmacist may be asked at a later date to identify the drug product for which the prescribing purpose and efficacy (effect, effect) are unknown. Since these drug product identification is a problem that directly relates to patient safety, drug product identification and drug efficacy
It is necessary to correctly understand the precautions for use such as (indication, effect) and side effects. However, conventionally, in such a case, a method other than a method in which a person looks up the drug product identification code attached to the main body of the drug or the package and searches for the product identification code list is the only method for identifying the drug product. There wasn't. The drug product identification code is often composed of a company mark and characters, or only characters. The drug product identification code is assigned to the medicine itself, both the medicine itself and the packaging, or only the packaging. Regarding this, the description of Kimura's book "Understanding the Medicines Obtained from Doctors" (Hakuba Publishing, June 1989) will be referred to.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned prior art, humans need to intervene in reading the code of the preparation, so that even in the automatic packaging machine, finally humans need to check. Therefore, there is a problem that it is difficult to mechanize and speed up the process including the identification of the formulation, which requires human resources. In addition, the above-mentioned formulation identification code is not always attached to the medicine itself, and there are some in which the code is attached only to the package. Therefore, in such a case, in the case of a drug product without packaging, the pharmacist can only empirically identify the drug product based on the shape, size, color, etc. of the drug product, which is very difficult to identify. There was also the problem of being there. Furthermore, even if the product identification code is read, it is difficult to search from the product identification code list because the pharmaceutical company mark attached to the product identification code is difficult to systematically order unlike the alphabet and numbers. There was also the problem of being. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems in the conventional technology and to perform an image processing technique in order to mechanize and speed up a process including formulation identification. Formulation identification device that can identify the drug product without using human hands, especially to identify the drug product without relying on only the drug product identification code so that the drug product without packaging can be identified. It is to provide a formulation identification device capable of performing the above.

[0004]

The above object of the present invention is a drug product identification device for identifying tablets and capsules by using image processing technology, and a device for imaging the drug product under stable imaging conditions, Means for converting an input analog color image sent from the imaging means into a digital image, means for extracting a characteristic amount related to the drug product from the digital image of the drug product input from the conversion means, and accumulation of the characteristic amount and an identification code related to the drug product And a means for accumulating precautions for use of the drug product such as efficacy and side effects, and
This is achieved by a drug product identifying device characterized by having means for searching and updating both of the storage means.

[0005]

In the drug product identifying apparatus according to the present invention, images of tablets and capsules in the drug product are input from the image pickup device and the images are transferred to the image processing device, where the drug product is processed by using image processing technology. The feature amount is calculated.
The information processing device identifies the formulation by collating the feature amount of the formulation with a previously prepared formulation feature database, and outputs the result to a display device or the like. Further, by integrating with a drug information database containing precautions for use such as drug efficacy (potency, effect) and side effects, such information can be presented at high speed. This makes it possible to identify the drug product and obtain the brand and information of the drug product without human intervention. Further, even if the drug itself has no formulation identification code and is not packaged, it can be identified.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. First, an example of the preparation targeted by the present invention will be shown. The target formulation of the present invention is a tablet as shown in FIG. 2 or a capsule as shown in FIG. 3, which is handled without packaging. For each formulation,
The product identification code may or may not be assigned. In addition, the company mark (10 in FIG. 2) and the numbers (1 in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3) are included in the components that make up the product identification code.
1), alphabet (12 in FIG. 3), etc. FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a drug product identification device according to an embodiment of the present invention. This device comprises a formulation imaging unit 1, an image input unit 2, an image processing unit 3, a formulation identification unit 4, a database operation unit 5,
Formulation characteristics database 6, drug information database 7,
CRT display 8, CPU 9 for controlling the entire device
Etc. The drug product imaging unit 1 is composed of an imaging device such as a video camera, lighting that takes color rendering properties into consideration, and a drug product setting unit that allows the drug product to be set in a stable state without rolling. It can be imaged.

The operation of the drug product identifying apparatus according to this embodiment is as follows. First, the formulation to be identified is set in the formulation imaging unit 1. The image captured by the formulation imaging unit 1 is
It is sent to the image input unit 2 as analog color information. The image input unit 2 converts the sent analog color information into a digital color image having digital pixels of physical quantities RGB. The image processing unit 3 processes the digital color image as described below to extract various image feature amounts. Details of the processing in the image processing unit 3 are shown in FIG.
It is shown in the operation flow chart of. Here, first, the centroid and the second moment of the formulation image are obtained (step 21), the process is performed so that the formulation is located at the center of the image using the center of gravity, and the orientation of the formulation is always constant by the second moment. The process of rotating so as to become (step 22). Next, image processing such as edge detection, line detection and area detection is performed (step 23), and processing for extracting the shape feature of the drug product is performed on the processed image obtained from these (step 24). As a result, the following shape feature quantities are extracted. These are sufficient to represent the characteristics of the formulation. * Area (corresponding to size) * Absolute maximum length (major axis in ellipse) * Pattern width (minor axis in ellipse)

Similarly, the color of the preparation is extracted from the processed image.
(Step 25). Further, when the identification code is given, the same shape feature amount extraction is performed for the pattern of the code (step 26). The drug product brand identification unit 4 compares the extracted image feature amount as a feature amount of the identification target drug product with the feature amount accumulated in the above-described drug product feature database 6 through the database operation unit 5. , Identify the brand of drug product. It should be noted that the formulation feature database 6 used here stores the average of the feature amounts of a large number (many types) of formulation images obtained in advance by performing the same shape feature extraction. Further, the drug product brand identification unit 4 uses a pattern identification method by statistical determination, which is a conventional identification method for pattern recognition. Next, by using the brand name which is the identification result obtained above, the drug product brand identification unit 4 searches the above-mentioned drug information database 7 through the database operation unit 5 to determine drug efficacy (potency, effect), side effect, etc. You can also get the usage notes. The drug information database 7 used here is a commercially available database, for example, "Pill Book ver. 3.1".
It is possible to use (published by Yakuho Jikho Co., Ltd.).

The search results are displayed and output on the CRT display 8. The database operating unit 5 is also used to update the formulation feature database 6 and the drug information database 7 when a new formulation is added. According to the above-mentioned embodiment, mechanization of the identification process of the formulation,
It can speed up. Also, when identifying the drug product,
By using the feature quantity other than the product identification code, even if the product itself is not packaged, the product brand can be displayed at high speed even if the product itself does not have the product identification code.
It is possible to identify with certainty. Furthermore, by integrating the drug product identification device with the drug information database, it is possible to present the brand name of the drug product as well as precautions in use such as drug efficacy (potency, effect) and side effects. In addition,
It goes without saying that the above-mentioned embodiment shows an example of the present invention, and the present invention should not be limited to this.

[0010]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, it is possible to identify a drug product identification device capable of identifying a drug product without human intervention, particularly a drug product itself without packaging. As described above, it is possible to realize a formulation identifying device capable of identifying a formulation without depending on only the formulation identification code.

[0011]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of a drug product identification device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a tablet as an example of a preparation targeted by the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a capsule as an example of a preparation targeted by the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart showing details of processing in the image processing unit 3 of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Formulation imaging unit, 2: Image input unit, 3: Image processing unit,
4: drug product brand identification unit, 5 database operation unit, 6: drug product feature database, 7: drug information database,
8: CRT display, 9: CPU.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hiroshi Tomiyasu 1-26-5 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo NTT Data Communications Corp. (72) Inventor Tadashi Koyaku 1-chome, Uchisaiwai-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo No. 1-6 Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A drug product identification device for identifying tablets and capsules using an image processing technique, which comprises means for imaging the drug product under stable imaging conditions, and digital input analog color images sent from the imaging device. Means for converting into an image, means for extracting a feature amount related to the formulation from a digital image of the formulation inputted from the conversion means, means for accumulating the feature amount and an identification code related to the formulation, and use of the drug product such as drug efficacy and side effects A drug product identifying apparatus comprising means for accumulating the above notes and means for searching and updating both the accumulating means.