Method and apparatus for medication identification

A method for recognizing a medication, comprising the steps of:

• presenting a medication to a medication identification apparatus, the medication identification apparatus adapted to visually image the presented medication;
• visually imaging the presented medication;
• comparing the visually imaged medication to a medication library to determine a closest match therebetween;
• applying a predetermined transformation to the visually imaged presented medication in accordance with the determined closest match in the medication library, the predetermined transformation adjusting one or more parameters of the visually imaged presented medication along one or more dimensions;
• and
• comparing the transformed visually imaged medication to the closest match in the medication library to confirm the identity of the visually imaged presented medication.

A system for identifying medication, comprising:

• a medication library stored to a non-transient computer readable storage medium, the medication library being formed by:
• teaching a visual recognition system of a medication identification apparatus to recognize each of the one or more medications;
• storing visual recognition data for each of the one or more medications to the medication library;
• presenting one or more new medication to the medication identification apparatus to be imaged thereby;
• determining a transformation from one of the stored medications to each of the one or more presented new medications along one or more dimensions;
• and
• storing the determined transformations associated with the new medication to the medication library;
• and
• a medication identification apparatus adapted to visually image a medication presented thereto;
• apply a predetermined transformation from the medication library to the visually imaged presented medication, the predetermined transformation adjusting one or more parameters of the visually imaged presented medication along one or more dimensions;
• and comparing the transformed visually imaged medication to one or more of the predetermined medications stored in the medication library to determine a closest match therebetween.