Enhanced inspection of medicaments after loading of blister card prescriptions
AssigneeSynergy Medical BRG Inc.
InventorAbderrahmane Chalah
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for inspecting medicaments loaded into wells of a blister card includes the steps of: inserting a blister card loaded with medicaments in a plurality of wells into an inspection holder in a housing; inverting the blister card so that the medicaments descend through chutes of a funnel of the inspection holder, each of the chutes corresponding to a well of the blister card, wherein descension of the medicaments is stopped by a cover that overlies the chutes; capturing images of the medicaments through the cover; and determining, based on the captured images, whether the medicaments in the blister card were correctly loaded.
Claims13
A system for inspecting medicaments of a pharmaceutical prescription contained in a blister card, the blister card having a plurality of wells, each of the wells including one or more medicaments, the system comprising:
- a housing;
- an inspection holder rotatably mounted in the housing, the inspection holder comprising:
- a funnel including a plurality of chutes with first and second ends, each of the first ends of the chutes in communication with a respective through hole, wherein each of the second ends has an area that is larger than a surface area of the corresponding first end;
- a cover mounted to the funnel to cover the second ends of the chutes;
- a structure for mounting a blister card filled with medicaments adjacent the first ends of the chutes;
- a drive unit operatively connected with the inspection holder and configured to rotate the inspection holder between a first position, in which the cover is above the funnel, and an inverted second position, in which the cover is below the funnel;
- a camera positioned below the inspection holder and configured to capture images of medicaments in the second ends of the chutes when the inspection holder is in the second position, the camera operatively connected with an inspection unit that is configured to determine whether medicaments in the captured images match medicaments expected to be in the captured images.
A system for inspecting medicaments of a pharmaceutical prescription contained in a blister card, the blister card having a plurality of wells, each of the wells including one or more medicaments, the system comprising:
- a housing;
- an inspection holder rotatably mounted in the housing, the inspection holder comprising:
- a funnel including a plurality of chutes with first and second ends, each of the first ends of the chutes in communication with a respective through hole, wherein each of the second ends has an area that is larger than a surface area of the corresponding first end;
- a cover mounted to the funnel to cover the second ends of the chutes;
- a structure for mounting a blister card filled with medicaments adjacent the first ends of the chutes;
- a drive unit operatively connected with the inspection holder and configured to rotate the inspection holder between a first position, in which the cover is above the funnel, and an inverted second position, in which the cover is below the funnel;
- a camera positioned below the inspection holder and configured to capture images of medicaments in the second ends of the chutes when the inspection holder is in the second position, the camera operatively connected with an inspection unit that is configured to determine whether medicaments in the captured images match medicaments expected to be in the captured images;
- wherein the drive unit comprises a motor and a shaft, and wherein the inspection holder is fixed to and rotates with the shaft;
- wherein the motor is configured to rotate the inspection holder at a rotational speed such that medicaments slide in the chutes between the first and second ends as the inspection holder is rotated between the first and second positions;
- and
- wherein the system is configured to agitate the inspection holder when the inspection holder is in the second position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.