# US 2019/0170663 A1 · Liquid scanning system and method for iv drug verification and identification > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2019/0170663 A1 - Document ID: US20190170663A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 16/273,617 - Filed: 2019-02-12 - Published: 2019-06-06 - Earliest claimed: 2014-03-21 - Assignees: Battelle Memorial Institute - Applicants: Battelle Memorial Institute - Inventors: Wesley C. Pirkle; Richard L. Shoaf; Raphael J. Welsh - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20190170663A1 ## CPC - G01N 22/00: Investigating or analysing materials by the use of microwaves or radio waves, i.e. electromagnetic waves with a wavelength of one millimetre or more (G01N3/00 - G01N17/00, G01N24/00 take precedence) - A61J 1/10: Bag-type containers - G01N 29/024: by measuring propagation velocity or propagation time of acoustic waves - G01N 29/032: by measuring attenuation of acoustic waves - G01N 29/28: providing acoustic coupling {, e.g. water (impedance matching G10K11/02)} - G01N 29/326: {compensating for temperature variations} - G01N 29/4436: {with a reference signal (amplitude comparison G01N29/48)} - G01N 33/15: Medicinal preparations {; Physical properties thereof, e.g. dissolubility} - G06K 7/10366: {the interrogation device being adapted for miscellaneous applications} - G06K 7/1413: {1D bar codes} - A61J 2205/10: Bar codes - A61J 2205/30: Printed labels - A61J 2205/60: using magnetic or electronic identifications, e.g. chips, RFID, electronic tags - G01N 2291/011: Velocity or travel time - G01N 2291/015: Attenuation, scattering - G01N 2291/022: Liquids - G01N: INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES (measuring or testing apparatus or processes other than immunoassay, involving enzymes or microorganisms C12M, C12Q) - A61J: CONTAINERS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR MEDICAL OR PHARMACEUTICAL PURPOSES; DEVICES OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR BRINGING PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS INTO PARTICULAR PHYSICAL OR ADMINISTERING FORMS; DEVICES FOR ADMINISTERING FOOD OR MEDICINES ORALLY; BABY COMFORTERS; DEVICES FOR RECEIVING SPITTLE - G06K: GRAPHICAL DATA READING (image or video recognition or understanding G06V); PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS ## Abstract A system and method are disclosed for interrogating a liquid in a container. In one embodiment, a method is provided to interrogate and identify a liquid in a medical container. ## Claims ### Claim at position 1 1-15. (canceled) ### Claim 16 A method of interrogating a liquid sample contained in a container, comprising: providing an input radio frequency (RF) signal at a frequency between 100 MHz and 15 GHz by at least one of: one or more transmitting wide band antennas, one or more transmitting narrow band antennas, a coaxial probe providing the input RF signal, a conductive pattern providing the input RF signal, and a grid array providing the input RF signal; receiving at least one of a reflected RF signal and a coupled RF signal from at least one of: one or more receiving wide band antennas, one or more receiving narrow band antennas, a coaxial probe providing the at least one of the received RF signal, a conductive pattern providing the at least one of the received RF signal, and a grid array providing the at least one of the received RF signal; analyzing the at least one received RF signal in at least one of a frequency domain or time domain for a measurement to which a Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression has been applied, and wherein the measurement of the at least one received RF signal is one of a real value, an imaginary value, a complex value, a magnitude, or a phase; comparing the measurement of the at least one received RF signal against one or more baseline measurements in a database; and identifying the liquid sample or predicting an identity of the liquid sample from the compared measurements. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16, wherein identifying the liquid sample or predicting the identity of the liquid sample comprises identifying a drug/solution mixture contained in the container. ### Claim 18 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16, wherein the container comprises at least one of an intravenous (IV) bag and a syringe. ### Claim 19 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16, further comprising identifying a concentration of one or more drugs in the liquid sample. ### Claim 20 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16, further comprising: determining a temperature of the liquid sample; providing a temperature compensation to the one or more baseline measurements in a database; comparing the measurement of the at least one received RF signal against the one or more temperature compensated baseline measurements in a database; and further identifying the liquid sample or predicting an identity of the liquid sample from the compared measurements. ### Claim 21 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16, further comprising: applying a pressure to the container; measuring an amount of the applied pressure to the container with the liquid sample; adjusting the applied pressure to the container with the liquid sample until the measured amount of applied pressure to the container with the liquid sample is a baseline pressure. ### Claim 22 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16, further comprising: performing an ultrasonic (US) testing before, during, or after interrogating the liquid sample with the input RF signal to further identify the liquid sample or predict an identity of the liquid sample. ### Claim 23 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16, further comprising applying a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm to at least one of the frequency domain and time domain measurements, wherein ratios and differences of FFT transform values further identify the liquid sample or predict an identity of the liquid sample. ### Claim 24 A method for verifying a drug/solution mixture contained in a liquid-filled container, comprising: transmitting a radio frequency (RF) signal to interrogate a liquid in the liquid-filled container; receiving the transmitted RF signal after the transmitted RF signal interrogates the liquid in the liquid-filled container; analyzing the at least one received RF signal in at least one of a frequency domain or time domain for a measurement to which a Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression has been applied, and wherein the measurement of the at least one received RF signal is one of a real value, an imaginary value, a complex value, a magnitude, or a phase; identifying a drug/solution mixture of the liquid in the liquid-filled IV bag or syringe, or predicting an identity of a drug/solution mixture of the liquid in the liquid-filled container based on the analysis of the received RF signal compared against baseline RF signals in a database; and providing an operator the identification of the drug/solution mixture or the prediction of the drug/solution mixture. ### Claim 25 (depends on 24) The method of claim 24, comprising printing or affixing at least one of a barcode, a machine-readable object, RFID tag, and a text to the liquid-filled container to indicate the liquid of the liquid-filled container based on the identifying. ### Claim 26 (depends on 24) The method of claim 24, further comprising: determining a presence of at least one of a barcode, machine-readable object, radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, and text identifying a liquid in the liquid-filled container; scanning the at least one present barcodes, machine-readable objects, RFID tags, and text to generate an input data; comparing the input data with baseline data in a database to determine if the input data exists in the database; and alerting a system user if the input data does not exist in the database. ### Claim 27 (depends on 24) The method of claim 24, further comprising: coupling an ultrasonic device to the liquid-filled container to complete an US measurement, and taking an ultrasonic measurement of the liquid in the liquid-filled container; taking a path length distance measurement; measuring a temperature of the liquid in the liquid-filled container; and applying a temperature compensation based on the measured temperature of the liquid in the liquid-filled container to all baseline RF signals and ultrasonic measurements in a database. ### Claim 28 (depends on 24) The method of claim 24, further comprising applying a determined amount of pressure to the liquid-filled container during the analyzing. ### Claim 29 (depends on 24) The method of claim 24, further comprising identifying a concentration of the one or more drugs in the liquid sample. ### Claim 30 (depends on 24) The method of claim 24, further comprising: determining a temperature of the liquid; providing a temperature compensation to the one or more baseline measurements in a database; comparing the measurement of the at least one received RF signal against the one or more temperature compensated baseline measurements in a database; and further identifying the drug/solution mixture of the liquid in the liquid-filled container, or predicting an identity of a drug/solution mixture of the liquid in the liquid-filled container from the compared measurements. ### Claim 31 (depends on 24) The method of claim 24, further comprising applying a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm to at least one of the frequency domain and time domain measurements, wherein ratios and differences of FFT transform values further identify the drug/solution mixture of the liquid in the liquid-filled container, or predict an identity of a drug/solution mixture of the liquid. ### Claim 32 (depends on 24) The method of claim 24, where the container comprises at least one of an intravenous (IV) bag and a syringe. ### Claim 33 An apparatus for identifying the identity of a liquid sample in a container, comprising: a radio frequency (RF) signal generator producing an RF frequency between 100 MHz and 15 GHz positioned to interrogate a liquid sample contained in a container; a receiver positioned to receive at least one of a reflected RF signal and a coupled RF signal; a processor for at least one of the received RF signals, programmed to: analyze the at least one received RF signal in at least one of a frequency domain or time domain for a measurement to which a Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression has been applied, and wherein the measurement of the at least one received RF signal is one of a real value, an imaginary value, a complex value, a magnitude, or a phase; compare the measurement of the at least one received RF signal against one or more baseline measurements in a database; and identify the liquid sample or predict the identity of the liquid sample from the compared measurements. ### Claim 34 (depends on 33) The apparatus of claim 33, where the processor is further programmed to identify a concentration of one or more drugs in the liquid sample. ### Claim 35 (depends on 33) The apparatus of claim 33, where the container comprises at least one of an intravenous (IV) bag and a syringe.