Systems and methods for spill detection
First Claim
1. A pharmaceutical filling system comprising:
- a control device;
a mirror portion including a concave mirror;
a camera portion positioned opposite the mirror portion across a field of view, said camera portion including;
a camera for capturing images and connected to the control device and facing the mirror, wherein said camera is focused on a reflection in the mirror of the field of view, anda light panel electrically connected to the control device and facing the mirror to illuminate the field of view;
wherein the control device is operable to;
receive a series of at least three consecutive images captured by the camera; and
determine whether an object in at least a portion of the captured images is a spilled pharmaceutical, wherein the spilled pharmaceutical is detected by a predetermined number of images from the camera showing the spilled pharmaceutical, and wherein determining whether the object is a spilled pharmaceutical includes determining whether the object appears in at least two non-sequential images of the captured images.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A pharmaceutical filling system for a high volume pharmacy is described. The system can include a spill detection subsystem and method. The system can include a cameras to take images that a processed to determine presence of a spilled pharmaceutical. A mirror portion is provided so that the camera can take images of the entire field of the filling area. The mirror portion can be a concave mirror that increases the field of view of the camera. A light panel can illuminate the field of view to allow the camera to take high speed images. A controller can receive a series of at least two images captured by the camera and determine whether an object in the captured images is a spilled pharmaceutical.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A pharmaceutical filling system comprising:
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a control device; a mirror portion including a concave mirror; a camera portion positioned opposite the mirror portion across a field of view, said camera portion including; a camera for capturing images and connected to the control device and facing the mirror, wherein said camera is focused on a reflection in the mirror of the field of view, and a light panel electrically connected to the control device and facing the mirror to illuminate the field of view; wherein the control device is operable to; receive a series of at least three consecutive images captured by the camera; and determine whether an object in at least a portion of the captured images is a spilled pharmaceutical, wherein the spilled pharmaceutical is detected by a predetermined number of images from the camera showing the spilled pharmaceutical, and wherein determining whether the object is a spilled pharmaceutical includes determining whether the object appears in at least two non-sequential images of the captured images. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A spilled pharmaceutical detection method for use in filling prescriptions in an automated filling center, the method using a camera positioned opposite a mirror across a field of view comprising:
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illuminating a field of view with a light panel to direct light at a mirror; acquiring at least three consecutive images of a reflected field of view from the mirror via a camera; and determining whether an object in at least a portion of the at least woe three consecutive images is a spilled pharmaceutical using a predetermined number of images from the camera showing the spilled pharmaceutical and wherein determining whether the object is a spilled pharmaceutical includes comparing the captured images in an image comparison module, and determining whether the object appears in at least two non-sequential images of the captured images. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A pharmaceutical filling system comprising:
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a control device; a concave mirror; a camera positioned opposite the concave mirror across a field of view and including; a camera facing the mirror for capturing images and connected to the control device, wherein the camera is focused on a reflection in the mirror of the field of view, and a light panel electrically connected to the control device and facing the mirror to illuminate the field of view; wherein the control device is operable to; receive a series of at least five consecutive images captured by the camera; and determine whether an object appears in at least two non-sequential pairs of consecutive images to detect a spilled pharmaceutical. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification