Bar code identification of drugs

• US 5,845,264 A
• Filed: 03/07/1996
• Issued: 12/01/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 03/07/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Gerhard Nellhaus
• Original Assignee: Gerhard Nellhaus
• Inventors: Nellhaus, Gerhard
• Primary Examiner(s): Hayes, Gail O.
• Assistant Examiner(s): KALINOWSKI, ALEXANDER G
• Application Number:
  US08/612,372
• Time in Patent Office: 999 Days
• Field of Search: 705/2, 705/3, 705/22, 705/28, 705/29, 715/3, 235/375
• US Class Current: 705/28
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/66 Trinkets, e.g. shirt buttons or jewellery items recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/10 relating to drugs or medications, e.g. for ensuring correct administration to patients

Abstract

A system for the identification of medications in pill, capsule, tablet, and caplet for the system including the placement of machine scannable bar code symbols on the surface of the medication and the identification of the medication by use of the bar code. The resulting identification information can be analyzed by a computer program, permitting both a drug identification and verification method for use by a doctor, pharmacist, emergency room or other medical staff, paramedics, law enforcement personnel, patient and/or family members, or indeed anyone who may need to know a drug'"'"'s identity, and a tracking system by inclusion of the identification data into an appropriate information database to monitor an individual'"'"'s prescription drug consumption and to alert of potential harmful drug interactions.

Claims

1. A computerized drug identification system for the identification of medication items in pill, capsule, tablet, and caplet form, comprising:

a plurality of medication items, each medication item having an outer surface marked with a machine scannable bar code symbol identifying the medication item;

scanner means for electronically scanning the bar code symbol and decoding the bar code symbol into binary data;

a general purpose computer having a random access memory and a database of medication identifier codes;

means for transmitting the binary data from the scanner means to the random access memory of the computer;

means for processing the binary data in the random access memory of the computer and comparing the processed binary data to the database of medication identifier codes to match the processed binary data with a medication identifier code; and

means for display of the medication identification data associated with the matched medication identifier code.

2. The computerized drug identification system of claim 1 wherein the system contains means for computer input of patient identifier information.

3. The computerized drug identification system of claim 2 wherein the database of medication identifier codes contains patient identifier information supplied by the user.

4. The computerized drug identification system of claim 1 wherein the system displays a pictorial graphic of the medication item.

5. The computerized drug identification system of claim 4 wherein the system contains a database of harmful medication interaction identifiers, wherein the system displays an information report indicating the set of scanned medication items that includes a combination appearing in the database of harmful medication interaction identifiers.