High-volume on-line spectroscopic composition testing of manufactured pharmaceutical dosage units
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A pharmaceutical dosage unit manufacturing process control apparatus, comprising:
- an image sensor including an array of detector elements located generally along an axis that is perpendicular to a direction of a flow of pharmaceutical dosage units, a spectrally selective element located in an optical path between a radiation source, the flow of pharmaceutical dosage units, and the image sensor, and a spectral processor responsive to an output of the array sensor and having an output port, wherein the spectral processor includes a color mapping module operative to map spectral information into a color image including differently colored areas that correspond to different parts of the flow of pharmaceutical dosage units having differing responses to different wavelengths.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed are pharmaceutical dosage unit manufacturing process control apparatus and methods. These can include acquiring a plurality of multi-pixel images of a flow of pharmaceutical dosage units at different wavelengths along an axis that is perpendicular to a direction of the flow of pharmaceutical dosage units, processing the images acquired in the step of acquiring, and providing an indication about the flow of pharmaceutical dosage units based on the step of processing.
-
Citations
69 Claims
-
1. A pharmaceutical dosage unit manufacturing process control apparatus, comprising:
-
an image sensor including an array of detector elements located generally along an axis that is perpendicular to a direction of a flow of pharmaceutical dosage units, a spectrally selective element located in an optical path between a radiation source, the flow of pharmaceutical dosage units, and the image sensor, and a spectral processor responsive to an output of the array sensor and having an output port, wherein the spectral processor includes a color mapping module operative to map spectral information into a color image including differently colored areas that correspond to different parts of the flow of pharmaceutical dosage units having differing responses to different wavelengths. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
-
-
11. A pharmaceutical dosage unit manufacturing process control apparatus, comprising:
-
an image sensor including an array of detector elements located generally along an axis that is perpendicular to a direction of a flow of pharmaceutical dosage units, wherein the image sensor is a two-dimensional array sensor that further includes detectors located generally along an axis that is parallel to the direction of the flow of pharmaceutical dosage units, a spectrally selective element located in an optical path between a radiation source, the flow of pharmaceutical dosage units, and the image sensor, and a spectral processor responsive to an output of the array sensor and having an output port, wherein the spectral processor includes a color mapping module operative to map spectral information into a color image including differently colored areas that correspond to different parts of the flow of pharmaceutical dosage units having differing responses to different wavelengths.
-
-
16. A pharmaceutical dosage unit manufacturing process control apparatus, comprising:
-
an image sensor including an array of detector elements located generally along an axis that is perpendicular to a direction of a flow of pharmaceutical dosage units, wherein the flow of pharmaceutical dosage units includes a series of dosage units located in rows generally perpendicular to the direction of the flow of pharmaceutical dosage units and wherein the image sensor includes, for each of the dosage units in a row, a plurality of detectors along the axis that is perpendicular to the direction of the flow of pharmaceutical dosage units, a spectrally selective element located in an optical path between a radiation source, the flow of pharmaceutical dosage units, and the image sensor, and a spectral processor responsive to an output of the array sensor and having an output port.
-
-
17. A pharmaceutical dosage unit manufacturing process control apparatus, comprising:
-
an image sensor including an array of detector elements located generally along an axis that is perpendicular to a direction of a flow of pharmaceutical dosage units, a spectrally selective element located in an optical path between a radiation source, the flow of pharmaceutical dosage units, and the image sensor, and a spectral processor responsive to an output of the array sensor and having an output port, wherein the spectral processor is a real-time processor operative to process the images at a rate that is at least equal to a rate at which images are acquired by the image sensor. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21)
-
-
28. A pharmaceutical dosage unit manufacturing process control apparatus, comprising:
-
means for acquiring a plurality of multi-pixel images of a flow of pharmaceutical dosage units at different wavelengths along an axis that is perpendicular to a direction of the flow of pharmaceutical dosage units, and means for processing the images acquired by the means for acquiring.
-
-
29. A pharmaceutical dosage unit manufacturing process control method, comprising:
-
acquiring a plurality of multi-pixel images of a flow of pharmaceutical dosage units at different wavelengths along an axis that is perpendicular to a direction of the flow of pharmaceutical dosage units, processing the images acquired in the step of acquiring, and providing an indication about the flow of pharmaceutical dosage units based on the step of processing.
-
-
30. A pharmaceutical dosage unit manufacturing process control apparatus, comprising:
-
means for acquiring a plurality of multi-pixel line images of a flow of pharmaceutical dosage units along an axis that is perpendicular to a direction of the flow of pharmaceutical dosage units, and means for processing the images acquired in the step of acquiring as they are received. - View Dependent Claims (31)
-
-
32. A pharmaceutical dosage unit manufacturing process control method, comprising:
-
acquiring a plurality of multi-pixel line images of a flow of pharmaceutical dosage units along an axis that is perpendicular to a direction of the flow of pharmaceutical dosage units, processing the images acquired in the step of acquiring as they are received, and providing an indication about the flow of pharmaceutical dosage units based on the step of processing. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34)
-
-
35. A process control apparatus, comprising:
-
means for acquiring a spectral data set from a process flow, the spectral data set expressing the response of areas of a surface of the process flow to different wavelengths of radiation, and means for mapping the spectral data set to a color image including differently colored areas that correspond to different ones of the parts of the process flow having differing responses to the different wavelengths. - View Dependent Claims (36)
-
-
37. A process control method, comprising:
-
acquiring a spectral data set from a process flow, the spectral data set expressing the response of areas of a surface of the process flow to different wavelengths of radiation, and mapping the spectral data set to a color image including differently colored areas that correspond to different ones of the parts of the process flow having differing responses to the different wavelengths.
-
-
38. A process control apparatus, comprising:
-
means for acquiring a plurality of multi-pixel images of a process flow at different wavelengths along an axis that is perpendicular to a direction of the process flow, and means for comparing spectral signatures from a library of known spectral signatures with spectral information acquired in the step of acquiring. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40)
-
-
41. A process control method, comprising:
-
acquiring a plurality of multi-pixel images of a process flow at different wavelengths along an axis that is perpendicular to a direction of the process flow, comparing spectral signatures from a library of known spectral signatures, including a plurality of spectral signatures for known defects, with spectral information acquired in the step of acquiring, and providing an indication about the flow of pharmaceutical dosage units based on the step of processing. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43)
-
-
44. A quality control apparatus for a pharmaceutical composition, comprising:
-
a two-dimensional array sensor including a two-dimensional array of detector elements, a spectrally selective element located in an optical path between a radiation source, the flow of pharmaceutical dosage units, and the two-dimensional array sensor, and a spectral processor responsive to an output of the array sensor and having an output port, wherein the spectral processor includes a mapping module operative to map spectral information into an image including different areas corresponding to different components of the pharmaceutical composition having differing responses to different wavelengths. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64)
-
-
65. A quality control apparatus for a pharmaceutical composition, comprising:
-
means for acquiring a two-dimensional spectral data set expressing the response of areas of a surface to different wavelengths of radiation, and means for mapping the spectral data set to an image including different areas that correspond to different components of the pharmaceutical composition having differing responses to different wavelengths. - View Dependent Claims (66, 67)
-
-
68. A quality control method for a pharmaceutical composition, comprising:
-
acquiring a spectral data set expressing the response of areas of a surface to different wavelengths of radiation, and mapping the spectral data set to a color image including differently colored areas that correspond to different ones of the parts of surface having differing responses to the different wavelengths. - View Dependent Claims (69)
-
Specification