Method and apparatus for drug product tracking using encoded optical identification elements
First Claim
1. An optical identification element for identifying a drug, comprising:
- an optical substrate;
at least a portion of said substrate having at least one diffraction grating embedded therein or thereon;
said grating having a resultant refractive index variation at a grating location;
said grating providing an output optical signal indicative of a code when illuminated by an incident light signal; and
the element being at least partially disposed on or within said drug; and
wherein said grating comprises a plurality of gratings having numerous different angular or rotational positions on or within the substrate.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for drug product tracking (or other pharmaceutical, health care or cosmetics products, and/or the packages or containers they are supplied with) using diffraction grating-based encoded optical identification elements includes an optical substrate having at least one diffraction grating disposed therein. The encoded element may be used to label any desired item, such as drugs or medicines, or other pharmaceutical or health care products or cosmetics. The label may be used for many different purposes, such as for sorting, tracking, identification, verification, authentication, anti-theft/anti-counterfeit, security/anti-terrorism, or for other purposes.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. An optical identification element for identifying a drug, comprising:
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an optical substrate; at least a portion of said substrate having at least one diffraction grating embedded therein or thereon; said grating having a resultant refractive index variation at a grating location; said grating providing an output optical signal indicative of a code when illuminated by an incident light signal; and the element being at least partially disposed on or within said drug; and wherein said grating comprises a plurality of gratings having numerous different angular or rotational positions on or within the substrate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An optical identification element for identifying a drug, comprising:
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an optical substrate; at least a portion of said substrate being made of a substantially single material and having at least one diffraction grating embedded therein or thereon; said grating having a resultant refractive index variation within said single material at a grating location; said grating providing an output optical signal indicative of a code when illuminated by an incident light signal propagating in free space; and the element being at least partially disposed on or within said drug; and wherein said grating comprises a plurality of gratings having a same code written therein at numerous different angular or rotational positions on or within the substrate.
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16. A method of reading a code in an optical identification element that is disposed on or within a manufactured drug product, the method comprising:
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providing a manufactured drug product having a plurality of optical identification elements disposed therein or thereon, each of said elements including a diffraction grating having a resultant refractive index variation at a grating location indicative of a code, at least two of said elements in or on said manufactured drug product having different orientations so that said gratings are at different angular or rotational positions within or on said manufactured drug product; illuminating said manufactured drug product with incident light, said grating of at least one element providing an output light signal indicative of the code; and reading said output light signal and detecting the code therefrom. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method for labeling a manufactured drug product, comprising:
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obtaining an optical identification element having at least one diffraction grating, the grating having a resultant refractive index variation at a grating location; the grating providing an output optical signal when illuminated by an incident light signal; the optical output signal being indicative of a code; and disposing the element at least partially on or within the manufactured drug product, wherein said grating is a plurality of gratings having different angular or rotational positions within or on said manufactured drug product. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26)
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27. A manufactured drug product comprising:
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a membrane that surrounds a medical substance; at least a portion of said membrane having a diffraction grating embedded therein or thereon; said grating having a resultant refractive index variation at a grating location; and said grating providing an output optical signal indicative of a code when illuminated by an incident light signal; and wherein said grating comprises a plurality of gratings at numerous different angular or rotational positions on or within the membrane. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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Specification