Drug inspection support apparatus and method

1. A drug inspection support apparatus for inspecting drugs that are prepared based on prescription information and are packaged in a prescription bag, comprising:

a storage device including a drug database, and

a processor, the processor being configured to:

perform primary drug determination by

extracting an outer shape feature and a size feature of each drug from the captured image of the prepared drugs,

comparing the extracted outer shape feature and the extracted size feature with an outer shape feature and a size feature of each of the drugs from the drug database, and

determining that a drug from the captured image of the prepared drugs corresponds to a drug from the drug database when the drugs have a smallest feature amount difference therebetween; and

the processor being further configured to, for each drug that cannot be determined by the primary drug determination:

compare drug master images from the drug database, which stores drug master images of drugs that can be prepared, with a captured image obtained by capturing the prescription bag in which the prepared drugs are packaged; and

determine which kind of drug each drug present in the captured image corresponds to based on a feature amount difference; and

create a list displaying the drug master images of the drugs that are prepared according to a prescription and drug area images, wherein the drug area images are the respective drugs in the captured image, so that positions of the drug master images and the drug area images are aligned with one another; and

wherein when columns of the list correspond to the drug master images of the drugs that are prepared according to the prescription and are arranged side by side in the columns, rows of the list correspond to the prescription bag and a drug area image of the prescription bag is arranged in a row at a column corresponding to the drug master image of the drug, or

when rows of the list correspond to the drug master images of the drugs that are prepared according to the prescription and are arranged side by side in the rows, columns of the list correspond to the prescription bag and a drug area image of the prescription bag is arranged in a column at a row corresponding to the drug master image of the drug.

2. The drug inspection support apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein the processor further configured to display the drug area images of which sizes are enlarged or reduced so that sizes of the drug area images and the drug master images are same, in the list.

3. The drug inspection support apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein the processor further configured to display drug area images of which orientations are rotated so that orientations of the drug area images and the drug master images are same, in the list.

4. The drug inspection support apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein the processor further configured to align the drug master images in order according to a difference between a position in feature space of each drug and a position in the feature space of other drugs.

5. The drug inspection support apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein the list is displayed on a display device, and the drug area image selected by a user on the list is enlarged.

6. The drug inspection support apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein the list further includes a check box for a pharmacist.

7. The drug inspection support apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein the processor further configured to store the created list in a storage device in association with the prescription information.

8. The drug inspection support apparatus according to claim 1 ,

the processor further configured to determine whether or not the prepared drugs and the number the prepared drugs match the prescription information based on the prescription information,

wherein the list includes a field for displaying a result of said determination.

9. The drug inspection support apparatus according to claim 1 ,

the processor further configured to:

acquire drug master images of the drugs that are prepared according to the prescription from the drug database, and

compare the captured image with the drug master images acquired from the drug database.

10. The drug inspection support apparatus according to claim 9 ,

wherein the processor further configured to acquire drug master images of drugs included in the prescription information and drugs similar to the drugs included in the prescription information from the drug database based on the prescription information.

11. The drug inspection support apparatus according to claim 9 ,

wherein the processor further configured to acquire, based on dispensing information for specifying drugs used at the time of preparation, the drug master images of drugs included in the dispensing information and the drugs similar to the drugs included in the dispensing information from the drug database.

12. The drug inspection support apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein drugs to be taken at each specified dosage time are packaged in the prescription bag.

13. The drug inspection support apparatus according to claim 12 ,

wherein the processor further configured to arrange the prescription bags having a same specified dosage time side by side in a continuous manner in the list.

14. The drug inspection support apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein the processor further configured to extract characters from the captured image, recognizes the characters, and determines drugs present in the captured image based on the recognized characters.

15. The drug inspection support apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein the processor further configured to extract an outer shape feature and a size feature from a captured image that is captured by emitting illumination light to the prepared drugs from an opposite side to imaging means.

16. The drug inspection support apparatus according to claim 1 ,

the processor further configured to prompt a user to designate a partial image of each prepared drug included in the captured image and registering the designated partial image in the drug database as a drug master image when there is no drug master image of the drugs that are prepared according to the prescription in the drug database.

17. The drug inspection support apparatus according to claim 1 ,

the processor further configured to acquire drug master images of the drugs that are prepared according to the prescription by accessing a remote master database when there is no drug master image of the drugs that are prepared according to the prescription in the drug database.

18. A drug inspection support method for inspecting drugs that are prepared based on prescription information and are packaged in a prescription bag using a drug inspection support apparatus, the method comprising:

performing primary drug determination by

extracting an outer shape feature and a size feature of each drug from the captured image of the prepared drugs,

comparing the extracted outer shape feature and the extracted size feature with an outer shape feature and a size feature of each of the drugs from the drug database, and

determining that a drug from the captured image of the prepared drugs corresponds to a drug from the drug database when the drugs have a smallest feature amount difference therebetween; and for each drug that cannot be determined by the primary drug determination,

comparing the drug master images from a drug database, which stores drug master images of drugs that can be prepared, with a captured image obtained by capturing the prescription bag in which the prepared drugs are packaged,

determining which drug each drug present in the captured image corresponds to based on a feature amount difference; and

creating a list displaying drug master images of drugs that are prepared according to a prescription and drug area images, wherein the drug area images are the respective drugs in the captured image, so that positions of the drug master images and the drug area images are aligned with one another, and

wherein when columns of the list correspond to the drug master images of the drugs that are prepared according to the prescription and are arranged side by side in the columns, rows of the list correspond to the prescription bag and a drug area image of the prescription bag is arranged in a row at a column corresponding to the drug master image of the drug, or,

when rows of the list correspond to the drug master images of the drugs that are prepared according to the prescription and are arranged side by side in the rows, columns of the list correspond to the prescription bag and a drug area image of the prescription bag is arranged in a column at a row corresponding to the drug master image of the drug.

19. The drug inspection support apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a monitor for displaying the created list.

20. The drug inspection support method according to claim 18 , further comprising:

displaying the created list on a monitor.