Pill printing and identification
View Patent ↗Drug dosages and bar code labels are within a tamperproof, sealed container. A printer is configured to mark a drug dosage with an imprint in a form of a machine readable bar code. A method and product are provided to enable both the source of manufacture and distributor to be identified based on scanning a barcode from a label.
1. A drug dosage monitoring system, comprising: a container that has a machine readable code and that contains at least one drug dosage; a scanner arranged to scan the machine readable code and store into a database that which is scanned together with an electronic identity code; and an indicator that is configured to indicate both a source of manufacture of the drug dosage and those responsible for dissemination of the drug dosage through a channel of distribution based on what is stored in the database.
2. A method of identifying a source of manufacture and those responsible for dissemination, comprising scanning a machine readable code that is with a container, correlating the scanned machine readable code with information stored in a database to reveal identities of a source of manufacture of contents of the container and those responsible for dissemination of the contents through a channel of distribution.
3. A method of claim 2 , wherein the contents include a drug dosage.
4. A method of claim 3 , wherein the machine readable code is on the container.
5. A method of claim 3 , wherein the machine readable code is within the container.
6. A method of claim 3 , further comprising printing the machine readable code with ink from a printer, the printer being selected from a group consisting of an ink jet printer and a printer configured to transfer the ink from a bath.
7. A method of claim 6 , wherein the ink is edible and machine readable in non-visible wavelengths of light and otherwise invisible to the human eye as the printed machine readable code.
8. A method of claim 2 , wherein the correlating further reveals a national drug code pertaining to the drug dosage.
9. A method of claim 2 , further comprising indicating the identities of those responsible for dissemination so as to identify a distributor of the contents.
10. A monitoring system, comprising a container having a machine readable code; a scanner arranged to scan the machine readable code and store into a database what is scanned together with a time of day that the scan of the machine readable code occurred; and an indicator configured to indicate a source of manufacture of contents of the container and those responsible for dissemination of the contents through a channel of distribution based on correlation of the scanned machine readable code with what is stored in the database.
11. A system of claim 10 , wherein the contents include a drug dosage.
12. A system of claim 11 , wherein the machine readable code is on the container.
13. A system of claim 11 , wherein the machine readable code is within the container.
14. A system of claim 11 , further comprising a printer configured to print the machine readable code with ink, the printer being selected from a group consisting of an ink jet printer and a printer configured to transfer ink from a bath.
15. A system of claim 14 , wherein the ink is edible and machine readable in non-visible wavelengths of light and otherwise invisible to the human eye as the printed machine readable code.
16. A system of claim 10 , further comprising means for correlating the scanned machine readable code with information stored in the database to reveal a national drug code pertaining to the drug dosage.
17. A system of claim 10 , wherein the indicator is configured to reveal the identities of those responsible for dissemination sp as to identify a distributor of the contents.
18. A device suited to thwart counterfeits, comprising a container that contains at least one edible or biocompatible item; a machine readable code with the container; and a stored code to which is compared the machine readable code to enable a determination to be made as to whether the edible or biocompatible item originally belonged in the container.
19. A device of claim 18 , comprising a scanner arranged to scan the machine readable code, clock a time of scanning by the scanner and record the time of scanning.
20. A device of claim 18 , wherein the edible or biocompatible item is selected from the group consisting of a tablet, a caplet, a gel-cap, a pellet, a gum-piece, a capsule, a placebo, a drug that includes an active medication ingredient, and a consumable substance selected from the group consisting of an herb, a chemical, a mineral, a vitamin, a plant and an animal product.
21. A device of claim 18 , wherein equipment is configured to read the machine readable code to identify a source of manufacture of the edible or biocompatible item and a distributor responsible for dissemination of the edible or biocompatible item.
22. A method to thwart counterfeiting, comprising containing at least one edible or biocompatible item within a container, providing a machine readable code with the container, and comparing a stored code with the machine readable code to make a determination as to whether the edible or biocompatible item originally belonged in the container.
23. A method of claim 22 , further comprising scanning the machine readable code, clocking a time of the scanning and recording the time of the scanning.
24. A method of claim 22 , further comprising selecting the edible or biocompatible item from the group consisting of a tablet, a caplet, a gel-cap, a pellet, a gum-piece, a capsule, a placebo, a drug that includes an active medication ingredient, and a consumable substance selected from the group consisting of an herb, a chemical, a mineral, a vitamin, a plant and an animal product.
25. A method of claim 22 , further comprising scanning the machine readable code to identify a source of manufacture of the edible or biocompatible item and a distributor responsible for dissemination of the edible or biocompatible item.