Label reader for automatic drug compounder

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12201586-B2
Application number	US-202217674555-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 17, 2022
Priority date	Dec 4, 2015
Publication date	Jan 21, 2025
Grant date	Jan 21, 2025

Abstract

An automatic drug compounder system may be provided with various components and capabilities for reconstituting a drug in a vial and providing the reconstituted drug to a receiving container. The system may include a camera for capturing images of the vial and processing circuitry for extracting information such as a lot number and an expiration date from the images. The system may rotate the vial while capturing the images to capture images of the entire vial. The processing circuitry may search a portion of the image for the lot number and expiration date, the portion based on stored information. The stored information may include a location, orientation, font size, or font color for printed information for a particular vial. The stored information may be retrieved based on a bar code read by the system.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A compounder system, comprising:
a vial tray defining a wheel having a plurality of openings for receiving a plurality of vial pucks, each vial puck coupled to a vial containing a drug, wherein a first vial puck having a first gear is sealingly attached to a top of a first vial;
a first motor configured to rotate the wheel to move the first vial to an imaging position;
a second motor; and
a second gear coupled to the second motor, wherein the second gear is configured to engage the first gear of the first vial puck attached to the first vial to rotate the first vial, without the second gear contacting the first vial itself, within the wheel to provide imaging access to one or more portions of the first vial.

2. The compounder system of claim 1 , comprising a light source configured to illuminate at least a portion of the first vial at the imaging position.

3. The compounder system of claim 2 , wherein the light source comprises a line-wise light source.

4. The compounder system of claim 3 , wherein the line-wise light source is configured to illuminate a vertical line on the first vial while the first vial is rotated so that a captured image includes an image of a vertical line on the first vial.

5. The compounder system of claim 4 , comprising processing circuitry configured to combine a plurality of captured vertical line images to form a rectilinear image of a label on the first vial.

6. The compounder system of claim 1 , comprising processing circuitry configured to extract a lot number and an expiration date from one or more images of the first vial.

7. The compounder system of claim 6 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to read a bar code in the one or more images.

8. The compounder system of claim 7 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine an expected location of the lot number and the expiration date based on the bar code.

9. The compounder system of claim 8 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to extract the lot number and the expiration date from the one or more images using the expected location.

10. The compounder system of claim 1 , wherein a portion of the first vial puck is configured to be pierced by a needle.

11. A method of operating a compounder system, comprising:
receiving a plurality of vial pucks in a plurality of vial puck recesses in a vial tray of a compounder system;
receiving a plurality of vials in a wheel of the vial tray, each vial coupled to one of the plurality of vial pucks, wherein a first vial puck having a first gear is sealingly attached to a top of a first vial;
rotating, by a first motor, the wheel to move the first vial of the plurality of vials to an imaging location; and
rotating, by a second gear of a second motor, the first gear of the first vial puck coupled to the first vial within the wheel at the imaging location to rotate the first vial, without the second gear contacting the first vial itself, to provide imaging access to one or more portions of the first vial.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein receiving the first vial in the vial tray comprises receiving a first vial puck coupled to the first vial in a first vial puck recess in the vial tray.

13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
capturing a plurality of line scan images while the first vial is rotated; and
combining the plurality of line scan images to form a rectilinear image of a label on the first vial.

14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
capturing at least one image of the first vial;
reading a barcode in the at least one image;
obtaining information associated with the bar code, wherein the information comprises a location, a text size, and an orientation of a lot number and an expiration date on the first vial; and
performing optical character recognition operations on a portion of the at least one image corresponding to the location to read the lot number and the expiration date.

15. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
capturing at least on image of the first vial;
determining at least one of a lot number and an expiration date from the at least one image; and
providing a location, a text size, and an orientation of the determined at least one of the lot number and the expiration date on the first vial to a network of compounder systems.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
determining whether a recall is associated with the determined lot number; and
reconstituting a drug in the first vial with the compounder system if there is no recall associated with the determined lot number.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising at least one of:
archiving the at least one image in association with information for the reconstituted drug; and
performing image processing operations on the at least one image.

18. A compounder system, comprising:
a carousel support frame configured to rotate a carousel of pump cartridges;
a motor mounted to the carousel support frame;
a drive mechanism configured to rotate the carousel;
a vial tray having a wheel interposed at least partially between the drive mechanism and the carousel support frame, wherein the drive mechanism is configured to rotate the wheel, and wherein the wheel is configured to receive a plurality of vials; and
at least one second gear configured to engage a corresponding first gear of a vial puck sealingly coupled to a top of a first vial to rotate the first vial, without the second gear contacting the first vial itself, to provide imaging access to one or more portions of the first vial.

19. The compounder system of claim 18 , further comprising processing circuitry configured to extract at least one of a lot number and an expiration date from one or more images of the first vial.

20. The compounder system of claim 19 , further comprising a display, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:
prompt a selection of a portion of the one or more images with the lot number or the expiration date; and
determine the lot number and the expiration date based on the selected portion of the one or more images.

Assignees

• Carefusion 303 Inc

Inventors

• Klumph Christopher Vernon Robert

Classifications

• A61J2205/10

  Bar codes · CPC title

• A61J2200/74

  for weight · CPC title

• A61J1/2089

  Containers or vials which are to be joined to each other in order to mix their contents (combinations of vial and syringe for mixing their contents A61J1/2096) · CPC title

• A61J1/16

  Holders for containers · CPC title

• A61J1/10 Primary

  Bag-type containers · CPC title