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Article: TECHNOLOGY UPDATE
- Article from:
- Pharmaceutical Technology Europe
- Article date:
- January 1, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright Advanstar Communications, Inc. Jan 2009. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Machine vision systems
A sophisticated camera-based recognition system, available from Vitronic, verifies batch numbers, dosage directions, expiry dates and safety information on drug containers in automated pharmaceutical production lines. As boxes, blisters and packets flow through the system, VICODE captures photographic images of labels with high-resolution, line-scan and matrix cameras. These are interpreted using character recognition techniques and computer algorithms. The acquired data are then compared with online records to ensure drugs are labelled correctly and safely for distribution. The process only takes a few milliseconds, allowing the system to immediately flag any ...