UK packaging vision technology company Vitronic has introduced VICODE, a sophisticated camera-based recognition system that 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 their labels with high-resolution, line-scan and matrix cameras. It interprets these using optical character recognition (OCR) techniques and computer algorithms.
Unlike traditional laser scanners, the camera-based VICODE reads barcodes, 2D codes and text information and compares the acquired data with online records to ensure drugs are labelled correctly. The process takes just milliseconds, allowing the system to flag immediately any discrepancies and halt production if necessary. VICODE checks up to 1,000 numbers, characters and symbols per second and achieves a successful read rate of nearly 100%.
For checking bottles and bottle caps, Vitronic manufactures a patented 360° panoramic camera system that operates over production lines. When used with VICODE, the panoramic system verifies codes and characters on bottles and bottle caps at high speed, eliminating time-consuming manual handling of bottles.
The panoramic camera is also compatible with the company's VINSPEC inspection system. VINSPEC reads codes, characters and symbols in the same way as VICODE, but incorporates sophisticated software that allows it to perform other complex tasks such as identifying defects like incorrect crimping and contamination. VINSPEC also verifies cap colours that determine a bottle's contents, which prevents drug mix-ups.
When used in conjunction with the panoramic camera system, VINSPEC inspects up to 600 bottles per minute.