CN112208812B

CN112208812B - Dispensing canister for packaging medication via robotics

Info

Publication number: CN112208812B
Application number: CN202011031411.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 爱德华·D·凯姆斯; 罗伯特·巴雷特
Original assignee: MTS Medication Technologies Inc
Current assignee: MTS Medication Technologies Inc
Priority date: 2014-11-04
Filing date: 2015-11-03
Publication date: 2022-07-29
Anticipated expiration: 2035-11-03
Also published as: JP2017533047A; EP3848294A1; EP3215100B1; EP3215100A4; JP6743000B2; KR20220136516A; BR112017009034A2; KR20170081677A; AU2015343201B2; EP3215100A1; CN106999344A; KR102642474B1; AU2015343201A1; BR112017009034B1; CN112208812A; CN106999344B; CA2966225A1; KR102451175B1; WO2016073512A1; ES2855275T3

Abstract

Robotic pick-and-place automation is used to transfer oral solid medications from a movable tray or canister. Various sensors of the oral solid drug are located within a dispensing tray or canister that is used to provide the oral solid drug for pick and place via a robotic pick and place machine. The dispensing canister is comprised of a reservoir portion for holding a plurality of solid oral medications and a staging area adjacent the reservoir from which the oral solid medications are transferred to the packages via a robotic pick-and-place transfer mechanism.

Description

Dispensing canister for packaging medication via robotics

(division of CN 201580066782.1)

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to the field of automated oral solid drug packaging mechanisms for packaging oral solid drugs in packages according to patient prescription information. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for automatically verifying the placement of oral solid medications within a package based on patient prescription data. Various systems and methods are disclosed that provide for quick and efficient verification of oral solid drug product placement within a package based on patient prescription data. The systems and methods described below provide multiple independent verifications within a single automated device that ensures absolute confidence that the placement of an oral solid medicament within a package is in strict accordance with patient prescribed dosage information.

Background

Currently, there are various automated packaging systems for placing oral solid medications into packaging schemes that associate various dosing times with patient prescription data. Examples include U.S. patent nos. 8,831,773 and 7,185,476, which are incorporated herein by reference. These issued patents describe systems that enable one or more oral solid pharmaceutical products to be placed into a packaging cavity corresponding to patient prescription data and are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. While the existing solutions describe various systems that enable rapid and efficient placement of oral solid medications into packages, there remains a need in the art to ensure that oral solid medications have been placed into packages with absolute confidence and in a single system according to patient prescription data. Currently, there is no system available that provides automatic verification that oral solid drug packages have been accurately filled into individual systems and blister packages according to patient prescription data. Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for systems and methods that can ensure that oral solid medications have been placed into individual systems and blister packs in close compliance with predetermined patient prescription data.

Conventional solutions to this problem require a trained technician or pharmacist to inspect the packaged drug in order to ensure that the oral solid pharmaceutical product has been properly placed within the packaging material. This conventional approach is prone to errors and significant delays associated with manual inspection processes. Applicants' innovation set forth below overcomes these deficiencies of existing systems and eliminates the need for post-packaging quality checks. The unique use and arrangement of the various sensors by the applicant ensures that the oral solid medicament has been correctly packaged.

Disclosure of Invention

According to a first preferred exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a robotic pick-and-place automation is used to transport oral solid medications from a movable tray or canister that has been quality checked by a pharmacist to a packaging location according to patient prescription data. Advantageously, according to the present invention, various sensors are used in order to verify that the oral solid drug has been accurately placed into the desired oral solid drug packaging location according to the patient prescription data. According to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention, a pharmacist places oral solid drugs into a dispensing tray or canister for holding the oral solid drugs for pick-and-place via a robotic pick-and-place machine. Once the canister or tray is positioned adjacent the pick-and-place device, a further sensor or imaging unit associated with the pick-and-place device verifies that the oral solid pharmaceutical product held by the tray or canister is consistent with the size and shape and/or color of the intended oral solid pharmaceutical product to be placed into the packaging material in accordance with patient prescription data stored by a computer associated with the system.

If the expected data is consistent with the actual oral solid drug as sensed by the imaging unit associated with the pick-and-place device, the robotic pick-and-place device continues to deliver one of the oral solid drugs to the desired packaging location having a dosing time corresponding to the patient prescription data for the package currently being filled. Once the robotic pick-and-place device end of the arm tool has delivered the oral solid drug into the desired packaging location, the additional sensing unit ensures that the delivery into the desired package is complete in order to verify whether the robotic pick-and-place unit has dropped the oral solid drug into the desired packaging location. If the imaging sensor of the robotic pick-and-place device determines from current patient prescription data that the oral solid drug held in the tray or canister is not consistent with the intended oral solid drug, the system issues a warning to the system operator to prevent incorrect delivery of the oral solid drug into the packaging material and not pick up the oral solid drug.

According to a preferred exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the intermediate verification tray or transfer sensing unit is located between the end of the arm tool for the robotic pick and place mechanism and the oral solid drug package or temporary storage compartment having a cavity location corresponding to the cavity of the solid drug package to be filled by the system. The intermediate verification tray or transfer sensing unit preferably includes a plurality of sensors operative to confirm transfer from the robotic pick-and-place device end of the arm tool and the packaging cavity location currently being filled by the system in accordance with the prescribed data. Preferably the system is able to ensure that a particular cavity location is being filled by confirming the drop of an oral solid drug from the end of the robotic pick-and-place device of the arm tool.

According to a first preferred exemplary embodiment of the present invention, one or more optical sensing units are used to ensure whether an oral solid drug delivered by the robotic pick-and-place device actually falls into a particular packaging cavity location to be filled by the system. In a first preferred exemplary embodiment, the optical sensor unit comprises an emitter emitting a broad beam at least substantially covering the area above the cavity location to be filled. One or more receiving units are positioned opposite the transmitting unit and sense the transmitted beam produced by the transmitter. An interrupt signal is generated when one or more receiving units sense that at least a portion of the beam has been interrupted. Since the transmitter and receiving unit are preferably associated with each packaging cavity location, respectively, it can be confirmed whether the oral solid drug has been transferred from the dispensing tray or canister, in particular, by the robotic pick-and-place unit, into the desired oral solid drug packaging cavity in accordance with patient prescription data. This technique ensures that oral solid pharmaceutical products are packaged in close conformity with stored patient prescription data. It is also preferred that the sensors of the intermediate verification tray or the transfer sensing unit preferably sense any further disruption of the beam immediately after the drop of the oral solid drug product in order to ensure that the oral solid drug product does not bounce from the desired oral solid drug package location when the robotic pick-and-place device drops the oral solid drug product.

A further verification is performed by imaging the packaged medication and reconciling the oral solid drug product located in each package cavity with the corresponding patient prescription data for the specific medication time corresponding to the package cavity location. According to the above verification, it is possible to ensure with absolute confidence that each oral solid drug packaging cavity has been filled with the appropriate dose corresponding to the prescribed patient prescription data. Conventional systems fail to provide this high level of confidence to existing automated oral solid drug packaging systems. The present invention overcomes these disadvantages and shortcomings of prior systems, thereby providing a more economical and efficient packaging solution.

Drawings

FIG. 1 illustrates a first exemplary embodiment of an overall robotic pick-and-place oral solid drug packaging system of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a first exemplary embodiment of an intermediate verification tray or transfer sensing unit of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a second exemplary embodiment of an intermediate verification tray or transfer sensing unit of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a verification process;

FIG. 5 illustrates an end of an arm tool for a robotic pick-and-place device;

FIG. 6 shows the dispensing can with the lid in an open position;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the dispensing canister shown in FIG. 6;

Figure 8 shows mechanical transfer of the dispensing canister;

figure 9 shows a robotic pick-and-place device end with arm tool with removable suction tip secured for pill transfer.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 shows a first preferred exemplary embodiment of the present invention, generally indicated at 10 in the drawings. The robotic pick-and-place unit 12 transfers the oral solid drug from the transfer trays or

magazines

14, 15, 16 to the respective oral solid drug packaging locations according to patient prescription data. Each transfer tray or

magazine

14, 15, 16 is preferably transferred by another transfer robot from a staging position, in which the pharmacist or technician is filled with each tray or magazine from a large-volume storage, to the respective position shown in the figure. An initial verification is provided by the pharmacist or technician to ensure that the drug placed in the delivery tray or

magazine

14, 15, 16 is consistent with the drug specified for the particular delivery tray. The automated system preferably uses bar code verification or other automatically verified visual coding to confirm that the single trays or cartridges staged near the robotic pick-and-place unit 12 for filling are consistent with the designations provided by the pharmacist or technician at the time of filling.

Additional verification of the oral solid drug substance is performed by an imaging unit (not shown) preferably associated with the end of the arm tool portion 18 of the robotic pick-and-place unit 12. The imaging unit provides image data for comparison with a database of consistent images of oral solid medications to ensure that the oral solid medications actually picked up by the robotic pick and place unit 12 are consistent with the intended oral solid medications specified by the prescription to be filled, based on a plurality of visual characteristics including one or more of the shape, size, and/or color of the solid oral solid medications. The imaging unit is also preferably used to ensure that the end of the arm tool is correctly placed over a particular oral solid drug so that the suction tip can grasp and move the individual solid drug. The automated processing unit compares the actual image data to the expected image data to determine if there is a match, and if not, alerts the system operator.

According to a preferred exemplary embodiment, the end of the arm means initially engages with a suction tip fixed on a transfer tray or magazine from which the solid oral medication is to be transferred for packaging. The suction tip is a soft rubber tip that is engaged and removed from the end of the arm means of each cartridge so that each cartridge or transfer tray has its own dedicated suction tip, thereby avoiding the possibility of cross-contamination with different drugs filled through the system. Once all of the drugs have been delivered from a particular delivery tray or magazine for a particular package being filled by the system, the suction tip of the end of the arm tool is again secured to its corresponding delivery tray or magazine so that it can be used to deliver the solid oral medication from the delivery tray or magazine the next time. The circular suction tips are preferably temporarily fixed on the transfer trays or magazines via a semi-circular structure of plastic so that the end of the arm tool can easily engage and disengage the suction tip of each magazine or transfer tray.

Fig. 1 also shows the location of an intermediate transfer verification unit 20 positioned above the packages or package templates to be filled through the system. The intermediate transfer verification unit 20 incorporates a plurality of sensors that verify the transfer into the particular package or package template cavity corresponding to the patient prescription loaded through the system.

Fig. 2 shows a first exemplary embodiment of the intermediate transfer check unit 20. The intermediate transfer module 20 preferably includes an array of cavities 22 that each individually provide a transfer path for solid oral medications packaged by the system of the present invention. The row of cavities 22 of the intermediate transfer module 20 preferably corresponds to the individual cavities of the oral solid drug package that are located below the intermediate transfer module 20. The cavities of the package or package template correspond to the times at which a particular patient is taking a dose and the system automatically delivers each desired oral solid drug to its designated location using a robotic pick-and-place unit in close compliance with predetermined patient prescription data.

Fig. 2 also shows a plurality of electromagnetic emitter units 26 used to verify that the pharmaceutical product delivered by the robotic pick-and-place unit actually falls into the desired packaging cavity or template location. According to this first embodiment, an electromagnetic energy receiving unit (not shown) is disposed opposite each electromagnetic transmitting unit and a path is formed in the intermediate transfer verification unit 20 through the oral solid drug transfer path for each cavity in a given row or column of intermediate transfer verification units 20 to confirm whether the oral solid drug has been deposited in the desired cavity according to predetermined patient prescription data. According to this first embodiment of the intermediate transfer module 20, it is possible to verify whether the orally administered solid drug has been stacked by the end of the arm tool, but only the rows or columns of intermediate transfer modules 20 can be verified. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that additional transmitters and receivers may be used in order to provide greater accuracy in pill drop verification into each individual chamber. The intermediate transfer module 20 also acts as a barrier between the chambers to prevent unintended transfer of the medication between the chambers.

Fig. 3 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the intermediate transfer verification unit 20 in which each cavity 22 of the intermediate transfer verification unit 20 includes its own pair of electromagnetic transmitter and receiver units to specifically confirm whether the solid oral medication has fallen into a particular cavity of the package in accordance with the patient prescription data. The electromagnetic transmitter unit is not shown in the illustration of fig. 3. FIG. 3 illustrates the intermediate transfer module 20 and the individual electromagnetic receiving units 30 respectively associated with the chambers of the intermediate transfer module 20. When an individual solid oral drug is dropped by the robotic pick-and-place unit through a particular cavity of the intermediate transfer verification unit 20, the intermediate transfer verification unit 20 can sense and verify the drop of the solid oral drug based on the interruption of the beam received by each electromagnetic receiving unit 30. This sensing of the fall within each individual cavity provides confirmation that the oral solid drug has fallen into the package by the robotic pick-and-place unit in strict accordance with the intended patient prescription data. Separate electromagnetic transmitters and receivers may also be used to ensure that pills have not been ejected from the chamber by verifying that only a single beam break is associated with each pill drop.

Additional image data from optical sensing units located above and/or below the packaging cavity can be used to further confirm whether each individual cavity has been correctly filled with oral solid drugs strictly according to the predetermined patient prescription data.

Fig. 4 is a flow chart illustrating the overall process for automatically verifying that an oral solid pharmaceutical product is placed into a particular cavity of a package in strict accordance with patient prescription data stored in the electronic memory of a computer controller used to control the packaging machine. In step 42, the pharmacist or technician verifies the transfer of the drug from the bulk storage reservoir into the appropriate canister or dispenser for the prescribed drug. The drug canister is returned to the carousel where it may be automatically retrieved by the robot for transfer to the robotic pick-and-place device of the present invention. Preferably, a bar code, QR code or RFID reader associated with the system reads the code on the cans before the cans are located at a particular location in the staging area so the robotic retriever can automatically transfer the desired cans to the robotic pick and place unit.

In step 44, a barcode or other automatic reader reads the code or data from the canister as it is transferred to the staging area of the robotic pick-and-place packaging system to ensure that the system delivers the desired drug. In step 46, the image data from the pick-and-place unit verifies that the individual pill being delivered has physical characteristics consistent with the intended pill. In step 48, the system verifies the pill's fall into the particular packaging cavity corresponding to the patient prescription data. Finally, in step 50, the resulting package is labeled and sealed with patient-specific data after all required drugs for all doses specified by the patient prescription data have been filled into the cavities of the product package by the system.

In an alternative, more manual form of the system, the intermediate transfer verification tray includes one or more lights that illuminate the tray area corresponding to a particular cavity of the package to be filled with the oral solid pharmaceutical. This facilitates manual delivery of oral solid medicaments to specific packaging cavities based on patient prescription data. The remaining pill transfer related operations may then be performed following the manual transfer into the packaging chamber. The system causes one or more lights in a particular area to illuminate in order to guide the user to place the solid medication into a desired packaging location corresponding to the patient prescription data.

Fig. 5 shows a detail of an end of an arm tool for a robotic pick-and-place device, generally indicated at 60. High and

low pressure lines

62 and 64 operate to create a vacuum at suction line 65. A pressure sensor 66 located near the suction tube 65 operates to ensure that pills have been picked up by the system based on a predetermined pressure change at the pressure sensor 66. Valve 67 is a pneumatic solenoid switch that selectively applies a vacuum at suction tube 65. The switch is preferably a 2 millisecond switch that produces a pressure change in the end of the aspiration tube within 10 milliseconds. The solenoid switch or valve 67 consists of four standard ports and ports a and B are the supply of negative and positive pressure. Port a is coupled directly to a vacuum ejector supplying negative pressure and port B is coupled directly to a positive pressure regulator supplying low positive pressure. As a result, the P port is a port that supplies vacuum pressure and positive pressure to the suction tube. Ports a and B always have vacuum and positive pressure that is active during pick and place operations. This arrangement ensures a rapid pressure change at the end of the suction tube 65. Positive pressure is required to simply and effectively remove the vacuum pressure at the end of suction tube 65.

To perform pill drop verification, an emitter such as model LV S62 manufactured by Keyence is preferably used as the optical emitter along with the optical sensor. Alternatively, Fairchild semiconductor infrared light emitting diodes may be used as light sources in conjunction with optical sensors. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that virtually any emitter and sensor may be used to sense the interruption of the sensed emitted beam associated with the transport of the oral solid medicament into the product packaging cavity. In an alternative arrangement, it is recognised that the transport of an oral solid medicament into a packaging cavity can be sensed using one or more imaging units, but such an arrangement requires additional image data in order to identify the transfer into a particular packaging cavity.

Fig. 6 illustrates placement of a distribution can or cartridge in a staging area of a robotic pick-and-place system, generally indicated at 70. The magazine 72 includes a rotating cover 74 and a removable rubber tip 75 for the end of the suction tube of the robotic pick-and-place device. The removable rubber or neoprene 75 is secured in the locking member to conform to the contour of the removable rubber or neoprene tip 75 based on the elasticity of the rubber or neoprene tip 75 and the shape of the plastic locking member, which is preferably semi-cylindrical. After the dispensing cans or magazines 72 are secured in the staging area of the robotic pick-and-place system, the suction tube of the robotic pick-and-place system is inserted into the removable rubber or neoprene tip 75. Each dispensing canister or cartridge preferably includes its own removable rubber or neoprene tip to ensure that there is no cross-contamination of the drug through the system. Each drug thus has its own removable rubber or neoprene tip and cross-contamination is eliminated.

The dispensing canister or magazine 72 includes a visible area 76 where the robotic pick-and-place unit picks up the medicine. The rotating lid portion 74 comprises a barrier portion 77 that separates the drug from the storage area during transport of the dispensing canister or cartridge 72. The locking base portion 78 mechanically secures the dispensing canister or cartridge 72 based on interaction with the projections of the dispensing canister or cartridge 72. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various known mechanical and electromechanical locking mechanisms may be used to secure the dispensing canister or cartridge 72 to the storage area.

Each position of the storage area comprises a linear motor 79 for adjusting the resting angle of the dispensing cans or cartridges 72 when secured on the storage area. In addition to adjusting the resting angle of the dispensing canister or cartridge 72, the linear motor 79 selectively induces vibration of the dispensing canister or cartridge 72 to shake the solid oral medication from the storage area of the dispensing canister or cartridge 72 to the viewable area 76 so that the robotic pick-and-place unit can conveniently grasp the solid oral medication from the viewable area for placement into a package as described above. A digital imaging unit, preferably secured to the end of the arm means for the robotic pick-and-place unit, guides the suction tube and the removable rubber or neoprene tip 75 in order to properly secure the solid oral medication in the viewable area 76 for delivery to the package.

The preferred angle of inclination provided by the linear motor 79 for the dispensing canister or cartridge 72 to easily transfer the solid oral medication from the storage portion to the visible portion of the dispensing canister or cartridge 72 depends on a number of factors. Factors to be considered in selecting an appropriate angle of inclination include the relative fill level of the storage portion of the dispensing canister or cartridge 72. A greater degree of filling means a smaller inclination and a greater inclination has to be provided when the dispensing pot or cartridge 72 is almost empty. Other factors that should be considered in making this determination include the slope of the internal ramp connecting the storage area of the dispensing canister or cartridge 72 and the viewable area 76 and the size and shape of the drug being stored by the dispensing canister or cartridge 72. Generally, a tilt of about 10-20 degrees is preferred for delivering oral solid drugs to the visible area by vibration.

Preferably, the system monitors the amount of solid oral medication in the dispensing canister or cartridge 72 so that the angle of inclination can be dynamically altered to provide optimal delivery of the solid medication into the viewable area 76 of the dispensing canister or cartridge 72. This is done by noting when the technician or pharmacist has filled the dispensing canister or magazine 72 and then decrementing the pill count based on the number of oral solid medications that have been packaged from the particular canister by the robotic pick-and-place unit.

The amount of agitation provided by the linear motor 79 is also dependent on a number of factors including pill size, shape and weight. Preferably, the database is maintained by the system such that the electronic controller has access to an electronic memory having stored this information so that the controller can selectively operate the linear motor 79 at a desired tilt angle and desired vibration to conveniently transfer the drug from the storage area to the viewable area of the dispensing canister or cartridge 72. At frequencies of several hertz, the amplitude is typically a few tenths of a millimeter and the duration is typically a fraction of a second to a few seconds. A database storing the most desirable transfer characteristics of the linear motor 79, including tilt and vibration parameters, should be maintained.

The mechanical cam 82 preferably engages with a static arm of the staging area for the robotic pick and place unit such that placement of the dispensing canister or magazine 72 in the staging area causes the rotating cover portion 74 and barrier portion 77 to open when the dispensing canister or magazine 72 is placed in the staging area of the robotic pick and place unit. This arrangement is very efficient and eliminates the need to open the cover 74 with a single movement of the robot.

Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view of an exemplary dispensing canister or cartridge 72. The gripping structures are used by the transfer robot to transfer the distribution cans or magazines 72 to the staging area of the robotic pick-and-place unit. This view clearly shows the viewing area 76 and the storage area 86 with a sloped bottom between the viewing area and the storage area. The inclined arrangement of the bottom of the storage area 86 enables the oral solid medicament to be conveniently transferred from the storage area 86 to the viewable area 76 based on the inclination and vibration of the dispensing canister or cartridge 72 as described above.

Figure 8 shows an alternative arrangement of a dispensing canister or cartridge, generally indicated at 90. Fig. 8 also shows the end of the arm tool 91 of the robot unit for transferring a distribution pot or magazine from a storage position to the segmented transport area of the robotic pick-and-place unit. According to this alternative arrangement, the dispensing canister or cartridge comprises a sliding cover 92 with which the end of the arm means for seating the dispensing canister or cartridge, once the canister has been placed in the staging area, engages via an arm 93 to slide open sliding cover 92. The barrier attached to the lid engages the end of the visible area indicated at 94 to ensure that the drug does not accidentally fall into the visible area during transport. This ensures that the viewable area maintains a single layer of solid oral medication that can be easily grasped via the end of the arm tool for the robotic pick-and-place unit.

Fig. 9 shows the robotic pick-and-place end of the arm tool and a removable rubber or neoprene 75 affixed to the suction end for grasping the medicine. The pressure sensor at the end of the arm means adjacent the suction tip is preferably monitored during transport of the pill to ensure that the pill does not accidentally fall during transport before it is placed into the container.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various substitutions and alterations may be made to the systems and methods described in this application while remaining within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A system for dispensing a solid drug product, comprising:

a plurality of cassettes, each of the plurality of cassettes configured to store a plurality of solid drugs, wherein each of the plurality of cassettes includes a viewable area in which the plurality of solid drugs can be picked up;

a drug delivery verification unit configured to be placed over one or both of a package or package template to be filled, wherein,

the drug delivery verification unit includes a plurality of cavities, each cavity providing a delivery path for at least some of the plurality of solid drugs;

the drug delivery verification unit includes an electromagnetic energy emitter unit configured to generate a transmission beam and an electromagnetic energy receiving unit located opposite to the electromagnetic energy emitter unit; and

the drug delivery verification unit is configured to detect interruption of the emitted beam to verify that each solid drug is placed into one of the plurality of cavities; and

the robot picks up and puts the mechanism, is located medicine conveying check-up unit top, and this robot picks up and puts the mechanism and includes:

an end of the arm tool portion configured to grasp and transfer a single one of the plurality of solid drugs from a single one of the plurality of cassettes to a single one of the plurality of cavities; and

An imaging unit configured to verify that each solid drug product picked up by the arm tool portion matches a desired solid drug product based on a visual characteristic of each solid drug product.

2. The system for dispensing solid pharmaceutical products of claim 1, wherein,

each of the plurality of cartridges including a suction tip that is removably coupled to a single cartridge of the plurality of cartridges; and

the end of the arm tool portion of the robotic pick-and-place mechanism is further configured to engage and remove a corresponding suction tip associated with a particular cassette of the plurality of cassettes prior to grasping and transferring individual ones of the plurality of solid drugs from individual cassettes of the plurality of cassettes.

3. A system for dispensing solid pharmaceutical products according to claim 2, wherein,

the end of the arm tool portion of the robotic pick-and-place mechanism is further configured to secure the corresponding suction tip to a particular cassette of the plurality of cassettes once all of the plurality of solid drugs have been delivered from the individual cassette of the plurality of cassettes.

4. The system for dispensing solid pharmaceutical products of claim 1, wherein,

the imaging unit is further configured to ensure that the end of the arm tool portion is placed over the specific solid medicine so that the end of the arm tool portion can grasp the specific solid medicine.

5. The system for dispensing solid pharmaceutical products of claim 1, wherein,

the electromagnetic energy transmitting unit is one of a plurality of electromagnetic energy transmitting units;

the electromagnetic energy receiving unit is one of a plurality of electromagnetic energy receiving units; and

each of the plurality of chambers of the medication delivery verification unit includes a dedicated one of the plurality of electromagnetic energy emitting units and a dedicated one of the plurality of electromagnetic energy receiving units.

6. The system for dispensing solid pharmaceutical products of claim 1, wherein,

each of the plurality of cartridges includes a rotating cover portion coupled to a mechanical cam,

a plurality of cassettes are supported by the staging area,

the staging area includes a static arm configured to engage a mechanical cam of one of the plurality of cassettes when the one of the plurality of cassettes is placed on the staging area; and

the engagement of the mechanical cam and the stationary arm causes the rotating lid portion to open.

7. The system for dispensing solid pharmaceutical products of claim 1, wherein,

each of the plurality of cartridges includes a lock configured to removably engage a suction tip for an end of the arm tool portion.

8. A system for dispensing solid pharmaceutical products according to claim 1, wherein,

each of the plurality of cassettes is supported by a staging area having a linear motor coupled to at least one of the plurality of cassettes, the linear motor configured to adjust an angle of the at least one cassette.

9. A system for dispensing solid pharmaceutical products according to claim 8, wherein,

the linear motor is further configured to selectively vibrate the at least one cartridge.

10. A system for dispensing solid pharmaceutical products according to claim 8, wherein,

adjusting the angle according to a relative filling level of solid drug present in the at least one cassette.

11. A method for dispensing a solid pharmaceutical product, comprising,

positioning a suction tip of an end of an arm tool portion of a robot pick-and-place mechanism on a single solid medicine in one of a plurality of cassettes, each of the plurality of cassettes containing a plurality of solid medicines,

the end of the arm tool part of the robotic pick and place mechanism is used to grasp a single solid drug,

verifying, using an imaging unit associated with the robotic pick and place mechanism, whether the solid drug product picked up by the end of the arm tool portion matches an expected solid drug product based on a visual characteristic of the solid drug product; and

A robotic pick and place mechanism is used to place individual solid medications into specific ones of a plurality of cavities defined by medication delivery verification units placed over one or both of the packages or the packaging templates to drop the solid medications into one or both of the packages or the packaging templates, wherein the specific cavities are determined by patient prescription data.

12. The method for dispensing a solid pharmaceutical product according to claim 11, further comprising:

by detecting the interruption of the emitted beam by means of the drug delivery verification unit, it is automatically verified whether the solid drug has been placed into the specific cavity according to the patient prescription data.

13. The method for dispensing solid pharmaceutical products of claim 12, further comprising,

any additional interruption of the emitter beam is sensed immediately after the solid drug is inserted to ensure that the solid drug has not been ejected from the particular cavity.

14. The method for dispensing solid pharmaceutical products according to claim 11, further comprising,

the plurality of solid medicines in at least one of the plurality of cassettes are drawn toward the viewable area by tilting, vibrating, or tilting plus vibrating the viewable area of the at least one of the plurality of cassettes using the linear motor.

15. The method for dispensing solid pharmaceutical products according to claim 11, further comprising,

Once all of the solid drugs specified by the patient prescription data are transferred into the package, the package is automatically sealed and the specific data is printed on the package.

16. The method for dispensing solid pharmaceutical products according to claim 11, further comprising,

using the end of the arm tool portion, engaging the suction tip with the end of the arm tool portion and removing the suction tip from one of the plurality of cassettes associated with the single solid drug product.

17. The method for dispensing solid pharmaceutical products according to claim 11,

the end of the arm tool portion includes a suction tube connected to a suction tip; and

the end of the arm tool portion includes a high pressure line and a low pressure line for creating a vacuum within the suction tube to enable the suction tip to grasp a single solid drug of the plurality of solid drugs.

18. The method for dispensing solid pharmaceutical products according to claim 11,

each of the plurality of cavities of the medication delivery verification unit corresponds to a cavity location of the package.