Pill counting or tablet counting with the help of photoelectric cells and motion sensors is now an established practice, be it for filling pharmaceutical bottles, or for the purpose of verifying manual counts. Although there are still a few limitations to how much and what pill counting tech can do even today, automated pill counting has managed to achieve some wonderful and unprecedented results for the pharmaceutical industry in recent years. Taking a brief look over the crucial facets of tablet counting, the tech behind it, and the limitations of the process should help us get a better picture of where things stand.
Advantages of Photoelectric Pill Counting
The degree to which a pill counting process can be usefulwill vary from process to process, but the prime benefits can be boiled down to:
- Greater accuracy
- Faster counting
- Zero contamination, on account of zero (direct) human contact
Primary Hardware: Sensing and Counting
The primary hardware involved in modern counting processes is photocells and motion sensors, which are in many ways quite similar to the ones found inside motion-activated lights. Although, in this process, no solar energy is generated or utilized directly, unlike how it works with solar-powered street/porch lights. In the pharmaceutical process, only the photosensitivity of photoelectric sensors is utilized to assist in delivering precise pill counts.
Primary Software: The Counting Application
The software factors in multiple variables, so that an accurate count can be provided each and every time. The marvel of modern pill counting applications is that the best ones are intelligent, which is to say that a smart software application can automatically adjust counts in accordance with variables such a pill shape, size, color, translucency, and reflectiveness. However, some of the data regarding dispensing speed, free-fall speed, minimum/maximum distance maintained between each pill, trajectory line, shape and size of the sensing zone, etc. may still need to be added manually. What and how much even AI-powered applications can do, depends on the quality and type of sensors that it is bundled with.
Parameters and Limits
In order for a photoelectric counter to be as accurate and fast as it should be, certain parameters must be maintained, as stated next:
- Powdered dust on photo and motion sensors will prevent accurate counts, so the sensors must be cleaned at regular and frequent intervals
- Through-beam sensors are unaffected by pill color and reflectivity, but they are not the fastest
- Fiber optic array sensors with microprocessors can sense more and count faster, but they are affected by pill color and reflectiveness
- Vision and line scanners can detect malformed or discolored pills, but they are too expensive at the moment to be useable in mass counting operations where multiple systems work simultaneously
- Most photo-motion sensors used in pharmacological pill counting cannot always detect if more than one pill is dispensed at once
- Index wheels and mechanical gates must be in place to keep the above from happening, or at least detect the malfunctioning dispensation
Thanks to automation tech becoming more and more advanced with each passing day, much of the manual data that the earlier pill counters needed to provide accurate counts is not necessary anymore. The budget will often determine how fast and accurate a particular sensor + application bundle can be.