Amgen Inc.

Erwin Freund

Graham Frank Milne

Ryan L Smith

Thomas Clark Pearson

Dmitry Fradkin

Neelima Chavali

Bonchull Chris Koo

Andrew Phillip Spasoff

Susanne Therese Atkinson

Adrian Bennis

A robotic inspection platform comprises a robotic arm, an imager, and a controller. The controller causes the robotic arm to retrieve, using its end effector, a container, and to manipulate the container such that the container is sequentially placed in a plurality of orientations while in view of the imager. The controller also causes the imager to capture images, with each of the images being captured while the container is in a respective one of the orientations. The controller also determines one or more attributes of the container, and/or a sample within the container, by analyzing the images using a pattern recognition model and, based on the attribute(s), determines whether the container and/or sample satisfies one or more criteria. If the container and/or sample fails to satisfy the criteria, the controller causes the robotic arm to place the container in an area (e.g., bin) reserved for rejected containers and/or samples.

Robotic system for performing pattern recognition-based inspection of pharmaceutical containers

In a method for imaging a container holding a sample, the container is illuminated with a laser sheet of a first color, and one or more images of the container are capturing by a first imager configured to filter out colors other than the first color. Simultaneously with illuminating the container with the laser sheet of the first color, the container is illuminated with light of a second color different than the first color, wherein the light of the second color illuminates at least a majority of an entire volume of the container. One or more additional imagers of the container are captured by a second imager configured to filter out colors other than the second color. The one or more images and the one or more additional images are analyzed to detect particles within, and/or on an exterior surface of, the container.

Sheet lighting for particle detection in drug product containers

An apparatus for nondestructive detection of transparent or reflective objects in a vessel includes an imager configured to acquire data that represent light reflected from spatial locations in the vessel as a function of time, a memory operably coupled to the imager and configured to store the data, and a processor operably coupled to the memory and configured to detect the objects based on the data by (i) identifying a respective maximum amount of reflected light, over time, for each location in the spatial locations based on the data representing light reflected from the spatial locations as a function of time, and (ii) determining a presence or absence of the objects in the vessel based on the number of spatial locations whose respective maximum amount of reflected light, over time, exceeds a predetermined value.

Methods and apparati for nondestructive detection of undissolved particles in a fluid

In a method for imaging a container holding a sample, the container is illuminated with a laser sheet that impinges upon the container in a first direction corresponding to a first axis. A plane of the laser sheet is defined by the first axis and a second axis orthogonal to the first axis. The method also includes capturing, by a camera having an imaging axis that is substantially orthogonal to at least the first axis, an image of the container. The method further includes analyzing, by one or more processors, the image of the container to detect particles within, and/or on an exterior surface of, the container.

The invention relates to methods for making injectable pharmaceutical compositions wherein particles present in the compositions are detected and analyzed, and the acceptance of the compositions is determined based on chemical and physical properties as well as toxicology and patient risks associated of the particles.

Method for making injectable pharmaceutical compositions

An inspection system for a drug container is provided to identify foreign matter, such as particles or fibers, within the drug container prior to filling with a drug. The system includes a camera device aligned with an axis of the drug container and captures a series of images of an interior surface of a sidewall of the drug container while the robot causes relative movement between the drug container and the camera device along a linear path. Atypical lighting, which improves contrast between particles and the background in images is employed to aid detection. A control circuit then processes the series of images to identify foreign matter within the drug container.

Camera-based drug container inspection

The apparati, methods, and computer program products disclosed herein can be used to nondestructively detect undissolved particles, such as glass flakes and/or protein aggregates, in a fluid in a vessel, such as, but not limited to, a fluid that contains a drug.

An automated visual inspection (AVI) system is described to measure the depth of plungers positioned within vessels. The AVI system implements various types of image processing as well as other techniques to identify, for a vessel, a reference point and the uppermost edge of the plunger. Because different inconsistencies and/or artifacts may be introduced within the vessel image, different processing techniques may be executed on the region containing the reference point versus the plunger region. In doing so, the AVI system provides a robust means to accurately measure plunger depth that is highly resilient to the aforementioned artifacts and consistently measures plunger depth for a wide variety and types of vessels.

Image processing techniques for plunger depth measurement

A method includes, during an agitation period of an agitation profile, applying a motion to a transparent vessel containing a fluid, and while applying the motion; acquiring a sequence of original images of a portion of the transparent vessel; generating a background image from the sequence of original images; generating a resultant image from the background image and an original image in the sequence of original images; and identifying from the resultant image a particle in the fluid.

Growing community of inventors

Camarillo, CA, United States of America

Erwin Freund