Advantages of Multiscale Detection of Defective Pills during Manufacturing

Abstract

We explore methods to automatically detect the quality in individual or batches of pharmaceutical products as they are manufactured. The goal is to detect 100% of the defects, not just statistically sample a small percentage of the products and draw conclusions that may not be 100% accurate. Removing all of the defective products, or halting production in extreme cases, will reduce costs and eliminate embarrassing and expensive recalls. We use the knowledge that experts have accumulated over many years, dynamic data derived from networks of smart sensors using both audio and chemical spectral signatures, multiple scales to look at individual products and larger quantities of products, and finally adaptive models and algorithms. © 2010 Springer-Verlag.