CandyCodes

CandyCodes provides unique physical identifiers for pharmaceutical products by randomly applying multicolor nonpareils and enabling image-based pattern matching for authenticity verification.

Key Features:

• Universally Unique Identifiers: Random application of multicolor nonpareils yields patterns with extremely low collision probability, serving as distinct identifiers for individual pills, tablets, capsules, or caplets.
• Integration into manufacturing: Nonpareils are applied immediately after manufacture and intended to integrate with existing pharmaceutical manufacturing processes.
• Image-based verification: Authentication is performed by capturing images of CandyCodes and comparing them to stored patterns via image analysis and pattern matching.
• Robustness and scalability: CandyCodes remain verifiable after simulated shipping and handling and the system can generate up to 10^17 unique identifiers.
• Data management: CandyCode images are converted into string representations for efficient storage and retrieval in a database.

Scientific Applications:

• Pharmaceutical authentication: Distinguishing authentic medicines from counterfeit or substandard products through image-based pattern matching of CandyCodes.
• Post-market surveillance and supply-chain verification: Enabling verification of product integrity across distribution channels, including contexts with high prevalence of counterfeit medicines such as developing countries.

Methodology:

Nonpareils are applied randomly post-manufacture; images are captured and converted into string representations stored in a database; verification is performed by image analysis comparing submitted photos with stored CandyCodes, and feasibility was evaluated using experiments with real and simulated CandyCodes.