Communications of the ACM
Checking for Counterfeit Medication Using a Smartphone
The SmartID app can check whether the information stored in the barcode matches the data captured from the surface texture.
Credit: Nadine Sandowski/Fraunhofer IAP
The SmartID barcode system developed by researchers at a group of Germany's Fraunhofer research institutes allows users to verify whether a medical product is genuine using a smartphone.
First, information about the unique surface texture of individual packaging is digitized and converted into a barcode, which is printed onto the packaging alongside a small blank area.
Using a specially-designed smartphone application to scan both the code and the area beside it, users can check whether the information stored in the barcode matches the data captured from the surface texture, with no Internet or database access required.
Said Fraunhofer's Tobias Jochum, “We leverage the fact that all packaging has a unique, characteristic surface texture—similar to a human fingerprint—and that standard smartphone cameras are able to capture this surface texture."
From Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (Germany)
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