System and method for identifying and controlling ophthalmic surgical devices and components

• US 20060129140A1
• Filed: 12/15/2004
• Published: 06/15/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alcon Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Alcon Incorporated
• Inventors: Reed, Frederick M., Horvath, Christopher, Rowe, T. Scott, Todd, Kirk W., Ekvall, Johan G.
• Granted Patent: US 7,568,619 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 606/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00482 with a code
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/0805 automatically, e.g. by means of magnetic, optical or photoelectric detectors
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/0814 Preventing re-use
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 90/90 Identification means for patients or instruments, e.g. tags
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 90/98 using electromagnetic means, e.g. transponders
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2009/00874 Vitreous
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 9/007 Methods or devices for eye surgery
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 9/008 using laser
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 17/00 Methods or arrangements for effecting co-operative working between equipments covered by two or more of main groups G06K1/00 - G06K15/00, e.g. automatic card files incorporating conveying and reading operations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders

Abstract

System and method for identifying a component, such as an optical probe or pneumatic scissors, of an ophthalmic surgical device. A component of a surgical device includes an identifier, such as a RFID tag. Data from the RFID tag is transmitted to a RFID reader in the device. A controller determines whether the component corresponding to the received data is operable with the surgical device based on criteria, such as whether the received data is an authorized code that matches data stored in memory or whether the received data solves or satisfies an algorithm. The authorized codes are selected from a larger set of available codes. The controller enables or disables the operation of the device with the component based on whether the criteria is satisfied, the number of uses of the component, an amount of time that has passed since the component has been used, or a geographic location. The RFID data can also be used to calibrate the surgical device for use with the particular component and for inventory and monitoring purposes.

Claims

1. A system for identifying a component that is used with an ophthalmic surgical device, comprising:

a receiver,

a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag;

a memory, the memory storing criteria; and

a controller, the controller, the memory and the receiver being included in the ophthalmic surgical device, the RFID tag being included in the component used with the ophthalmic surgical device, data from the RFID tag in the component being transmitted to the receiver in the ophthalmic surgical device,

the controller determining whether the component corresponding to the received data can be used with the ophthalmic surgical device based on whether the received data satisfies the criteria stored in the memory.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the criteria is authorized data that is stored in the memory, data received from the identifier being compared to the authorized data to determine whether the component can be used with the ophthalmic surgical device.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the criteria is an algorithm, the algorithm being applied to the data received from the identifier to determine whether the component can be used with the ophthalmic surgical device.

4. The system of claim 1, the ophthalmic surgical device being a laser.

5. The system of claim 4, the component being an optical probe that is attached to the laser.

6. The system of claim 1, the ophthalmic surgical device being a vitreoretinal surgical device.

7. The system of claim 6, the component being a vitrectomy probe that is attached to the vitreoretinal surgical device.

8. The system of claim 6, the component being a pneumatically or electrically powered scissors that is attached to the vitreoretinal surgical device.

9. The system of claim 6, the component being an endoilluminator probe that is attached to the vitreoretinal surgical device.

10. A system for identifying a component that is used with an ophthalmic surgical device, comprising:

a receiver,

an identifier;

a memory, the memory storing criteria; and

a controller, wherein the controller, the memory and the receiver are included in the ophthalmic surgical device, and the identifier is included in the component, data from the identifier in the component being transmitted to the receiver in the ophthalmic surgical device;

the controller determining whether the component corresponding to the received data can be used with the ophthalmic surgical device based on whether the data received from the identifier is an authorized code that satisfies the criteria stored in memory, authorized codes being selected from a larger set of available codes.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the criteria is authorized data that is stored in the memory, data received from the identifier being compared to the authorized data to determine whether the component can be used with the ophthalmic surgical device.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the criteria is an algorithm, the algorithm being applied to the data received from the identifier to determine whether the component can be used with the ophthalmic surgical device.

13. The system of claim 10, the receiver being a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) reader.

14. The system of claim 10, the identifier being a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag.

15. The system of claim 10, the data transmitted by the identifier being unencrypted.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein a number of authorized codes is at least three orders of magnitude greater than a number of available codes.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein one billion authorized codes are selected from one trillion available codes.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the authorized codes are randomly selected from available codes.

19. The system of claim 10, the ophthalmic surgical device being a laser.

20. The system of claim 19, the component being an optical probe that is attached to the laser.

21. The system of claim 10, the ophthalmic surgical device being a vitreoretinal surgical device.

22. The system of claim 21, the component being a vitrectomy probe that is attached to the vitreoretinal surgical device.

23. The system of claim 21, the component being a pneumatically or electrically powered scissors that is attached to the vitreoretinal surgical device.

24. The system of claim 21, the component being an endoilluminator probe that is attached to the vitreoretinal surgical device.

25. The system of claim 10, the identifier data including 14 bytes, wherein 2 bytes are used to identify the component, and 12 bytes are used to identify one trillion available codes, including authorized and unauthorized codes.

26. The system of claim 10, the received data satisfying the criteria, the controller enabling the ophthalmic surgical device to be used with the component.

27. The system of claim 10, the controller being configured to determine a number of times the component has been used based on a number of times the same identifier data is received.

28. The system of claim 27, the component being used more than one time so that the same received data satisfies the criteria, the controller disabling the ophthalmic surgical device from being used with the component after a predetermined number of uses of the component.

29. The system of claim 27, the component being used more than one time so that the same received data satisfies the criteria, the controller generating a message to a user that the component has been previously used.

30. The system of claim 10, the controller disabling the ophthalmic surgical device from being used with the component after a predetermined amount of time following a use of the component.

31. The system of claim 10, the received data not satisfying the criteria, the controller disabling the ophthalmic surgical device from being used with the component.

32. The system of claim 10, the receiver being a transceiver, wherein the transceiver reads data from the identifier of the component and writes data to the identifier of the component.

33. The system of claim 32, the transceiver writing data to the identifier of the component relating to a date of usage, a number of uses of the component, a duration of use of the component, or a power setting of the component.

34. The system of claim 10, the data from the identifier including calibration data, the calibration data indicating the configuration of the ophthalmic surgical device for use with the component.

35. The system of claim 10, authorized codes being serialized so that a component is associated with a batch or lot of components, the batch or lot being defined by a components associated with a group of serialized authorized codes.

36. The system of claim 10, the criteria being associated with a pre-defined geographic area, when the received data satisfies the criteria, the controller enables the ophthalmic surgical device to be used with the component in the pre-defined geographic area.

37. A system for identifying a component that is used with an ophthalmic surgical device, comprising:

a receiver;

a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag;

a memory, the memory storing criteria; and

a controller, the controller, the memory and the receiver being included in the ophthalmic surgical device, the RFID tag being included in the component, unencrypted data from the RFID tag in the component being transmitted to the to the receiver in the ophthalmic surgical device,

the controller determining whether the component corresponding to the unencrypted data received from the RFID tag can be used with the ophthalmic surgical device based on whether the received data is an authorized code that satisfies the criteria stored in memory, authorized codes being selected from a larger set of available codes.

38. The system of claim 37, wherein the criteria is authorized data that is stored in the memory, data received from the identifier being compared to the authorized data to determine whether the component can be used with the ophthalmic surgical device.

39. The system of claim 37, wherein the criteria is an algorithm, the algorithm being applied to the data received from the identifier to determine whether the component can be used with the ophthalmic surgical device.

40. The system of claim 37, the receiver being a RFID reader.

41. The system of claim 37, wherein a number of authorized codes is at least three orders of magnitude greater than a number of available codes.

42. The system of claim 37, wherein one billion authorized codes are selected from one trillion available codes.

43. The system of claim 37, wherein the authorized codes are randomly selected from the larger group of available codes.

44. The system of claim 37, the ophthalmic surgical device being a laser.

45. The system of claim 44, the component being an optical probe that is attached to the laser.

46. The system of claim 37, the ophthalmic surgical device being a vitreoretinal surgical device.

47. The system of claim 46, the component being a vitrectomy probe that is attached to the vitreoretinal surgical device.

48. The system of claim 46, the component being a pneumatically or electrically powered scissors that is attached to the vitreoretinal surgical device.

49. The system of claim 46, the component being an endoilluminator probe that is attached to the vitreoretinal surgical device.

50. The system of claim 37, the unencrypted data including 14 bytes, wherein 2 bytes are used to identify the type of component, and 12 bytes are used to identify one trillion available codes.

51. The system of claim 37, the received data satisfying the criteria, the controller enabling the ophthalmic surgical device to be used with the component.

52. The system of claim 37, the controller being configured to determine a number of times the component has been used based on a number of times the same identifier data is received.

53. The system of claim 52, the component being used more than one time so that the same received data satisfies the criteria, the controller disabling the ophthalmic surgical device from being used with the component after a predetermined number of uses of the component.

54. The system of claim 52, the component being used more than one time so that the same received data satisfies the criteria, the controller generating a message to a user that the component has been previously used.

55. The system of claim 37, the controller disabling the ophthalmic surgical device from being used with the component after a predetermined amount of time following a use of the component.

56. The system of claim 37, the received data not satisfying the criteria, the controller disabling the ophthalmic surgical device from being used with the component.

57. The system of claim 37, the receiver being a transceiver, wherein the transceiver reads data from the identifier of the component and writes data to the identifier of the component.

58. The system of claim 57, the transceiver writing data to the identifier of the component relating to a date of usage, a number of uses of the component, a duration of use of the component, or a power setting of the component.

59. The system of claim 37, the data from the component including calibration data, the calibration data indicating the configuration of the ophthalmic surgical device for use with the component.

60. The system of claim 37, authorized codes being serialized so that a component is associated with a batch or lot of components, the batch or lot being defined by a components associated with a group of serialized authorized codes.

61. The system of claim 37, the criteria being associated with a pre-defined geographic area, when the received data satisfies the criteria, the controller enables the ophthalmic surgical device to be used with the component in the pre-defined geographic area.

62. A method of identifying a component that can be used with an ophthalmic surgical device, comprising:

providing an ophthalmic surgical device and a component that is attached to the ophthalmic surgical device;

establishing criteria and storing the criteria in a memory of the ophthalmic surgical device;

transmitting data from an identifier in the component to a receiver in the ophthalmic surgical device;

determining whether the component corresponding to the received data can be used with the ophthalmic surgical device based on whether the received data is an authorized code that satisfies the criteria stored in the memory.

63. The method of claim 62, establishing criteria comprising selecting authorized data that is stored in the memory, data received from the identifier being compared to the authorized data to determine whether the component can be used with the ophthalmic surgical device.

64. The method of claim 62, establishing criteria comprising selecting an algorithm, the algorithm being applied to the data received from the identifier to determine whether the component can be used with the ophthalmic surgical device.

65. The method of claim 64, selecting the algorithm comprising selecting a random number generator algorithm.

66. The method of claim 62, further comprising identifying the type of component based on the identifier data.

67. The method of claim 66, further comprising generating a user interface for presentation on a display screen based on the identified component.

68. The method of claim 66, further comprising enabling operating parameters that are compatible with the identified component.

69. The method of claim 66, further comprising disabling operating parameters that are incompatible with the identified component.

70. The method of claim 66, further comprising limiting a value of an operating parameter based on the identified component.

71. The method of claim 66, limiting the value of the operating parameter comprising limiting a value of power or an exposure range.

72. The method of claim 66, further comprising determining the presence of a safety component that is associated with the identified component.

73. The method of claim 72, determining the presence of the safety component comprising determining the presence of a filter.

74. The method of claim 62, transmitting data from the identifier to the receiver comprising transmitting data to a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) reader.

75. The method of claim 62, transmitting data from the identifier comprising transmitting data from a RFID tag.

76. The method of claim 62, further comprising selecting authorized codes from a larger set of available codes.

77. The method of claim 62, selecting authorized codes comprising selection a number of authorized codes from a number of available codes that is at least three orders of magnitude greater than a number of authorized codes.

78. The method of claim 62, transmitting data from the identifier in the component to the receiver in the ophthalmic surgical device comprising transmitting unencrypted data.

79. The method of claim 62, providing the ophthalmic surgical device comprising providing a laser.

80. The method of claim 79, providing the component comprising providing an optical probe that is attached to the laser.

81. The method of claim 62, providing the ophthalmic surgical device comprising providing a vitreoretinal surgical device.

82. The method of claim 81, providing the component comprising providing a vitrectomy probe that is attached to the vitreoretinal surgical device.

83. The method of claim 81, providing the component comprising providing a pneumatically or electrically powered scissors that is attached to the vitreoretinal surgical device.

84. The method of claim 81, providing the component comprising providing an endoilluminator probe that is attached to the vitreoretinal surgical device.

85. The method of claim 62, the received data satisfying the criteria, further comprising enabling the ophthalmic surgical device to be used with the component.

86. The method of claim 62, further comprising determining a number of times a component has been used.

87. The method of claim 86, further comprising disabling the ophthalmic surgical device from being used with the component after a predetermined number of uses of the component.

88. The method of claim 86, further comprising generating a message that the component has been previously used.

89. The method of claim 62, further comprising determining a duration of time following a use of the component.

90. The method of claim 89, further comprising disabling the ophthalmic surgical device from being used with the component after a predetermined amount of time following a use of the component.

91. The method of claim 62, further comprising writing data to the identifier of the component.

92. The method of claim 91, writing data comprising writing a date of usage, a number of uses of the component, a duration of use of the component, or a power setting of the component to the identifier of the component.

93. The method of claim 62, data from the identifier of the component including calibration data, further comprising calibrating the ophthalmic surgical device for use with the component based on the calibration data.

94. The method of claim 62, further comprising

serializing authorized codes;

and

defining a group or lot of components based on the serialized codes.

95. The method of claim 62, further comprising

encoding the identifier in the component with data with an authorized code that satisfies the criteria, and

transmitting data comprising transmitting the encoded data from the identifier in the component to the receiver in the ophthalmic surgical device.