Systems and methods for processing surgical instrument tray shipping totes
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A surgical instrument tray shipping tote tracking system comprising:
- a dual purpose bar code scanner and RFID reader/writer device; and
a series of computer readable instructions stored in the dual purpose device adapted to cause the device to;
activate a bar code scanner to obtain bar code data from a bar coded label affixed to a surgical instrument shipping tote;
activate an RFID reader to obtain identification information from one or more surgical instrument trays in the shipping tote;
query a database containing status information using at least one of the bar code data and identification information; and
activate an indicator based on the results of querying the database.
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Abstract
Systems and methods for processing surgical instrument tray shipping totes. A control system is adapted to control a bar code reader module, an RFID module, a database module and an interface module. The control system provides functionality adapted to process incoming and outgoing surgical instrument shipping totes containing one or more RFID-enabled surgical instrument trays. A database, ERP system or other system in communication with the control system alerts the operator of the status of an incoming tote and/or trays contained in the tote to increase processing efficiency and speed.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A surgical instrument tray shipping tote tracking system comprising:
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a dual purpose bar code scanner and RFID reader/writer device; and
a series of computer readable instructions stored in the dual purpose device adapted to cause the device to;
activate a bar code scanner to obtain bar code data from a bar coded label affixed to a surgical instrument shipping tote;
activate an RFID reader to obtain identification information from one or more surgical instrument trays in the shipping tote;
query a database containing status information using at least one of the bar code data and identification information; and
activate an indicator based on the results of querying the database. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A computer readable storage medium containing computer readable instructions stored therein for operating a surgical instrument tray shipping tote inventory management system, the instructions comprising:
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instructions for activating a bar code reader and for receiving a first input from the bar code reader, the first input originating from a shipping tote air bill label associated with the shipping tote;
instructions for activating an RFID reader and for receiving at least one second input from the RFID reader, the at least one second input originating from an RFID transponder tag corresponding to a surgical instrument tray in the shipping tote;
instructions for querying a status database using at least one of the first input and second input; and
instructions for activating a status indicator. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A control system for a surgical instrument tray shipping tote processing system comprising:
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a bar code scanner module adapted to activate a bar code scanner and receive a bar coded input indicative a surgical instrument shipping tote air bill label;
an RFID module adapted to activate an RFID reader and receive identification information from one or more RF enabled surgical instrument trays in the shipping tote;
a status module adapted to query a status database using at least of the bar coded input and the identification information to determine a status associated with the tote; and
an indicator module adapted to activate one of a plurality of indicators based on the determined status.
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Specification