Method for sorting discarded and spent pharmaceutical items

• US 20060253297A1
• Filed: 05/03/2006
• Published: 11/09/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Carefusion 303 Incorporated (Becton Dickinson & Co)
• Original Assignee: Vesta Medical LLC (Becton Dickinson & Co)
• Inventors: Davidner, Alan A., Mallett, Scott R., Benson, James R., Danta, Randall C., Corey, Alan D., Regla, Peter
• Granted Patent: US 7,318,529 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 209/702
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 11/00 Methods specially adapted for refuse disintegrating medical waste B02C19/0075; disposal of medical waste B09B3/00
• CPC Class Codes: B09B 3/0075 Disposal of medical waste casings for used articles, e.g. sharps A61B50/362; sterilisation of refuse A61L11/00; disposal of used needles or syringes A61M5/3205; disintegrating medical waste B02C19/0075
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/30 Administration of product recycling or disposal
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms
• CPC Class Codes: Y02W 90/00 Enabling technologies or technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions mitigation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 209/93 Municipal solid waste sorting

Abstract

A system for disposing of medical waste is generally configured to sort waste items into a plurality of containers according to applicable rules and regulations governing the handling and/or disposal of such items. In some embodiments, a system comprises sorting stations each of which houses a number of disposable containers. Each station can identify an item of waste, determine the most appropriate container for the item, and facilitate disposal of the item in the appropriate container. In some embodiments, a detection system for determining a presence and/or a quantity of waste items within a container is also provided. In some embodiments, access to discarded waste items is restricted once the waste items have been placed in a container.

Claims

1. A method for sorting a plurality of medical waste items, the method comprising:

providing a plurality of containers, wherein at least one container is associated with at least one of a plurality of waste categories;

providing a waste item identification device that determines a qualitative parameter of a medical waste item; and

providing a control system,

wherein said control system compares information obtained from the waste item identification device with waste item classification information;

wherein said control system assigns the medical waste item to at least one waste category; and

wherein said control system identifies at least one of the containers as a proper waste container based on the waste category.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of identifying said proper waste container comprises automatically opening or allowing access to said proper waste container.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of identifying said proper waste container comprises visually indicating said proper waste container.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of visually indicating said proper waste container comprises providing information to a user, wherein said information is provided on or by the waste item identification device.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of visually indicating said proper waste container comprises illuminating a light associated with the proper waste container.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining a qualitative parameter of a medical waste item comprises scanning a barcode on said medical waste item.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying information regarding the waste item being discarded.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the waste item classification information is provided in a database.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the waste item classification information comprises information based on environmental or drug enforcement regulations.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising notifying a user that the waste can be directly discharged into a particular sewer system, and thus need not be discarded into one of said plurality of containers.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the waste item identification device comprises a manual input system for manually entering information regarding the waste item.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

querying a user for item specific information as to whether the waste item is a sharps or whether the waste item is empty; and

processing said item specific information to determine said proper waste container.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a sensor that senses disposal of a waste item into the proper waste container;

wherein the proper waste container comprises a lid that automatically closes upon receiving information based on said sensor.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of providing a plurality of containers comprises providing at least one container comprising a machine-readable identification key enabling said container to be hot-swapped.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of providing a plurality of containers comprises providing at least one container that prevents unauthorized personnel from accessing the waste item once the item has been deposited into said container, thereby restricting access to the internal contents of that container.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein access is restricted while the container is open and still capable of receiving waste.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising collecting identifying information regarding the user that discarded the waste item.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising collecting information regarding the percentage of hospital drugs that are discarded.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of providing a plurality of containers comprises providing at least one removable container comprising an opening and a movable lid, wherein said movable lid is configured to lock in a covered position when said removable container is full.

20. A method of sorting medical waste, the method comprising:

scanning an identifier associated with a medical waste item;

retrieving, based on the identifier, waste classification information from a database, wherein said information is derived from applicable rules regarding disposal of pharmaceutical waste items;

assigning the waste to a disposal category based on the information retrieved from the database;

identifying a container associated with the assigned disposal category;

providing a first sensor that senses disposal of a waste item into the container associated with the assigned disposal category; and

providing a second sensor that senses the fill level of said container,

wherein the container associated with the assigned disposal category comprises a lid that automatically closes upon receiving information based on said first sensor, and

wherein the container associated with the assigned disposal category closes upon receiving information that said container is full based on information received from said second sensor.