Surgical instrument tray shipping tote identification system and methods of using same
First Claim
1. An apparatus for identifying surgical instrument trays and surgical instrument tray shipping totes, comprising:
- a chassis;
a conveyor system defining a path of travel supported by the; and
a reader station attached to the chassis by a frame and comprising an RFID transceiver, a bar code reader, a control circuit and an indicator, wherein the bar code reader is configured to read a bar coded shipping label on an instrument tray shipping tote, the RFID transceiver is configured to read information from an RFID tag associated with instrument tray in the tote, and the control circuit is configured to perform a comparison between information read from the bar coded shipping label and the RFID tag with stored information and to activate the indicator in response to this comparison.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A surgical instrument tray shipping tote identification system is provided. During transit to or from a medical facility, processing center, distribution center or other location, multiple surgical instruments trays are placed in an instrument tray shipping tote. Each instrument tray includes at least one RFID transponder tag storing identification information about that tray. The shipping tote has a bar coded shipping label affixed to one surface generated at the point of origin. When the tote arrives at the distribution center, it is placed on a conveyor system that includes a reading station having an RFID transceiver and a bar code reader. Information read from the RFID transponder tags and the bar code label is transmitted by a controller to an external database to check for any off-nominal status indicators. Once this check is performed, an indication is sent back to the controller and an appropriate indicator on the identification system is activated.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. An apparatus for identifying surgical instrument trays and surgical instrument tray shipping totes, comprising:
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a chassis; a conveyor system defining a path of travel supported by the; and a reader station attached to the chassis by a frame and comprising an RFID transceiver, a bar code reader, a control circuit and an indicator, wherein the bar code reader is configured to read a bar coded shipping label on an instrument tray shipping tote, the RFID transceiver is configured to read information from an RFID tag associated with instrument tray in the tote, and the control circuit is configured to perform a comparison between information read from the bar coded shipping label and the RFID tag with stored information and to activate the indicator in response to this comparison. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for identifying surgical instrument trays and surgical instrument tray shipping totes comprising:
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placing a surgical instrument tray shipping tote containing one or more surgical instrument trays on a conveyor system; activating an RFID reader to read information from at least one RFID transponder tag associated with each of the one or more surgical instrument trays contained in the shipping tote; activating a bar code reader to read information from a bar-coded shipping label affixed to a surface of the shipping tote; comparing the information read by the RFID reader and the bar code reader with previously stored information; and activating an indicator based on the step of comparing. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of identifying surgical instrument kits comprising:
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affixing a bar-coded shipping label to a surface of a surgical instrument shipping tote containing one or more surgical instrument kits each surgical instrument kit comprising at least one RFID transponder tag; placing the surgical instrument shipping tote on a conveyor system; operating the conveyor system to move the shipping tote past an RFID transceiver and a bar code reader at a reading station; obtaining first identification information from the RFID reader when the tote enters the reading station; obtaining second identification information from the bar code reader corresponding to the shipping tote and its contents; comparing the obtained first and second identification information with previously stored information; and activating an indicator based on the results of the comparison. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method for identifying the status of a surgical instrument kit shipping tote and surgical instrument kits residing therein with a surgical instrument shipping kit and surgical instrument kit shipping tote identification system comprising:
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scanning a bar coded shipping label comprising encoded information associated with a surgical instrument shipping tote with a hand held bar code scanner; transferring the encoded information received by bar code scanner to a data processor over a communication link of the identification system to matched with surgical instrument kits associated with that encoded information; receiving a response from the data processor indicating that the encoded information has been received; conveying the shipping tote to an RFID reader station along a conveyor path of the identification system; reading information from at least one RFID transponder tag associated with at least one surgical instrument kit contained within the shipping tote; transferring the information read from the at least one RFID transponder tag to the data processor; receiving a signal indicative of a processing status of the current shipping tote; and displaying a visual cue indicative of the processing status of the current shipping tote. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27)
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Specification