Workstation RFID reader for surgical instruments and surgical instrument trays and methods of using same
First Claim
1. An apparatus for identifying surgical instruments and surgical instrument trays, comprising:
- a stationary RFID workstation reader comprising;
a substantially planar work surface dimensioned to support one or more surgical instrument trays;
a support structure elevating the work surface;
one or more RF antenna transceivers adapted to project an RF field onto the work surface to obtain identification information from an RFID transponder-tagged surgical instrument tray and RFID transponder-tagged surgical instruments contained on the tray;
a control circuit including a data processor and a database communicatively connected to the one or more RF antenna transceivers for processing the identification information to determine compliance with at least one predetermined condition, wherein determining compliance with at least one predetermined condition comprises identifying the instrument tray in the database and comparing the identification information of actual tray contents to stored information associated with an identification number of the tray; and
an indicator adapted to provide a user indication regarding compliance with the at least one predetermined condition.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A radio frequency identification (RFID) workstation reader for RFID-enabled surgical instruments and surgical instrument trays and a method of using a RFID workstation reader to read RFID-enabled surgical instruments and surgical instrument trays. The method, apparatus, and system enable individual instruments or a surgical instrument tray containing several surgical instruments to be quickly and efficiently inventoried and tracked. An instrument or instrument tray is placed on the workstation reader. An RF field generated by a plurality of antennae, causes RFID tags embedded in or attached to the instrument or instrument tray to emit a signal containing item specific identification information stored in the tags. The information is received by a control circuit and passed to a computer for data analysis. A status LED is illuminated on the workstation reader based on the results of the data analysis. The method, apparatus, and system can track, inspect, and verify inbound and outbound surgical instrument kits, and help to assess the surgical instruments'"'"' and trays'"'"' duty life cycle usage.
167 Citations
19 Claims
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1. An apparatus for identifying surgical instruments and surgical instrument trays, comprising:
a stationary RFID workstation reader comprising; a substantially planar work surface dimensioned to support one or more surgical instrument trays; a support structure elevating the work surface; one or more RF antenna transceivers adapted to project an RF field onto the work surface to obtain identification information from an RFID transponder-tagged surgical instrument tray and RFID transponder-tagged surgical instruments contained on the tray; a control circuit including a data processor and a database communicatively connected to the one or more RF antenna transceivers for processing the identification information to determine compliance with at least one predetermined condition, wherein determining compliance with at least one predetermined condition comprises identifying the instrument tray in the database and comparing the identification information of actual tray contents to stored information associated with an identification number of the tray; and an indicator adapted to provide a user indication regarding compliance with the at least one predetermined condition. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method of wirelessly inventorying surgical instruments and surgical instrument trays, using an RFID workstation reader comprising:
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placing a surgical instrument tray comprising one or more surgical instruments on a work surface of an RFID workstation reader, wherein the surgical instrument tray and each of the one or more surgical instruments comprise an RFID transponder tag with corresponding identification information stored therein; activating each RFID transponder tag by projecting an RF field onto the work top surface of the RFID workstation reader with one or more RF antenna transceivers attached to the RFID workstation reader; receiving a signal from each activated RFID transponder tag comprising the identification information stored in each tag; identifying the surgical instrument tray in a database using based on the read identification information to determine a set of expected instrument identification information for that tray; comparing the read identification information with the expected instrument identification information to determine if a mismatch exists; and activating an indicator based on results of the comparison. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A computer readable storage medium storing instructions therein for causing a computer processor of a work station-type RF-based surgical instrument tray reader to perform functions related to tracking of surgical instrument trays, comprising:
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instructions for generating an RF field on a surface of the workstation supporting a surgical instrument tray containing one or more surgical instruments; instructions for receiving identification information emitted by RF transponder tags associated with the tray and one or more instruments; instructions for identifying the surgical instrument tray based on its identification information in a database of surgical instrument tray information; instructions for comparing identification information corresponding to the one or more instruments with identification information of instruments associated with that tray in the database to determine if a mismatch condition exists; and instructions for generating a visual indication based on results of the comparison. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification