Method and apparatus for implant identification
First Claim
1. A method for obtaining information concerning a surgical implant, comprising:
- presenting a subject into a radio frequency field of a reader device, the subject having one or more surgical implants and corresponding fasteners, at least one of the fasteners having affixed thereto one or more radio frequency identification tags storing positional data including the axial position of the fastener relative to the one or more surgical implants;
transmitting an interrogation signal from the reader device;
receiving the interrogation signal by the one or more radio frequency tagged surgical instruments;
transmitting back to the reader device, an RF signal containing the positional data from the radio frequency tags of the one or more surgical implants; and
comparing the data received from the at least one radio frequency tag of the one or more surgical implants to a database.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for automatically identifying surgical implants by use of a radio-frequency tag (RFID) is disclosed. The method, apparatus, and system enable a radio-frequency tagged implant to receive an interrogation signal from a reader and to respond to the interrogation signal with identifying information about the tagged implants. The interrogation signal interrogates the implant to ascertain its information, and the RFID tag affixed on the implant in turn transmits a signal back to the reader. The method, apparatus, and system can track, inspect, and verify surgical implants, to assess, for example, any wear and tear on implants, and/or positional displacement of components of the implant.
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Citations
31 Claims
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1. A method for obtaining information concerning a surgical implant, comprising:
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presenting a subject into a radio frequency field of a reader device, the subject having one or more surgical implants and corresponding fasteners, at least one of the fasteners having affixed thereto one or more radio frequency identification tags storing positional data including the axial position of the fastener relative to the one or more surgical implants; transmitting an interrogation signal from the reader device; receiving the interrogation signal by the one or more radio frequency tagged surgical instruments; transmitting back to the reader device, an RF signal containing the positional data from the radio frequency tags of the one or more surgical implants; and comparing the data received from the at least one radio frequency tag of the one or more surgical implants to a database. - View Dependent Claims (2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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3. The method of clam 1, wherein the RF reader comprises at least an antenna and a transceiver, and wherein the RF signal transmitted back from the one or more frequency identification tags is picked up by the RF reader'"'"'s antenna and passed onto a transceiver.
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13. A method for obtaining information concerning an implant, comprising:
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acquiring positional information from a subject having one or more implants with at least one screw having an RFID-tag affixed thereto, the positional information including the axial position of the screw relative to the implant; placing the subject in proximity to an RF reader; acquiring current positional information of the RFID-tagged implant; and comparing the current information of the RFID-tagged implant to the acquired positional information. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An apparatus for obtaining information concerning the status of an implant, comprising:
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one or more surgical implants and one or more corresponding fasteners, at least one of the fasteners being tagged with one or more radio frequency identification tags storing positional information including an axial position of at least one of the fasteners relative to the one or more surgical implants; a reader device capable of transmitting a signal to and receiving a signal from the one or more radio frequency identification tags a in a wireless radio frequency field; a database connected to the reader device for storing information about the one or more tagged fasteners; and a data decoder that compares data received by the reader device from the radio frequency identification tags of the fasteners to the database. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. An apparatus for obtaining information concerning the position of an orthopedic implant, comprising:
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one or more RFID-tagged screws positioned in one or more implants; a calculator for acquiring relative axial positional information of the RFID-tagged screw positioned in the one or more implants; a memory for storing positional information of the one or more RFID-tagged implants; an RF reader placed in proximity to the one or more tagged implants for acquiring current positional data; and a data decoder for comparing the current positional information of the RFID-tagged implant to data in the memory. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification