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Waste sensing system

  • US 7,483,837 B2
  • Filed: 09/21/2004
  • Issued: 01/27/2009
  • Est. Priority Date: 09/19/2003
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A method for sorting and tracking a drug before and after administration to a patient, the method comprising:

  • providing a medical waste sorting system;

    providing a plurality of removable waste containers configured to be placed within a plurality of waste container compartments of said medical waste sorting system, wherein each of said removable waste containers comprises an opening;

    providing an automatically movable lid coupled with each of said removable waste containers;

    wherein each of the removable waste containers is associated with at least one of a plurality of waste categories,wherein the movable lid is movable to an open position and a closed position;

    obtaining information regarding a drug to be administered to a patient, wherein said information comprises the quantity of said drug in a drug container prior to administration of said drug to said patient;

    obtaining scanned barcode information from a spent drug container, wherein the spent drug container comprises the drug container and a quantity of the drug that still remains in the drug container after said drug has been at least partially administered to a patient;

    assigning the spent drug to at least one waste category based at least in part on the scanned information and waste item classification information; and

    determining the quantity of the spent drug using a weight scale, wherein the spent drug is the drug that remains in the drug container after administration to the patient;

    comparing the quantity of the spent drug with the quantity of the drug prior to administration to said patient, thereby tracking the drug before and after administration to the patient; and

    automatically moving the lid coupled to the identified removable container to the open position to permit disposal of the spent drug.

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