Method and apparatus for surgical instrument identification
First Claim
1. A method for identifying surgical instruments that should be serviced, comprising:
- programming at least one RF identification tag with identification information corresponding to a surgical instrument;
physically associating the at least one radio frequency identification tag with at least one surgical instrument by potting the tag in a recess in a portion of a surgical instrument, the recess being formed by one of carving, notching, or etching the portion of the surgical instrument;
presenting the at least one surgical instrument into a wireless radio frequency field of a reader device;
receiving with the reading device an RF data signal from the at least one radio frequency tagged surgical instruments containing the identification information;
comparing the identification information from the at least one radio frequency tagged surgical instruments to previously stored information in a database; and
identifying if the at least one radio frequency tagged surgical instruments should be serviced.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods for identifying surgical instruments by use of radio-frequency identification tags (RFID) are disclosed. In the systems and methods, each of a plurality of surgical instruments is provided with at least one RFID transponder tag storing identification information associated with the corresponding instrument. The tag may be adhered to, embedded, or potted within a portion of the instrument. Using an RFID reading device, a user may interrogate the tag, thereby identifying the particular instrument. This identification information may be used to index a database and retrieve a data record unique to that instrument. The systems and methods allow a user to track, inspect, and verify inbound and outbound surgical instruments, to assess, for example, the surgical instruments'"'"' duty life cycle usage.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method for identifying surgical instruments that should be serviced, comprising:
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programming at least one RF identification tag with identification information corresponding to a surgical instrument; physically associating the at least one radio frequency identification tag with at least one surgical instrument by potting the tag in a recess in a portion of a surgical instrument, the recess being formed by one of carving, notching, or etching the portion of the surgical instrument; presenting the at least one surgical instrument into a wireless radio frequency field of a reader device; receiving with the reading device an RF data signal from the at least one radio frequency tagged surgical instruments containing the identification information; comparing the identification information from the at least one radio frequency tagged surgical instruments to previously stored information in a database; and identifying if the at least one radio frequency tagged surgical instruments should be serviced. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system for determining if an action needs to be taken upon the contents of a surgical instrument tray, comprising:
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a surgical instrument tray having at least one surgical instrument comprising an RFID transponder tag potted into a recess in a portion of the at least one surgical instrument and having identification information corresponding to the at least one surgical instrument stored in a memory therein, the recess having been formed by one of carving, notching, or etching the portion of the surgical instrument; a reader device that, when placed in proximity to the at least one instrument, generates an RF field of sufficient strength to cause the RFID transponder tag to emit a signal containing at least some of its stored identification information, the signal being received by the reader device; and a database coupled to the reader device for storing information corresponding to the identification information read by the reader device. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification