Surgical object and fluid monitoring system having highly sensitive and reliable detection of objects being placed in a container
First Claim
1. A surgical object and fluid monitoring system, comprising:
- a support ring for securely supporting a container with at least one port opening of the container being disposed for receiving surgical objects placed into the container through the at least one port opening with the aid of gravity;
a hollow spine structure vertically oriented and comprising a channel with channel walls along the length of the hollow spine structure;
a rod movably disposed in the channel within the hollow spine structure, the rod moveable along the channel;
a weight force sensing device mechanically coupled to the rod, the support ring mechanically coupled to the rod, and the rod being in a moving arrangement that transfers weight force from the support ring to the weight force sensing device;
a flexure mechanically coupled with the rod and the hollow spine structure, the flexure adding very little if any downward force onto the rod and thereby onto the weight force sensing device while maintaining the rod vertically aligned in the channel with a gap separating the length of the rod from the channel walls, the gap allowing the rod to move vertically without friction from contact with the channel walls while the rod in the channel is protected from impact by the channel walls; and
a processor communicatively coupled with the weight force sensing device, wherein the processor, responsive to executing computer instructions, performs operations comprising;
detecting, with one or more RFID communication circuitries communicatively coupled with the processor, placement of a surgical object including at least one RFID device into the container through one of the at least one port opening with the aid of gravity by the one or more RFID communication circuitries interrogating the at least one RFID device of the surgical object being placed into the container;
determining an incremental weight of the contents of the container from the surgical object placed into the container through the port opening, based at least on an information signal received from the weight force sensing device indicating a change in weight force sensed by the weight force sensing device contemporaneous with the placement of the surgical object into the container through the at least one port opening with the aid of gravity.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A surgical sponge and fluid monitoring system and method are provided. The system (100) includes a support ring (104) for securely supporting a container (101) with at least one port opening (206) for placing sponges (204) into the container through the at least one port opening. The support ring includes RFID communication circuitries (305, 307) that interrogate an RFID device (205) in the sponge (204) and an RFID device in the container. The support ring is mechanically linked to a load cell (706, 1329) in the system. The processor (1302) reliably detects when a sponge is placed into the container through the at least one port opening, identifies the type of sponge placed into the container, counts the number of sponges in the container, sorts the types of sponges, and calculates fluid loss for a patient in a surgical procedure. A user interface (1308, 114) keeps the medical professionals informed.
104 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A surgical object and fluid monitoring system, comprising:
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a support ring for securely supporting a container with at least one port opening of the container being disposed for receiving surgical objects placed into the container through the at least one port opening with the aid of gravity; a hollow spine structure vertically oriented and comprising a channel with channel walls along the length of the hollow spine structure; a rod movably disposed in the channel within the hollow spine structure, the rod moveable along the channel; a weight force sensing device mechanically coupled to the rod, the support ring mechanically coupled to the rod, and the rod being in a moving arrangement that transfers weight force from the support ring to the weight force sensing device; a flexure mechanically coupled with the rod and the hollow spine structure, the flexure adding very little if any downward force onto the rod and thereby onto the weight force sensing device while maintaining the rod vertically aligned in the channel with a gap separating the length of the rod from the channel walls, the gap allowing the rod to move vertically without friction from contact with the channel walls while the rod in the channel is protected from impact by the channel walls; and a processor communicatively coupled with the weight force sensing device, wherein the processor, responsive to executing computer instructions, performs operations comprising; detecting, with one or more RFID communication circuitries communicatively coupled with the processor, placement of a surgical object including at least one RFID device into the container through one of the at least one port opening with the aid of gravity by the one or more RFID communication circuitries interrogating the at least one RFID device of the surgical object being placed into the container; determining an incremental weight of the contents of the container from the surgical object placed into the container through the port opening, based at least on an information signal received from the weight force sensing device indicating a change in weight force sensed by the weight force sensing device contemporaneous with the placement of the surgical object into the container through the at least one port opening with the aid of gravity. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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8. A surgical object and fluid monitoring system, comprising:
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a support ring for securely supporting a container with at least one port opening of the container being disposed for receiving surgical objects placed into the container through the at least one port opening with the aid of gravity; a hollow spine structure vertically oriented and comprising a channel with channel walls along the length of the hollow spine structure; a rod movably disposed in the channel within the hollow spine structure, the rod moveable along the channel; a weight force sensing device mechanically coupled to the rod, the support ring mechanically coupled to the rod, and the rod being in a moving arrangement that transfers weight force from the support ring to the weight force sensing device; a flexure mechanically coupled with the rod and the hollow spine structure, the flexure adding very little if any downward force onto the rod and thereby onto the weight force sensing device while maintaining the rod vertically aligned in the channel with a gap separating the length of the rod from the channel walls, the gap allowing the rod to move vertically without friction from contact with the channel walls while the rod in the channel is protected from impact by the channel walls; and a processor communicatively coupled with the weight force sensing device, wherein the processor, responsive to executing computer instructions, performs operations comprising; determining an incremental weight of the contents of the container from a surgical object placed into the container through the port opening, based at least on an information signal received from the weight force sensing device indicating a change in weight force sensed by the weight force sensing device contemporaneous with the placement of the surgical object into the container through the at least one port opening with the aid of gravity, wherein the gap in at least a portion of the length of the channel comprises a non-air gas separating the rod from the channel walls in the at least a portion of the channel, the gap comprising the non-air gas allowing the rod to move vertically without friction from contact with the channel walls in the at least a portion of the channel while the rod in the channel is protected from impact by the channel walls.
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9. A surgical object and fluid monitoring system, comprising:
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a support ring for securely supporting a container with at least one port opening of the container being disposed for receiving surgical objects placed into the container through the at least one port opening with the aid of gravity; a hollow spine structure vertically oriented and comprising a channel with channel walls along the length of the hollow spine structure; a rod movably disposed in the channel within the hollow spine structure, the rod moveable along the channel; a weight force sensing device mechanically coupled to the rod, the support ring mechanically coupled to the rod, and the rod being in a moving arrangement that transfers weight force from the support ring to the weight force sensing device; a flexure mechanically coupled with the rod and the hollow spine structure, the flexure adding very little if any downward force onto the rod and thereby onto the weight force sensing device while maintaining the rod vertically aligned in the channel with a gap separating the length of the rod from the channel walls, the gap allowing the rod to move vertically without friction from contact with the channel walls while the rod in the channel is protected from impact by the channel walls; and a processor communicatively coupled with the weight force sensing device, wherein the processor, responsive to executing computer instructions, performs operations comprising; determining an incremental weight of the contents of the container from a surgical object placed into the container through the port opening, based at least on an information signal received from the weight force sensing device indicating a change in weight force sensed by the weight force sensing device contemporaneous with the placement of the surgical object into the container through the at least one port opening with the aid of gravity, wherein the gap in at least a portion of the length of the channel comprises a fluid separating the rod from the channel walls in the at least a portion of the channel, the gap comprising the fluid allowing the rod to move vertically without friction from contact with the channel walls in the at least a portion of the channel while the rod in the channel is protected from impact by the channel walls.
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19. A method, with a processor of an information processing system, for monitoring at least one surgical object placed into a container, the method comprising:
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securely supporting a container having at least one port opening, the container supported with a rod vertically aligned and moveably disposed in a channel of a vertically oriented hollow spine structure with a gap separating the length of the rod from the channel walls, the gap allowing the rod to move vertically without friction from contact with the channel walls, the rod transferring a weight force from the supported container to a weight force sensing device mechanically coupled to the rod; detecting, with one or more RFID communication circuitries communicatively coupled with a processor, placement of a surgical object including at least one RFID device into the container through one of the at least one port opening with the aid of gravity by the one or more RFID communication circuitries interrogating the at least one RFID device of the surgical object being placed into the container; identifying a type of the surgical object from at least information received by the one or more RFID communication circuitries from the at least one RFID device of the surgical object being located in the container and proximate to the one or more RFID communication circuitries; contemporaneous with the detecting, receiving an information signal that indicates an incremental weight force of the container; and determining, with the processor, an incremental weight of the contents of the container from the surgical object placed into the container through the one port opening, based at least on the received information signal indicating a valid incremental change in weight of the contents of the container from the surgical object placed into the container through the one port opening with the aid of gravity. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification