Workstation RFID reader for surgical instruments and surgical instrument trays and methods of using same

• US 7,268,684 B2
• Filed: 12/08/2004
• Issued: 09/11/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Warsaw Orthopedic Incorporated (Medtronic Plc)
• Original Assignee: SDGI Holdings Incorporated (Medtronic Plc)
• Inventors: Nycz, Jeffrey H., Varner, Robert, Tethrake, Steven M.
• Primary Examiner(s): TRIEU, VAN THANH
• Application Number:
  US11/006,750
• Publication Number:
  US 20060119481A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,007 Days
• Field of Search: 340/572.1, 340/572.4, 340/573.1, 340/539.12, 340/539.32, 340/10.1, 340/10.3, 340/10.4, 340/10.41, 340/10.42, 340/10.31, 604/362, 606/1
• US Class Current: 340/572.1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/065 for measuring contact or contact pressure
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 50/10 Furniture specially adapted for surgical or diagnostic appliances or instruments
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 50/33 Trays
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 90/90 Identification means for patients or instruments, e.g. tags
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 90/98 using electromagnetic means, e.g. transponders

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.

Claims

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.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein identification information comprises at least one information field selected from the group consisting of an identification name, an identification number, a manufacture name, a manufacture date, a date of first use, and a date of last update.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the indicator comprises a light emitting diode (LED) panel having one or more status LEDs.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the LED panel comprises at least a red LED and a green LED.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit further comprises a data link to a printer operable to print report related to compliance with the at least one predetermined condition.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, said control circuit further comprising means for writing new information to RFID tags using the one or more RF antenna transceivers.

7. A method of wirelessly inventorying surgical instruments and surgical instrument trays, using an RFID workstation reader comprising:

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.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein identification information comprises at least one information field selected from the group consisting of an identification name, an identification number, a manufacture name, a manufacture date, a date of first use, and a date of last update.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the step of comparing comprises determining if any surgical instruments should be taken out of service.

10. The method according to claim 7, the step of activating an indicator comprising activating an LED.

11. The method according to claim 10, activating an LED further comprising activating a green LED if no mismatch is determined and activating a red LED if a mismatch is determined.

12. The method according to claim 10, further comprising, if a mismatch is determined, printing a report detailing the specific nature of the mismatch.

13. The method according to claim 7, the step of activating an indicator comprising activating an audio and/or visual indicator on the computer housing the computer database.

14. The method according to claim 7, further comprising writing new information to each RFID transponder tag including the current date of processing.

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:

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.

16. The computer readable storage medium according to claim 15, said identification information comprising at least one information field selected from the group consisting of an identification name, an identification number, a manufacture name, a manufacture date, a date of first use, and a date of last update.

17. The computer readable storage medium according to claim 15, said instructions for generating a visual indication based on results of the comparison comprising instructions for illuminating one of a green LED and a red LED.

18. The computer readable storage medium according to claim 15, further comprising instructions for generating a report when said identification information does not match said stored information.

19. The computer readable storage medium according to claim 15, further comprising instructions for writing new information to each of the transponder tags, said information including a date of current processing.