Waste scanning method

• US 7,454,358 B2
• Filed: 07/12/2007
• Issued: 11/18/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Carefusion 303 Incorporated (Becton, Dickinson & Co)
• Original Assignee: Vesta Medical LLC (Becton, Dickinson & Co)
• Inventors: Davidner, Alan, Benson, James, Regla, Peter, Danta, Randall, Corey, Alan, Mallett, Scott
• Primary Examiner(s): Weiss; John G.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Brooks; Matthew L
• Application Number:
  US11/777,240
• Publication Number:
  US 20080029439A1
• Time in Patent Office: 495 Days
• Field of Search: 209583-930, 600/604, 607/2, 206366-370, 705 1- 2, 220/346, 340/572.1
• US Class Current: 705/308
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2050/185 Drawers
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 50/10 Furniture specially adapted for surgical or diagnostic appliances or instruments
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 50/13 Trolleys, e.g. carts
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 50/36 for collecting or disposing of used articles
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 7/005 Computer assisted manual sorting, e.g. for mail
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/30 Administration of product recycling or disposal
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms
• CPC Class Codes: Y02W 90/00 Enabling technologies or technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions mitigation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 209/93 Municipal solid waste sorting

Abstract

A system for disposing of medical waste is generally configured to sort waste items into a plurality of containers according to applicable rules and regulations governing the handling and/or disposal of such items. In some embodiments, a system comprises sorting stations each of which houses a number of disposable containers. Each station can identify an item of waste, determine the most appropriate container for the item, and facilitate disposal of the item in the appropriate container. In some embodiments, a detection system for determining a presence and/or a quantity of waste items within a container is also provided. In some embodiments, access to discarded waste items is restricted once the waste items have been placed in a container.

Claims

1. A method for sorting waste items, the method comprising:

providing a waste sorting system comprising a plurality of container compartments, each container compartment configured to receive a removable container;

providing a plurality of removable containers;

wherein the removable containers are configured to be placed within the container compartments,

wherein each of the removable containers is associated with at least one of a plurality of waste categories;

wherein at least one of the removable containers comprises a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag;

wherein at least one of the container compartments comprises a radio frequency (RFID) reader;

wherein the RFID reader is configured to read the RFID tag to determine a position within the waste sorting system and the waste category of the container;

providing a scanner configured to determine a barcode located on a waste item;

providing a control system that compares information obtained from the barcode with waste item classification information;

assigning the waste item to at least one waste category;

identifying one of the removable containers based on the waste category;

automatically opening the identified removable container to move to the open position to permit disposal of said waste item; and

restricting access to the identified removable container after receipt of a waste item by locking said container in a closed position.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of restricting access further comprises automatically closing an opening in said identified removable container.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of restricting access further comprises closing a gate associated with said identified removable container.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein a lid of the identified removable container is configured to be manually closed by a user.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising alerting a user after said container has reached a pre-set fill level.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the scanner comprises a handheld barcode scanner.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising communicating information from the scanner to said control system.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising wirelessly communicating information from the scanner to said control system.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying information regarding the waste item being discarded.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said waste item classification information comprises classification information based on environmental or drug enforcement regulations for medical or pharmaceutical waste.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a manual input system for manually entering information regarding the waste item.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the RFID tag further comprises information describing the contents of the container comprising said tag.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the removable containers comprises a container label in addition to the RFID tag.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the container label comprises a serial number configured for tracking by a computer.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising printing a manifest based at least in part on data obtained from the RFID tag.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a manifest identifying the contents of at least one of the containers.