Surgical sponge counting device and method

Abstract

The present invention is a device for displaying and assisting a user in counting used surgical sponges and the like. The device includes integral sets of holders arranged around an exterior edge of the device. Each set of holders is arranged away from the other sets of holders such that a user can practice a method of easily and accurately accounting for used surgical sponges.

Description

[0001]There are no related patent applications.[0002]This patent application did not receive federal research and development funding.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]The invention is generally directed to a method and device for displaying and counting used surgical sponges. More specifically the present invention relates to a device which easily allows for visual recognition of a sum of sponges used during a medical procedure. The device helps keep track of the used sponges to prevent medical accidents caused by unaccounted sponges.[0004]Medical accidents may occur during surgery when surgical sponges are inadvertently left in a patient. The patient may develop a life-threatening injury or infection when this type of accident occurs. It is therefore important to carefully count used surgical sponges.[0005]Previously, others have counted used surgical sponges in a manner whereby used surgical sponges are passed from a surgeon to a scrub nurse who drops the used sponges in a kick bu...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011]If several hours of surgery have occurred, surgical stresses sometime lead to miscounting of the sponges using prior art counting techniques. The present invention aims to overcome this problem by visually grouping and prominently displaying a group of sets of used sponges in their entirety. The sets of sponges are staged and hung around a centralized area. The centralized area can be easily viewed and counted from across the room. In this manner, the sets of five used surgical sponges are grouped together such that large numbers of used surgical sponges may be easily counted. The user easily views the state of each projection or finger and determines whether a used surgical sponge is associated with that particular projection or finger. A total count of used surgical sponges may be easily determined by viewing and counting the number used sponges. Since the sponges are typically provided in sterile packaging in sets of five, the device allows for ease in counting used sponges. A user may view the full sets of projections multiply them by five, and then add the remaining number of projections of any partially full set of projections to easily arrive an at an accurate accounting.

[0015]It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and device for easily accounting for all surgical sponges during a surgical operation. The device groups a plurality of used surgical sponges together in sets of five. A user can thereby easily look at the number of sets of sponges and quickly ascertain a number of used surgical sponges. This counting method may be facilitated by placing the device against a backdrop having a different color, such as a colored trash bag. The different colored backdrop aids in making the used sponges easier to view.

[0017]It is a further object of the invention to provide a surgical sponge displaying and counting device that provides high visibility of used surgical sponges such that a total number of used surgical sponges may be easily viewed and counted from across a room against a colored backdrop.

[0018]It is further an object of the invention to provide a surgical sponge displaying and counting device that may is cost-effective and easy to produce. The device provides accessibility and viewing capability from all angles. Moreover, the device may be used with existing surgical assisting devices such as ring stands.

Problems solved by technology

If several hours of surgery have occurred, surgical stresses sometime lead to miscounting of the sponges using prior art counting techniques.

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