Automated Operating Room Item Documentation via RFID Reader Heads
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Solution Overview
Problem
Manual documentation of disposable medical items in operating rooms is laborious, time-consuming, and prone to errors, requiring specialized staff and lacking efficient sterility management and identification processes.
Innovation Solution
A device with a container equipped with an identification unit, featuring reader heads that cover the opening, allowing for secure acquisition and reading of data from data carriers on objects, enabling intuitive and error-free documentation, and connected to an evaluation unit for real-time data processing and storage, facilitating automated documentation and material flow management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual documentation is used for disposable items, then staff can document items, but the process becomes laborious, time-consuming, and error-prone
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual documentation with an automated identification system using reader heads that automatically detect and read data carriers on disposable items. This substitution of mechanical/manual processes with automated detection technology resolves the contradiction by dramatically increasing documentation speed while eliminating time loss associated with manual recording.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service documentation where the disposable items themselves carry identification data (data carriers) that are automatically read by the reader heads. This eliminates the need for staff to manually record information, as the system autonomously captures and processes documentation data, thereby improving productivity without time loss.
2Reliability
If manual documentation is used, then staff can record items, but specialized training is required and errors occur
Solution Approach 1:
The automated reader head system replaces manual documentation processes, eliminating human error and the need for specialized training. The system reliably reads data carriers automatically, ensuring high documentation accuracy without requiring staff to possess specialized knowledge or training in item identification and recording procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates accurate digital copies of item information by reading data carriers directly from disposable items. This copying process ensures reliable and error-free documentation by transferring data directly from the source (data carrier) to the documentation system without human intervention, thereby improving reliability while reducing complexity requirements.
3Reliability
If reader heads cover the entire opening, then all objects are reliably detected, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The identification system is segmented into multiple reader heads positioned at different locations around the container opening. Each reader head covers a specific sector, and together they provide complete coverage. This segmentation allows reliable detection of all objects without requiring a single complex reader head, thereby maintaining detection reliability while managing device complexity through modular architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple reader heads are merged into a coordinated system where their individual detection areas combine to cover the entire container opening. This merging of multiple simpler components achieves the same effect as a single complex reader head but with improved reliability and easier maintenance, resolving the contradiction between detection reliability and device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for receiving of disposable items in an operating room, where the objects that are to be disposed of and which are equipped with a data carrier are automatically acquired and electronically registered in databases. The data carrier on the objects can be RFID tags or a barcode. The data read out are used in particular to individually recognize the type, quantity, and value of an object and to be able to document and display the type, quantity, and value of an object by using an electronic inventory and value determination process.