Sterile Sheath Reader for Implant Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for tracking medical implants face challenges in maintaining sterility and efficiency during the tracking process, as existing readers are not suitable for use in sterile environments and lack adequate surface area for marking, leading to incomplete tracking and potential contamination.
Innovation Solution
A tracking assembly comprising a reader with a transparent sterile sheath and medical drape, allowing for the scanning of implant identifiers while maintaining sterility, where the reader is enclosed in a housing structure with a scanner and computer communication, enabling efficient data recording within a sterile environment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a reader is used to scan implant identifiers, then tracking efficiency is improved, but the sterile environment is compromised because the reader is not sterile
Solution Approach 1:
A sterile adapter is introduced as an intermediary component between the non-sterile reader and the sterile implant. The adapter includes a sterile barrier that physically separates the reader from the implant, allowing optical scanning to occur through the barrier without compromising sterility. This enables the reader to function in a sterile environment by mediating the interaction between sterile and non-sterile components.
Solution Approach 2:
The system is divided into separate sterile and non-sterile components. The reader remains non-sterile while the adapter and barrier are sterile. This segmentation allows each component to maintain its appropriate sterility level while still working together to achieve the tracking function, resolving the contradiction between efficiency and sterility.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a sterile barrier is introduced between the reader and implant, then sterility is maintained, but scanning accuracy deteriorates due to optical interference
Solution Approach 1:
The sterile barrier is designed with specific optical properties including transparency or translucency in the wavelength range required for barcode scanning. The material is selected to be optically compatible with the scanner, allowing light to pass through with minimal distortion. This enables the barrier to maintain sterility while preserving scanning accuracy by optimizing its optical characteristics.
3Reliability
If implants have larger surface area for marking, then tracking reliability is improved, but implant design complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The implant identifier is designed to serve multiple functions: it provides unique identification for tracking, and can also encode additional information such as implant type, size, or batch information. This multi-functionality increases tracking reliability without requiring additional separate components or increasing implant design complexity, as the identifier system handles multiple tracking needs simultaneously.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enhances tracking efficiency and sterility by allowing for accurate and automatic scanning of implant identifiers without compromising the sterile environment, reducing the time spent on tracking and minimizing contamination risks.
Implementation Method 1
The reader comprises a scanner... scanning of implant identifiers
Data Source
AI summary
An assembly and method for tracking implant devices within a sterile field, the assembly comprising a reader that includes a housing structure with a base and a cover, a scanner having a scanner housing, where the scanner housing is at least partially positioned in a cavity provided in the base; and an aperture provided in the cover, where the cover is configured to receive a transparent sterile sheath to at least partially encase the cover.