UV Disinfection Chamber With In-Chamber RFID Traceability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing disinfection chambers for medical instruments face issues with unreliable traceability, as there is a risk of misidentification between the identified and disinfected instruments.
Innovation Solution
A disinfection chamber equipped with an identification unit that reads identification information only when the medical instrument is positioned within the disinfection volume, ensuring the instrument is definitively the same one being disinfected, and includes features like a holding bracket, RFID reader, and a processor to associate identification information with disinfection characterization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If identification is performed before placing the medical instrument in the disinfection chamber, then traceability can be established, but misidentification risk increases as there is no guarantee that the identified instrument is the same one placed in the enclosure
Solution Approach 1:
The identification unit is pre-positioned within the disinfection chamber before the instrument is placed inside. This preliminary positioning ensures that identification occurs automatically and necessarily when the instrument enters the chamber, eliminating the risk of misidentification that occurs with external identification systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The identification unit acts as an intermediary between the instrument placement and the disinfection process. It mediates by verifying the instrument's identity within the chamber environment, ensuring that the instrument being disinfected is the same one that was identified, thus resolving the traceability reliability issue.
2Productivity
If the identification unit is positioned outside the disinfection volume, then the disinfection process can proceed without interruption, but the identification unit cannot reliably read identification information of instruments placed inside the chamber
Solution Approach 1:
The identification unit is nested within the disinfection chamber volume, allowing it to be physically present in the environment where instruments are placed. This nesting enables the identification unit to reliably read identification information while the disinfection process continues uninterrupted, as both functions occupy the same spatial environment.
3Ease of manufacture
If identification information is read before the instrument is placed in the chamber, then the disinfection cycle can be prepared in advance, but there is no guarantee that the identified instrument is the same one being disinfected
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-verification by automatically reading the instrument's identification information when it is placed in the chamber. This self-service mechanism ensures that the instrument identifies itself to the system, eliminating the possibility of preparing disinfection cycles for the wrong instrument while still allowing advance preparation of the disinfection process.
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
Ensures improved and reliable traceability of disinfection by accurately identifying and tracking the medical instrument within the chamber, providing detailed documentation through a report that enhances the reliability of disinfection processes.
Implementation Method 1
a UV (Ultraviolet) radiation generation device, enabling the disinfection of medical instruments
Implementation Method 2
The medical instrument identification unit includes a radio-frequency identification (RFID) reader defining the identification volume
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a disinfection chamber (10) for a medical instrument comprising: - a disinfection volume (24) delimited by at least one wall (22A-F), - a UV radiation generation device (26) configured to generate UV radiation in the disinfection volume (24), and - an identification unit (28) positioned so as to read identification information of a medical instrument only when the medical instrument is positioned in the disinfection volume (24).