US 12,451,238 B2
Automated continuous instrument tracking system
John Richard Dein, Fair Oaks, CA (US); and Fredrick P. Schoville, Brighton, MI (US)
Assigned to Surgical Safety Scanner, Inc., Brighton, MI (US)
Appl. No. 17/634,583
Filed by Surgical Safety Scanner, Inc., Brighton, MI (US)
PCT Filed Sep. 1, 2021, PCT No. PCT/US2021/048764
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Feb. 11, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2022/051432, PCT Pub. Date Mar. 10, 2022.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/073,059, filed on Sep. 1, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0178222 A1, Jun. 8, 2023
Int. Cl. G16H 40/20 (2018.01); A61B 90/98 (2016.01); G01S 5/04 (2006.01); G06K 7/10 (2006.01)
CPC G16H 40/20 (2018.01) [A61B 90/98 (2016.02); G06K 7/10128 (2013.01); G01S 5/04 (2013.01)] 26 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system for continuously and automatically tracking and managing medical tools associated with a medical procedure, the system comprising:
i) medical tools or instruments;
ii) a scanning table;
iii) one or more sensor arrays comprising a plurality of sensors, wherein the sensor arrays are spaced over the scanning table in a sterile field and any place outside of the sterile field associated with the medical procedure to determine each status of the tools or instruments which have been contaminated or damaged and removed from the sterile field to prevent reuse; and
iv) one or more computer readable medium comprising a computer program product for performing the steps of:
a) receiving a list of the medical tools or instruments;
b) associating each medical tool or instrument within the list a status and real-time data specific and characteristic of any sub-classifications of the medical tools or instruments;
c) continuously monitoring information associated with a radio frequency identification (RFID) associated with each medical tool or instrument within the list, wherein the monitoring is executing using the one or more sensor arrays comprising the plurality of sensors, wherein the information comprises a real-time status of each medical tool or instrument within the list;
d) detecting a presence of each medical tool or instrument within the list based upon the monitoring;
e) automatically and continuously collecting time and duration of use of each medical tool or instrument within the list, wherein the duration is calculated by the time associated with presence and absence of each medical tool or instrument within the list from the location;
f) changing the status associated with each medical tool or instrument within the list based upon the detecting, wherein the status comprises i) checked-in or checked-out, ii) sterile or not sterile, iii) pre-surgery, real-time during surgery, or post-surgery, iv) in use or not in use, v) real-time characteristics of each medical tool or instrument associated with a medical procedure or surgery, and vi) real-time maintenance schedules and inventory management of each medical tool or instrument; and
g) displaying the status associated with the each medical tool or instrument within the list on a display monitor.