Abstract:Surgical instruments can be tracked during surgery, and this tracking can clarify the usage rate of each instrument and serve as a backup method of instrument counting. However, this study was conducted on a small scale, and RFID tags cannot be attached to small surgical instruments used in complex operations such as neurosurgery. Further efforts to develop a tracking system for these instruments are warranted.
“…The usage rate is an important parameter for understanding wear, thus preventing breakage of the instrument during surgery. The antenna is positioned on an instrument holder, the Mayo table, where the instruments are sorted and collected thus allowing a precise reading of the objects that are positioned above [ 28 ]. Fig.…”
Purpose
(RFID) is a technology that uses radio waves for data collection and transfer, so data is captured efficiently, automatically and in real time without human intervention. This technology, alone or in addition to other technologies has been considered as a possible solution to reduce problems that endanger public health or to improve its management. This scoping review aims to provide readers with an up-to-date picture of the use of this technology in health care settings.
Methods
This scoping review examines the state of RFID technology in the healthcare area for the period 2017-2022, specifically addressing RFID versatility and investigating how this technology can contribute to radically change the management of public health. The guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) have been followed. Literature reviews or surveys were excluded. Only articles describing technologies implemented on a real environment or on prototypes were included.
Results
The search returned 366 results. After screening, based on title and abstract, 58 articles were considered suitable for this work. 11 articles were reviewed because they met the qualifying requirements. The study of the selected articles highlighted six matters that can be profitably impacted by this technology
Conclusion
The selected papers show that this technology can improve patient safety by reducing medical errors, that can occur within operating rooms. It can also be the solution to overcome the problem of the black market in counterfeiting drugs, or as a prevention tool. Further research is needed, especially on data management, security, and privacy, given the sensitive nature of medical information.
Graphical Abstract
“…The usage rate is an important parameter for understanding wear, thus preventing breakage of the instrument during surgery. The antenna is positioned on an instrument holder, the Mayo table, where the instruments are sorted and collected thus allowing a precise reading of the objects that are positioned above [ 28 ]. Fig.…”
Purpose
(RFID) is a technology that uses radio waves for data collection and transfer, so data is captured efficiently, automatically and in real time without human intervention. This technology, alone or in addition to other technologies has been considered as a possible solution to reduce problems that endanger public health or to improve its management. This scoping review aims to provide readers with an up-to-date picture of the use of this technology in health care settings.
Methods
This scoping review examines the state of RFID technology in the healthcare area for the period 2017-2022, specifically addressing RFID versatility and investigating how this technology can contribute to radically change the management of public health. The guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) have been followed. Literature reviews or surveys were excluded. Only articles describing technologies implemented on a real environment or on prototypes were included.
Results
The search returned 366 results. After screening, based on title and abstract, 58 articles were considered suitable for this work. 11 articles were reviewed because they met the qualifying requirements. The study of the selected articles highlighted six matters that can be profitably impacted by this technology
Conclusion
The selected papers show that this technology can improve patient safety by reducing medical errors, that can occur within operating rooms. It can also be the solution to overcome the problem of the black market in counterfeiting drugs, or as a prevention tool. Further research is needed, especially on data management, security, and privacy, given the sensitive nature of medical information.
Graphical Abstract
“…Clearly, with an RFID tag attached, as the usage frequency (down to the usage during surgery) was available, appropriate maintenance settings and risk of damage to the instrument could be made clear [6]. In this study, cleaning was carried out with WD, and even when an implement had been used 200 times, there was no corrosion.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…For that reason, it is necessary to manage the equipment using an individual-item control system that reads the information of each surgical instrument [4]. Systems in which RFID tags are affixed to surgical instruments are being used in operations in order to avoid such errors [5,6]. Using RFID techniques with surgical instruments can aid in instrument counting before and after surgery, set-building of instruments, automated record capture and tagging of patient information, and maintaining the use history and traceability of surgical implements and the number and duration of use of instruments.…”
Background: Faulty cleaning of surgical instruments may lead to corrosion damage and a higher risk of surgical site infection. We have developed a method in which each instrument has an attached radiofrequency identification (RFID) tag for individual management. However, because of the structure of the instruments, a risk of corrosion from poor cleaning exists; therefore, observation during long-term usage is necessary.Methods: The cleaning effect at the jig of the RFID tag was verified by the amount of residual protein left by various cleaning methods. In our investigation of long-term usage, we examined 94 surgical instruments with RFID tags used in the operating room for 50 months employing a microscope to identify any corrosion at the jig.Results: The method using a washer disinfector (WD) was found to be highly effective. From observation after long-term usage, friction by the RFID tag occurred in about 70% of the jigs. However, no pitting or general corrosion was seen.Conclusions: When WD is used properly, there is only a minor risk of residual protein, and corrosion does not occur even with long-term use. By using surgical instruments with RFID tags, it is possible to determine the number of uses and the history at the individual level. This facilitates operation of safe surgical instruments by limiting the number of times a particular instrument is used.
“…The system recorded instrument use but required the surgical team to scan each instrument. Similarly, Yamashita et al 26 used a 13.56 MHz mat antenna on the Mayo stand for intraoperative tracking. Mayo stands act as a staging area for instruments that are anticipated as being necessary by the scrub nurse.…”
Objective
Surgical instrument oversupply drives cost, confusion, and workload in the operating room. With an estimated 78%–87% of instruments being unused, many health systems have recognized the need for supply refinement. By manually recording instrument use and tasking surgeons to review instrument trays, previous quality improvement initiatives have achieved an average 52% reduction in supply. While demonstrating the degree of instrument oversupply, previous methods for identifying required instruments are qualitative, expensive, lack scalability and sustainability, and are prone to human error. In this work, we aim to develop and evaluate an automated system for measuring surgical instrument use.
Materials and Methods
We present the first system to our knowledge that automates the collection of real-time instrument use data with radio-frequency identification (RFID). Over 15 breast surgeries, 10 carpometacarpal (CMC) arthroplasties, and 4 craniotomies, instrument use was tracked by both a trained observer manually recording instrument use and the RFID system.
Results
The average Cohen’s Kappa agreement between the system and the observer was 0.81 (near perfect agreement), and the system enabled a supply reduction of 50.8% in breast and orthopedic surgery. Over 10 monitored breast surgeries and 1 CMC arthroplasty with reduced trays, no eliminated instruments were requested, and both trays continue to be used as the supplied standard. Setup time in breast surgery decreased from 23 min to 17 min with the reduced supply.
Conclusion
The RFID system presented herein achieves a novel data stream that enables accurate instrument supply optimization.
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