Performance assessment of an RFID system for automatic surgical sponge detection in a surgery room

Abstract

A retained surgical instrument is a frequent incident in medical surgery rooms all around the world, despite being considered an avoidable mistake. Hence, an automatic detection solution of the retained surgical instrument is desirable. In this paper, the use of millimeter waves at the 60 GHz band for surgical material RFID purposes is evaluated. An experimental procedure to assess the suitability of this frequency range for short distance communications with multiple obstacles was performed. Furthermore, an antenna suitable to be incorporated in surgical materials, such as sponges, is presented. The antenna's operation characteristics are evaluated as to determine if it is adequate for the studied application over the given frequency range, and under different operating conditions, such as varying sponge water content.

Evaluating the Impact of Radio Frequency Identification Retained Surgical Instruments Tracking on Patient Safety: Literature Review

“…Of the 5 original studies that met the inclusion criteria, one study was a prospective blinded experimental clinical trial, 9 and the remaining 4 studies were feasibility studies with experiments. 8,13,20,21 There were no randomized controlled trials. Therefore, we did not attempt to summarize the data statistically for meta-analysis.…”

“…Therefore, we did not attempt to summarize the data statistically for meta-analysis. Three of 5 studies were conducted in the United States, 8,9,13 and the others were conducted in Portugal 20 and Japan. 21 The primary technology used by all studies was passive RFID tags with an antenna, and in 1 study, 13 researchers built a box with multiple antennas to use as check-in and check-out stations.…”

“…9,13 Tracked objects were surgical gauze in 4 studies, 8,9,13,20 surgical polyvinyl alcohol sponges in 1 study, 20 and surgical instruments in 1 study. 21 Simulation and technical experiments were conducted in laboratory settings in 2 studies, 20,21 and feasibility experiments with porcine bodies in laboratory and hospital simulation settings were conducted in 2 studies. 8,13 Only 1 study involved human subjects in a clinical setting.…”

“…9 Output power was affected by both position and height of the antenna. 20 Electric field strength of antenna was influenced by positioning of the tag. 21 Accuracy and reading distance of RFID tags were affected by 2 factors: liquids on the RFID tags and metal objects.…”

“…Four studies evaluated the influence of liquids on reading ability of RFID tags, which include 1 study involving human body fluids, 9 1 with porcine blood, 13 and 2 with water. 8,20 In 3 studies, the sponges with RFID tags were submerged, 8,9,13 whereas another study placed wet gauze/sponges between RFID tags and antennas. 20 None of the studies evaluated the impact of metal objects on the reading abilities of RFID tags, although 1 study evaluated tracking surgical instruments, which were made from metal.…”