Wand Detects Tagged Surgical Sponges

A handheld scanner identifies sponges that are embedded with radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags left inside a temporarily-closed surgical site.

Doctors at Stanford University School of Medicine (CA, USA) tested RFID sponges in a total of eight patients undergoing abdominal or pelvic surgery. Just before closure, an RFID sponge was placed in the surgical site. The edges of the wound were pulled together so that the inside of the cavity was not exposed during the detection experiments. A second surgeon, unaware of the sponge's location, tried to detect it using the wand-scanning device. The RFID wand device detected all sponges correctly, with 100% specificity and 100% sensitivity. The study was published in the July 2006 edition of Archives of Surgery.

The RFID sponges and a handheld wand-scanning device comprise the SmartSponge system, developed by ClearCount Medical Solutions (Pittsburgh. PA, USA). The system is intended to automate sponge counting and supplant the postoperative safety-check x-ray with a quick and inexpensive method of scanning the patient. The SmartSponge system has the ability to count multiple sponges at once without separation of soiled sponges, and also has the ability to distinguish between different types of sponges, such as a 4 x 4 and lap sponges. However, the researchers said the size of the chips used--about 2 cm--was too large and would need to be reduced to be practical on sponges and surgical instruments.

"We need a system that is really fail-safe; where, regardless of how people use this technology, the patient doesn't leave the operating room with a retained foreign body,” said lead author Dr. Alex Macario, a professor of anesthesia at Stanford University.



Related Links:
Stanford University School of Medicine
ClearCount Medical Solutions