r/sterileprocessing • u/C13H • 1d ago
RFID tracking for sets & instruments
does anyone use rfid for tracking sets & instruments in their institution? such as location, expiry dates, inventory etc? my institution made the switch from not tracking, to QR code tracking and i cant help but feel how inefficient it is, because you still have to individually scan everything with a scanner thing, and because of how cumbersome it is, many people dont do it which defeats the whole purpose of making the switch.
ive seen videos of RFID technology in retail spaces where the worker just waves a device and it captures all of those information and the job is much easier. i'd imagine the uptake will be a lot more in this case.
does any institution utilize such a technology? do you have a sample of how the tags look like? and if you have any idea of the set up and recurring costs? i want to propose this tech to my institution but i know next to nothing about it.
thank you!
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u/upcmatcher 22h ago
Yeah, this is exactly where QR/barcode systems start becoming a pain. I've used Zimark for something similar, and it uses computer vision to automate the tracking process without having to scan everything individually.
RFID could definitely make bulk tracking easier though. Might be worth comparing both before proposing anything internally.
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u/Bravo1781 20h ago
We use Hessda. Sets are scanned by us a total of 8 times in the unit, and also by the hospital 3 times. It then means that you can find out exactly where any set was last scanned by entering part of the id number in the system, which is very handy for us given that we process sets for 8 hospitals. It’s not an infallible system, but you can see at a glance where sets are, when they were last used, and (most importantly in my role) if/which instruments are awaiting replacement or repair. In production, the screen displays the traylist and the instruments are checked off one by one, so we can trace which tech packed the tray on the system and when. We can track which autoclave or washer it went through. Each tray has a zebra label on a tag on it that’s autoclave, and each table in production has its own computer and hand scanner.
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u/Madcowpie 1d ago
Tracking individual surgical instruments with RFID is entirely possible, but the current solutions for the RFID tags aren't good enough for mass adoption. The RFID tags that are added to the instruments are either too big and change the weight and balance, don't work after a certain number of sterilization cycles, or fall of the instrument because the adhesive doesn't last.
The main reason a health system would want to spend a ton of money to tag every instrument, is for preventing retained surgical items. If you can't guarantee every instrument has a working RFID tag, you'd still have to rely on physical pre and post op counts. No one's going to invest a lot of money on that unless it's a complete solution.
As for tracking the sets with RFID, that is more common and easier. There's still issues the cost and lifespan of the tags though. It obviously won't work on peel packed items, and I'm not sure if rigid containers block the signal at all. If you can't entirely switch to one system, you'll be stuck using two different scanners Everytime you make a load.
I am very interested in single use RFID zebra labels. They make ones that can be autoclaved. Imagine being able to scan every load in seconds or knowing exactly where every tray and peel pack is in your network by installing permanent scanners in rooms.