Identification and Traceability of Surgical Instruments:

One of the main challenges facing any hospital today is the need to monitor and control the vast range of instruments used in modern surgical procedures and to move this forward from the current tray-based routine to an automated system for identifying and tracing each individual item as it is used, sterilised and stored within the hospital.

Now a computerised system centred on an Electrox marking laser which puts an indelible mark directly onto the surface of each instrument in the form of a high capacity, two dimensional (2D) Data Matrix code offers the solution.

As well as the obvious benefit of tracing specific instruments to procedures carried out on individual patients, this new system will enhance the hospital's capacity for asset management.

Equally, the new system will identify instruments as they both enter and leave an operating theatre, providing a precise count of the instruments used and detect any possible loss.