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JP-7855603-B2 - RFID tags integrated into manual devices

JP7855603B2JP 7855603 B2JP7855603 B2JP 7855603B2JP-7855603-B2

Inventors

  • ローランド－アロイス ヒューゲル
  • フレデリク レンツェンヒューバー
  • ラルフ プフィステル
  • アンドレ バーク

Assignees

  • アエスキュラップ アーゲー

Dates

Publication Date
20260508
Application Date
20220323
Priority Date
20210324

Claims (10)

  1. A medical handheld instrument (1) comprising an instrument body having at least one gripping portion (3), at least one effector portion (2), and an RFID tag (4) inserted into the instrument body according to the subsurface principle, The notch (5) or opening (6) is formed in a region of the instrument body where substantially no force is applied during the engagement operation of the handheld instrument (1), A separate subsurface tag holder (7) in the shape of a bridge or strip is inserted into the notch (5) or the opening (6) by force fitting and/or shape fitting, filling the notch (5) or the opening (6) in a shape conforming manner to the handheld device (1), The at least one effector unit (2) has two branching units (8), The at least one gripping portion (3) has two annularly tapered handles (9), A medical handheld instrument (1), characterized in that the notch (5) or the opening (6) is positioned on the side of one of the two annular tapered handles (9) of the handheld instrument (1) that faces in the opposite direction from the other handle (9) .
  2. A handheld medical device (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that it is of the forceps type or scissors type, and the RFID tag is made of glass or ceramic .
  3. The medical handheld device (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the subsurface tag holder (7) is provided to receive the RFID tag (4) in a fixed position such that the RFID tag (4) is positioned recessed into the interior of the subsurface tag holder (7) relative to the surface of one of the annularly tapered handles (9) having the notch (5) or the opening ( 6 ).
  4. The medical handheld instrument (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the subsurface tag holder (7) is provided such that the RFID tag (4) is exposed to the instrument environment inside one of the handles (9) having the notch (5) or the opening ( 6 ).
  5. The medical handheld instrument (1) according to claim 2, wherein the subsurface tag holder (7) comprises two parallel long surfaces and two parallel short surfaces, and is configured to fit into the one handle (9) having the notch (5) or the opening (6) via a latch posterior spherical portion (11) on the short surface (17) and/or via anchor points (12) on the upper surface near each of the short surfaces (17).
  6. The subsurface tag holder (7) comprises two parallel long surfaces and two parallel short surfaces, and each of the short surfaces (17) has a protruding latch posterior spherical portion (11). The short surfaces (17) are arranged at acute angles (α) to each other for inserting and/or pushing the subsurface tag holder (7) into the notch (5) in a direction from the inside to the outside of the one handle ( 9), and the protruding posterior spherical portion (11) of the latch engages with each of the milled recesses of the one handle (9), characterized in that the medical handheld instrument (1) according to claim 1 .
  7. The upper surface of the subsurface tag holder (7) has protruding anchor points (12) provided for inserting and/or pushing the subsurface tag holder (7) into the opening (6) from below the one handle (9) toward the upper surface, and each of the protruding anchor points (12) is pushed into and/or inserted into corresponding recesses (13) of the one handle (9), characterized in that the medical handheld instrument (1) according to claim 1 .
  8. The device is configured such that a removable cover (14) is provided for the subsurface tag holder (7) inserted into one of the handles (9), The medical handheld device (1) according to claim 7, characterized in that the cover (14) can be connected to the subsurface tag holder (7) by adhesive bonding or ultrasonic welding.
  9. The medical handheld device (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the subsurface tag holder (7) is a plastic injection molded part configured to fit inside and outside the annular shape of one of the handles (9).
  10. A handheld medical device (1) and a reading device (15) as described in claim 1, A system comprising the RFID tag (4) and the reader (15) having an instrument holder (16) that is provided and adapted to hold or temporarily fix the handheld instrument (1) in a predetermined position and/or orientation to the reader (15), or the reader (15) configured as the instrument holder (16), Signal transmission is possible between the RFID tag (4) and the reader (15), A system in which multiple RFID tags (4) can be read simultaneously and reliably.

Description

This disclosure relates to a medical handheld instrument comprising an instrument body having at least one gripping portion, at least one effector portion, and an RFID tag, wherein the RFID tag is preferably inserted into the instrument body as a glass/ceramic tag according to the subsurface principle. Medical (marking) devices using RFID tags are already known. For example, US7898,420 B2 discloses a transponder device and/or housing for marking surgical instruments, such as metal surgical instruments. The transponder device is provided to have a non-elastic, preferably non-metallic, rigid transponder housing that can be attached to a portion of the surgical instrument. The housing has a transponder-receiving cavity located at a distance of at least 1 millimeter, preferably 2 millimeters, from any portion of the surgical instrument when the housing is attached to the surgical instrument. The housing may be detachably or permanently attached to the surgical instrument. A transponder is then placed in the transponder-receiving cavity and used. EP3 146 479 A1 describes an RFID tag assembly having a passive RFID tag on a metal surface and a mounting element. The passive RFID tag mounted on the metal surface is positioned to transmit RF signals. The mounting element is made of a conductive material and includes a base portion and at least one wall portion extending outward from a first surface of the base portion. The at least one wall portion is configured to at least partially define a notch into which the RFID tag is connected up to the at least one wall portion. Surgical instruments to which the RFID tag assembly is mounted are also provided. While these RFID tags are relatively small components, retrofitted RFID tag assemblies/devices using conventional technology create new surfaces of contamination and can hinder the handling of surgical or medical instruments. Furthermore, the attachment of RFID tags can create gaps and cracks (nests for viruses and bacteria), potentially allowing bacteria to adhere, which is a significant disadvantage in medical settings. Additionally, retrofitted RFID tags can restrict the handling of ergonomically designed surgical instruments, potentially creating corners or edges that could damage, puncture, or tear a surgeon's gloves upon contact. In principle, RFID tags or corresponding (marking) devices can be placed on corresponding medical devices in a location where they are expected to have the least adverse impact on the handling of the device. However, in this case, the placement options are significantly limited depending on the type of device, and it may be necessary to accept a reduction in, for example, data transmission capacity. Another drawback of prior art is that passive RFID tags may have short transmission distances, requiring them to be placed close to the reader. Therefore, in prior art, to minimize the distance between the RFID chip and the reader, RFID tags are often only retrofitted to the outer surface of surgical instruments. For the reasons mentioned above, care must be taken to ensure that the surface applied for this purpose is located on an instrument area that has minimal impact on instrument handling while still allowing for sufficient reading quality. In this regard, there is growing interest in counting the processing cycles associated with a product, recording and documenting this information, and using it to process relevant findings. Such processing cycles include manual pre-cleaning (using brushes), ultrasonic cleaning if necessary, cleaning in a washing machine (WS), lubrication if necessary, and sterilization. The following information regarding medical products is crucial for the increasingly important issues of tracking, traceability, lifecycle management, and providing evidence in the event of a claim: General conditions; service life/end of service; maintenance interval; follow-up surgery history and suitability (as stated in the purpose statement); reduced product maintenance and potential product failure; temperature overshoot/undershoot and potential product failure. To avoid the disadvantages mentioned at the beginning, it has been impossible to provide services tailored to customer/user needs or individually customized business models. Therefore, it is desirable to be able to instantly verify how often products have been (correctly) reprocessed, whether there are any defects in the process, and whether maintenance/repair is required. Currently, products must adhere to predetermined (regular) maintenance intervals, but this may no longer be necessary. Therefore, in the digital age, it is desirable to provide customers and equipment with individually tailored services and, in some cases, various customized business models. For example, ring-type instruments, particularly scissors, forceps, and similar handheld instruments, present a problem in that attaching RFID tags to the product is time-consuming. In prior art, RFID chips/tags must