How can technology help solve the challenge of missing and malfunctioning surgical instruments in surgery?
3. Missing & Malfunctioning Surgical Instruments
Nearly 58% of surgical delays are caused by missing or malfunctioning instruments, resulting in unnecessary costs – in time and money – across the surgical chain. How can technology help us to solve this challenge?
The cost of lost or broken instruments
Replacing a surgical instrument is expensive. And when lost or broken instruments can't be replaced quickly, the impact is even worse: costs mount, often vital operations are cancelled and delayed, and waiting lists increase.
Poor inventory management compounds the problem. A reliance on manual processes – including physical tags on instruments – can result in technicians not flagging, or simply not spotting, lost or broken equipment. Overloaded trays can also increase the number of broken and unusable instruments going into surgery. An efficient tracking system has the potential to reduce human errors in inventory management, helping to increase the efficiency of tray packing and reduce incomplete and incorrect trays – as well as limiting any associated financial penalties.
The cost of lost or broken instruments
Replacing a surgical instrument is expensive. And when lost or broken instruments can't be replaced quickly, the impact is even worse: costs mount, often vital operations are cancelled and delayed, and waiting lists increase.
Poor inventory management compounds the problem. A reliance on manual processes – including physical tags on instruments – can result in technicians not flagging, or simply not spotting, lost or broken equipment. Overloaded trays can also increase the number of broken and unusable instruments going into surgery. An efficient tracking system has the potential to reduce human errors in inventory management, helping to increase the efficiency of tray packing and reduce incomplete and incorrect trays – as well as limiting any associated financial penalties.
Currently, to ensure that all instruments are present and accounted for pre and post-surgery, scrub nurses are required to manually count all surgical equipment against an instrument checklist. This is time-consuming and the potential for human error is high.
Tracking instruments in real-time
Currently, to ensure that all instruments are present and accounted for pre and post-surgery, scrub nurses are required to manually count all surgical equipment against an instrument checklist. This is time-consuming and the potential for human error is high. Automatic instrument identification can help increase the speed and efficiency of these checks, and act to corroborate a nurse's instrument count.
Our AI platform can act as a second pair of eyes and ears in CSSDs, and in surgical theatre. Our Computer Vision and Artificial Intelligence (AI) software can work with cameras to accurately identify surgical instruments visually in real-time, with no need for instrument tags. There are so many potential benefits:
Tracking instruments in surgery is important for two reasons: for safety and for the insights collected. Technology can help us with this: automating high-error manual tasks and supporting nurses and technicians to do their jobs better. However, to be adopted into the surgical chain, new technologies must fit seamlessly into existing workflows, whilst providing tangible benefits for staff. Our computer vision platform does exactly this; slotting seamlessly into CSSD and hospital workflows, and increasing safety and efficiency across the surgical chain.
Currently, to ensure that all instruments are present and accounted for pre and post-surgery, scrub nurses are required to manually count all surgical equipment against an instrument checklist. This is time-consuming and the potential for human error is high. Automatic instrument identification can help increase the speed and efficiency of these checks, and act to corroborate a nurse's instrument count.
Our AI platform can act as a second pair of eyes and ears in CSSDs, and in surgical theatre. Our Computer Vision and Artificial Intelligence (AI) software can work with cameras to accurately identify surgical instruments visually in real-time, with no need for instrument tags. There are so many potential benefits:
- Locating 'lost' instruments – identifying where in the room an instrument is at any given time
- Saving time – freeing up technicians' time to spot potential breakages and errors
- Tracking instruments used in surgery – real-time insights into how surgeons use instruments inform optimal tray packing in the future
Tracking instruments in surgery is important for two reasons: for safety and for the insights collected. Technology can help us with this: automating high-error manual tasks and supporting nurses and technicians to do their jobs better. However, to be adopted into the surgical chain, new technologies must fit seamlessly into existing workflows, whilst providing tangible benefits for staff. Our computer vision platform does exactly this; slotting seamlessly into CSSD and hospital workflows, and increasing safety and efficiency across the surgical chain.
May 4, 2022