SubscribeA unique identifier applied directly onto an instrument, and available at any time to facilitate its tracking and computerised management, is a real advantage for health institutions.
Controlling the traceability of invasive medical appliances is a significant challenge facing health institutions. Sterilisation Departments have put in place identification systems ranging from double labels, transferable to the patient's case file, to computerised systems using bar-codes read by electronic "scanners".
These solutions enable staff to find out if product X, used for patient Y, has indeed been sterilised and where in the steam sterilisation cycle it happens to be (ascending traceability). Inversely, in steam sterilisation cycle Z, it is possible to know which products have been sterilised and on which patients they have been used (descending traceability). For surgical instruments, most institutions use labels attached to their surgical bags or on the instrument itself.
These 2 methods add:
- Additional handling in the operative phase (opening the bags or removing the label from the instrument).
- Reproduction of the identification process, using up a consumable, at each medical procedure.
The problem for Technifor, therefore, was to find a reliable method of feeding down traceability to instrument level, and to provide a comprehensive record of the successive stages in the life of each instrument until it is discarded. The challenge: Propose a Direct Part Marking identification system, enabling information to be captured automatically with no risk of input error, create a link between the information thus captured and the computerised management system for the complete instrument inventory.
Drawing on its 25 years of expertise in traceability systems design, Technifor was able to demonstrate the quality of a solution whereby the instrument would be identified by a 2-dimensional code, readable by Vision tools: DataMatrix. This compact 2-D code enables up to 20 characters to be stored within a tiny area 3mm square.
With reference to marking, at its test centre and in cooperation with French Hospitalisation Centre, Technifor applied its skills in a variety of technologies and confirmed the possibility of using direct marking by Micro-Percussion. Marking by Micro-Percussion presents excellent resistance to the rigorous sterilisation process.
Set up in a stand-alone marking station with two hand-held scanners, this solution is now running in several hospitals, and is providing total satisfaction in terms of the internal traceability and management of the hospital's medical appliances.
A specialist in DataMatrix marking and code reading, Technifor is able to offer a complete solution: from the ergonomic marking station (with its instrument positioning equipment), through the selection and setting of vision scanning tools, to the transfer and management of information scanned, in addition to computerised processing.
Technifor SAS
Z.I de la Tuillère
114 quai du Rhône
01708 MIRIBEL
FRANCE
Tel : + 33 (0) 4 78 55 85 50
Fax : + 33 (0) 4 78 55 60
Contact : Jérôme BOURGEOIS - jbourgeois@technifor.com