New patent to track surgical instruments (Illustration)
Photo: CD Bank
New patent: No more 'left over' scalpels in patients' bodies
Israeli company develops chip to aide during medical operations, prevent newborn-swaps in delivery room
Researchers discovered that doctors "forget" surgical instruments in patients' bodies once in 1500 surgeries, an “oversight” which causes complications, repeated surgeries and even death.
Customarily, operating room personnel count surgical instruments before and after a procedure. A new chip developed in Israel – the size of a pin's head – would go a step further.
By attaching the chip to a surgical instrument, the surgeon would be able to track it at any given moment on a huge screen inside the operating room.
"Up until now, instruments used to be counted, thereby increasing chance of errors," said Rubi Helbertal, CEO of Haldor, the company that developed the new chip.
The chip would also be used to track Alzheimer's patients and to identify newborns in the delivery room.
The chip would be attached to the ID bracelets of the mother and child and enable correct matching.
Dan Even contributed to this article
