ClearCount’s patented SmartSponge System, based on radio frequency identification (RFID), has been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The system is claimed to be the world’s first RFID system that detects and counts surgical sponges and towels during surgical procedures.
The technology will improve patient safety and efficiency by alerting staff when there is a missing sponge. According to a study in Massachusetts, foreign objects were left in the body in one out of every 10,000 surgeries. Two-thirds of all objects left in the body cavity were surgical sponges.
teve Fleck, co-founder and chief technology officer, commented: “ClearCount’s RFID-based SmartSponge System allows users to simultaneously count and differentiate between types of sponges. Additionally, since RFID does not require a line-of-sight between the reader and tags, there is no need to physically separate sponges or orient the tags in any way to scan them. This minimises the handling of soiled sponges by nursing staff.”
ClearCount expects to make available a commercial solution by the end of this year.
