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Reading Marked Codes on Surgical Instruments

What is Surgical Instrument Tracking?

Surgical instrument identification and tracking is the ability to machine identify instruments and link them to decontamination data and to the patients they are used on.

NHS Estates currently require tracking of standard trays of instruments. Instrument trays are coded (for example, by traditional bar code) and this code links to decontamination and patient data.

There are growing needs to track instruments more accurately and this requirement is being extended to tracking instruments uniquely.

Additionally, identification of instruments at the packing stage is important, especially for supplementary or specialised instruments as surgeons have their own unique requirements for each operation. Instrument Identification may be implemented for supplementary instruments, groups of instruments by surgical specialism, or to all instruments in a hospital.

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