Design and Performance of a 5.8 GHz RFID System for Item Level Surgical Instrument Tracking

In this Paper a fully functional 5.8 GHz RFID system for item level tracking of surgical instruments based on the EPC Gen2 protocol is presented and tested in realistic scenarios. Design considerations are elaborated, the main system components are examined and measurements with multiple instruments in a metallic medical sieve are shown. An instrument's ID can be read with high reliability, although being arranged chaotically in the sieve with multiple other instruments in a single scanning procedure. A maximum read range of 61 cm utilizing a completely passive tag was achieved using 2 W ERP output power in measurements with a single instrument in a metallic environment. This technology is able to identify individual instruments of a surgical set inside a sieve or opened container almost instantly, even when the tag is partially covered by other instruments. Therefore, it is conveniently usable, as instrument sieves only need to be placed under a scanning antenna and all instruments being identified automatically.