Surgical Tools to Include RFID

andrewman327 writes "Reuters is reporting that hospitals are considering embedding RFID tags in surgical tools to prevent leaving them in patients. After closing a patient, doctors would wave a receiver over the body to look for the chips which would indicate that something was left inside. The biggest current stumbling block is the chip's size, though scientists hope they will continue shrinking as the state of the art advances."

Comments

How common is this problem...

[dudeX]

that we have to have use technology to prevent this from happening?
Why would surgeons (or assistants) think it's okay to leave a foreign object lying on top of an organ or tissue in the first place?! Also why is the surgeon in such a rush that s/he would be so sloppy?

Maybe this would be more appropiate for battlefield sitautions where things can get hairy, but then again, it's pretty rare to do open surgery in the battlefield!

Re:How common is this problem...

[LunaticTippy]

It sounds as if you're unaware that US hospitals are in a state of absolute crisis. It isn't the surgeon's fault, and it isn't their choice. They are forced to work back-to-back 14 hour shifts. Emergency rooms are having their budgets slashed, having increased business from uninsured patients who can't afford routine care, and have trouble keeping staff from the abysmal working conditions and low pay.

Here is a good article on the subject. It claims the ER system is on the verge of collapse.

Hardly thinking it's okay to make mistakes, these poor people are in a constant state of sleep deprived chaotic panic.

sterilization?

[Yonder Way]

How rugged are RFID chips? How are they going to hold up to being heated in an autoclave for sterilization?