A RFID-based tracking system of endoscopes

The cleaning and disinfection of the endoscopes are extremely important for reducing endoscopic transmission of infections in hospitals. There have been many such cases of medical accidents reported in the history and most are caused by poor management. According to the Technical Specifications for the Cleaning and Disinfection of Endoscopes (2004) of China, this paper has presented a tracking system based on the radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to provide a better management of the endoscopes. It can efficiently prevent the potential medical errors by recording and checking the current state of the endoscopes, and it can provide a better traceability of the daily operations of the endoscopes by saving the historical using, cleaning and disinfection records. Preliminary clinical application was tested in the endoscope center of a 2200-bed hospital in Hangzhou, China. The result has expectantly demonstrated that it can effectively standardize the operation procedures and reduce the medical errors. Further evaluation of its usefulness and the user satisfaction will be done in the future.