Patent ID: 11920957
Assignee: GLOBUS MEDICAL INC.
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G  A | IPC A  G

Claim 0:
1. A method for detecting metal in a hollow tube comprising the steps of:
providing an automated medical system comprising:
a robot body;
a robot arm configured to be supported by the robot body; and
an end effector removably attachable to the robot arm, the end effector including a hollow tube and a metal detector for detecting insertion of a metallic surgical device into the hollow tube, wherein the metal detector further includes:
a coil mounted to the hollow tube;
a capacitor coupled to and defining a resonant circuit with the coil;
a switch adapted to couple a voltage source to the resonant circuit;
a controller connected to the switch and the resonant circuit, and operable to turn on the switch for a preselected time period to temporarily provide a current to the resonant circuit and analyze a decaying voltage waveform originating from the resonant circuit when the switch is turned off to determine a presence of the metallic surgical device in the hollow tube,

detecting metal in the hollow tube using the automated medical system.