Patent ID: 7474223
Filing Date: 2009-01-06
Classification: A61B,A61F,G16H

Abstract:
1. A method for obtaining information concerning a surgical implant, comprising: presenting a subject into a radio frequency field of a reader device, the subject having one or more surgical implants and corresponding fasteners, at least one of the fasteners having affixed thereto one or more radio frequency identification tags storing positional data including the axial position of the fastener relative to the one or more surgical implants; transmitting an interrogation signal from the reader device; receiving the interrogation signal by the one or more radio frequency tagged surgical instruments; transmitting back to the reader device, an RF signal containing the positional data from the radio frequency tags of the one or more surgical implants; and comparing the data received from the at least one radio frequency tag of the one or more surgical implants to a database.