Patent ID: 6902542

Claim:
A method of identifying a surgical cassette from a plurality of surgical cassettes, the method comprising the steps of: a) providing a surgical console having a cassette receiving portion; b) providing control system having a plurality of light emitting diodes and corresponding photodetectors in the cassette receiving portion of the surgical console; c) calibrating the control system by adjusting the output of the light emitting diodes until a predetermined output is measured by the photodetectors; d) inserting a cassette into the cassette receiving portion of the surgical console, the cassette having a plurality of tabs, the tabs having variable opaqueness and at least partially block the light emitted by the light emitting diodes from reaching the photodetectors; e) increasing the output of the light emitting diodes to a maximum; f) measuring a relative opaqueness of the tabs based on a relative variability of the amount of light reaching the photodetectors through the tabs from the light emitting diodes when the light emitting diodes are at the maximum output; and g) identifying the cassette based on the relative opaqueness of the tabs.