Patent ID: 8454613

Claim:
A system for determining if an action needs to be taken upon the contents of a surgical instrument tray, comprising: a surgical instrument tray having at least one surgical instrument comprising an RFID transponder tag embedded in a portion of the at least one surgical instrument and having identification information corresponding to the at least one surgical instrument stored in a memory therein, the at least one surgical instrument including a handle portion comprising a conductive material, the tag being enclosed in the handle portion by a non-conductive material such that the non-conductive material is continuous with an outer surface of the handle portion; and a reader device that, when placed in proximity to the at least one instrument, generates an RF field of sufficient strength to cause the RFID transponder tag to emit a signal containing at least some of its stored identification information, the signal being received by the reader device; and a database coupled to the reader device for storing information corresponding to the identification information read by the reader device.