Patent ID: 7557710

Claim:
A system for tracking and locating medical utility items within a surgical environment, the system comprising: (a) a plurality of tags, at least one tag associated with each medical utility item to be tracked, each tag comprising a radio frequency (RF) responsive element and an ultrasonic responsive element; (b) at least one RF transceiver positioned within the surgical environment and for transmitting an RF signal to, and receiving an RF signal back from, the RF responsive element of each tag, the RF transceiver thereby tracking the locations of the tags, the RF transceiver further outputting signal information comprising the locations of the tags; (c) a microprocessor receiving the signal information from the at least one RF transceiver and maintaining a log of the locations of the tags and determining if and when a tag is not being RF tracked by the RF transceivers; (d) at least one display device associated with the microprocessor for displaying the log of the locations of the tags and for alerting a user if and when a tag is no longer being RF tracked, the at least one display device further for displaying at least one last known location of a tag that is no longer being RF tracked; and (e) at least one ultrasonic transducer positioned within the surgical environment and for transmitting ultrasonic waves to, and receiving ultrasonic waves back from, the ultrasonic responsive element of each tag within a localized space associated with the at least one last known location of a tag that is no longer being RF tracked.