RFID at UC Irvine Spots Sponges Inside Patients After Surgery

Radio-frequency identification technology is not only a way to track goods through the supply chain or the environmental conditions of food or medicine, but it may even save you from having foreign objects left inside of you after surgery. The University of California's Irvine Medical Center in Orange, Calif., has adopted SmartSponge RFID technology from medical device vendor ClearCount Medical Solutions to spot retained surgical items, or objects such as sponges left inside a patient following a medical procedure. The hospital has implemented SmartSponge in all operating rooms as well as the labor and delivery facilities.