Surgical instruments equipped with RFID chips are thought to be useful for labor saving and safety management. However, if there is a possibility that its RFID chip will fall off from the surgical instrument, we need a means of searching for the RFID chip that remains in the body if it falls off. Therefore, we examined whether it is possible to search for RFID chips by X-ray imaging as one of the search means. For radiography, we used a portable radiography device commonly used to check for foreign objects before leaving the operating room. As for the examination method, seven types of RFID chips were placed on the human body phantom and photographed to check whether it could be confirmed visually. Portable X-ray equipment: Fujifilm Medical CALNEO Go Plus, FPD Panel: DR-ID1212SE Panel size: 17inch × 17inch, Scintillator: Csl Pixel size: 150x150μm Imaging conditions: 80Kvp, 5mAs, FFD120cm Imaging parameters: Abdominal standard + virtual used a grid.
As a result, only 2 types of RFID chips were visually identifiable, and the other 5 types could not be confirmed even if the locations of the RFID chips could be specified. The thickness of the RFID chip that could be confirmed was 2.1 mm, and the thickness of the RFID chip that could not be confirmed was 0.3 mm or less.
When it is suspected that an RFID chip remains in the body, it is difficult to visually locate it in the surgical field because the RFID chip is small. Portable X-ray equipment seems to be the main equipment that can be used to search for RFID chips that have fallen off while the patient is in the operating room. Therefore, for safety management, it is considered necessary to use an RFID chip that is thick enough to be confirmed by portable photography.