In order to prevent retainment of surgical instruments, number and kind of the instruments have to be counted correctly before and after operation. We propose a management system of surgical instruments by using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. One of the features of the system is multi-tag reading and robustness against adhesion of blood. We have developed a RFID tag that is applicable in the sterilization process and a RFID reader/writer. The present study examines usability of the application software to support the surgical instruments assembly at the central supply section. Evaluation tests were conducted by the medical staff at hospital using the proposed system. As a result, setting time by using the RFID system was found to increase by 13.7%, in comparison to the conventional manual assembly. Considering that the conventional method needs two medical professionals for double-check, the system, which enables double-check with only one professional, could reduce total assembly time almost to half. Furthermore, the system successfully detected a miscount which happened in one subject and gave alert. Through the clinical evaluations, it is suggested that the proposed system could improve the safety and reliability of tray assembly.

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This paper proposes a method for evaluating endothelial function based on the dilation rate of an integrated air-cuff plethysmogram measured using an oscillometric approach. The method is not affected by blood pressure variations, and can be used to assess endothelial function quickly. In the study, the dilation rate of an integrated air-cuff plethysmogram was simulated to verify that the proposed method is suitable for evaluating arterial compliance changes related to endothelial function. The simulation results showed that changes in arterial viscoelastic characteristics can be assessed using the technique. Then, the proposed dilation rate for the integrated air-cuff plethysmogram and the value of percent flow-mediated vasodilation (%FMD) (a standard index used to evaluate endothelial function) were measured in the same subjects, with the results showing a significant correlation (r= 0.589) between the two. In addition, receiver operation characteristics (ROC) analysis was conducted to verify the method's effectiveness in determining the risk of arteriosclerosis. The results showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of the proposed index was 0.914, which was greater than or equal to the %FMD value. It was therefore concluded that the proposed method has potential for clinical use.

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