Surgical-implement count and capture system

A count and capture system comprising a base station and a removable cassette reversibly installable to the base station;

• the removable cassette comprising:
• a cassette housing,
• a first reel adapted to supply a carrier tape along a first pathway through the cassette housing,
• a second reel adapted to supply a cover tape along a second pathway through the cassette housing,
• a third reel adapted to receive and accumulate a capture tape that comprises portions of said carrier tape and said cover tape that have been adhered together upstream along said first pathway within said cassette housing,
• a deposit station located along said first pathway and comprising a deposit window in the cassette housing adapted to accommodate insertion therethrough a plurality of surgical-implements to be deposited successively onto said carrier tape at longitudinally spaced-apart receiving areas thereof when resident respectively in said deposit station, and
• a counting station located along said first pathway downstream of said deposit station, the counting station comprising a counting window in the cassette housing;
• and
• the base station comprising:
• a sensor adapted to penetrate said counting window when the cassette housing is installed to the base station such that said sensor is disposed adjacent to said first pathway in the counting station, said sensor being adapted to detect said plurality of surgical-implements deposited on said carrier tape at the respective spaced-apart receiving areas thereof when resident in said counting station.

A method of counting and capturing surgical-implements comprising:

• indexing a carrier tape comprising a plurality of predefined, spaced-apart receiving areas along a first pathway;
• depositing respective surgical-implements into successive ones of said receiving areas as each said receiving area is located at a deposit station located along the first pathway;
• after depositing each of the respective surgical-implements, indexing a cover tape along a second pathway that intersects the first pathway at a location downstream of the deposit station so that the cover tape is applied to the carrier tape to capture each of the respective surgical implements in the successive receiving areas,
• detecting the respective surgical-implements in the successive receiving areas by a sensor at a counting station;
• and
• recognizing or classifying the respective surgical-implements based on detecting them,
• wherein a removable cassette comprises the carrier tape and the cover tape following the respective first and second pathways, the removable cassette being removably installable to a base station comprising the sensor.