Chances for Decreasing the Carbon Footprint in Hospitals by Means of AI-Based Recognition of Surgical Instruments

Central Sterile Services Departments (CSSDs) play a pivotal role in the reprocessing of surgical instruments significantly impacting the healthcare sector’s environmental footprint. This study evaluates the resource and energy consumption of CSSD processes, revealing that the sterilisation and reprocessing of surgical instruments are major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. By integrating Cir.Log, an AI-based camera system, into the CSSD packing process, unnecessary sterilisation cycles can be reduced, resulting in annual savings of 726.64 kg CO<inf>2</inf>-eq, lowering the Global Warming Potential of CSSDs. This research underlines the importance of improving CSSD efficiency to reduce the healthcare sector’s environmental impact.