ClearCount Medical Solutions announced its SmartSponge System received a finalist award under the Medical and Scientific category of the 2008 International Design Excellence Awards (IDEAs).

The award was submitted in conjunction with product development consultancy Bright Innovation.

The SmartSponge System both counts and detects surgical sponges. Individual sponge validation and continuous monitoring allows the system to both count and detect surgical sponges, improving safety, efficiency, and overall operating room performance.

The competition, sponsored by the Industrial Designers Society of America and Businessweek, selected 20 finalists in the medical and scientific categories. Overall, 1,517 entries were submitted from 26 countries.

ClearCount Medical Solutions is a medical device company with an extendable RFID-based platform. It markets the only FDA-cleared RFID enabled system for counting and detecting surgical sponges in the OR.

To learn more, visit www.clearcount.com.