Systems and methods for medical device identification are described. One embodiment is A medical device identification system including a medical device having an identifying symbol for providing information to a user about the medical device, and a monitoring system comprising a processing circuit and a communications interface. The processing circuit includes a device identification module configured to receive input from a detection device, via the communications interface, for identifying the medical device, and a device information module configured to provide identifying information about the medical device. The medical device may be a tool or an implant. The identifying symbol may be a shape, and the symbol may further include an identifying color.
