The invention relates to a method and a system for operating a treatment device (20, 20) for surgical instruments, in particular endoscopes, wherein the treatment device (20, 20) has a main control (22, 22) and at least one exchangeable wear part (10, 12, 12, 14, 16, 18), which is provided for operation up to a predetermined maximum operating time. According to the invention, a read unit (24, 24) in the treatment device (20, 20) is used to read out identification data, specific to the wear part, from a transponder which is arranged on or in the wear part (10, 12, 12, 14, 16, 18) and is connected to the wear part (10, 12, 12, 14, 16, 18) or is integrated in the wear part (10, 12, 12, 14, 16, 18), wherein, after identification data have been read out, a comparison is made with an external database (52) in which the identification data specific to the wear part are stored.
