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Comparative Study
. 2008 Nov 6:2008:525-9.

Comparison of RFID systems for tracking clinical interventions at the bedside

Kumiko Ohashi  1 , Sakiko Ota, Lucila Ohno-Machado, Hiroshi Tanaka
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Comparison of RFID systems for tracking clinical interventions at the bedside

Kumiko Ohashi et al. AMIA Annu Symp Proc. .

Abstract

In recent years, there have been high expectations for RFID technologies applied in the medical field, particularly for automatic identification and location of patients and medical supplies. However, few studies have measured the applicability of currently available RFID technologies in a medical environment. To determine the technical factors that affect the performance of RFID systems, we examined the performance of different types of tags for medications, medical equipment, nurses, and patients under different experimental conditions. Three kinds of passive RFID tags and one active RFID tag were used in our study. Passive tags were affected by materials such as liquid and metal. Tags based on 13.56MHz were most suited for identifying medications. Tag placement was one of the main factors involved in correct identification of nurses, patients, and medical equipment. The results of this study may help decision makers decide whether (which) RFID technologies are useful for tracking clinical workflow.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
RFID-based system to track clinical interventions at the bedside.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The Power Tag system. An active RFID tag starts transmitting information when detected by a trigger antenna.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Tag types and tagged medical supplies.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Location detection using active Power Tags and UHF tags. Tags are shown at the top. Antenna were placed at the ceiling, over the entrance and the bedside. Readers are shown at the bottom.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Medical supply detection using different RFID tags.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Nurse identification accuracy by tag position. Left bars correspond to detection of a single nurse and on the right detection of two nurses.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Patient identification accuracy according to tag placement.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Detection of medical equipment.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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