Deployment of Smart Specimen Transport System Using RFID and NB-IoT Technologies for Hospital Laboratory

Abstract

In this study, we propose a specimen tube prototype and smart specimen transport box using radio frequency identification (RFID) and narrow band–Internet of Things (NB-IoT) technology to use in the Department of Laboratory Medicine, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital. Our proposed method replaces the existing system, based on barcode technology, with shortage usage and low reliability. In addition, tube-tagged barcode has not eliminated the lost or incorrect delivery issues in many laboratories. In this solution, the passive RFID tag is attached to the surface of the specimen tube and stores information such as patient records, required tests, and receiver laboratory location. This information can be written and read multiple times using an RFID device. While delivering the specimen tubes via our proposed smart specimen transport box from one clinical laboratory to another, the NB-IoT attached to the box monitors the temperature and humidity values inside the box and tracks the box’s GPS location to check whether the box arrives at the destination. The environmental condition inside the specimen transport box is sent to the cloud and can be monitored by doctors. The experimental results have proven the innovation of our solution and opened a new dimension for integrating RFID and IoT technologies into the specimen logistic system in the hospital.

Small and Micro-Water Quality Monitoring Based on the Integration of a Full-Space Real 3D Model and IoT

“…The RS-PH-N01-3 PH sensor (Shandong Renke Control Technology Co., Ltd., Jinan, Shandong Province) and RS-ZD-N01 turbidity sensor (Shandong Renke Control Technology Co., Ltd., Jinan, Shandong Province) are RS485 water quality sensors that support the MODBUS-RTU communication protocol. It is suitable for a variety of water quality monitoring scenarios and has the characteristics of high precision and high stability [12]. The DS18B20(Qinhe Intelligent Technology Co., LTD., Shenzhen, Guangdong Province) temperature sensor is a digital water temperature sensor with a special single-wire interface so that only one interface pin is needed for communication.…”