RFID Technology for Management and Tracking: e-Health Applications

Abstract

Radio frequency identification (RFID) has become a key technology in the logistics and management industry, thanks to distinctive features such as the low cost of RFID tags, and the easiness of the RFID tags’ deployment and integration within the items to be tracked. In consequence, RFID plays a fundamental role in the so-called digital factory or 4.0 Industry, aiming to increase the level of automatization of industrial processes. In addition, RFID has also been found to be of great help in improving the tracking of patients, medicines, and medical assets in hospitals, where the digitalization of these operations improves their efficiency and safety. This contribution reviews the state-of-the-art of RFID for e-Health applications, describing the contributions to improve medical services and discussing the limitations. In particular, it has been found that a lot of effort has been put into software development, but in most of the cases a detailed study of the physical layer (that is, the characterization of the RFID signals within the area where the system is deployed) is not properly conducted. This contribution describes a basic RFID system for tracking and managing assets in hospitals, aiming to provide additional details about implementation aspects that must be considered to ensure proper functionality of the system. Although the scope of the RFID system described in this contribution is restricted to a small area of the hospital, the architecture is fully scalable to cover the needs of the different medical services in the hospital. Ultra high-frequency (UHF) RFID technology is selected over the most extended near-field communication (NFC) and high-frequency (HF) RFID technology to minimize hardware infrastructure. In particular, UHF RFID also makes the coverage/reading area conformation easier by using different kinds of antennas. Information is stored in a database, which is accessed from end-user mobile devices (tablets, smartphones) where the position and status of the assets to be tracked are displayed.

Knowledge-Based Decision Support in Healthcare via Near Field Communication

“…Actions triggered or recognized via smart devices can be logged automatically, thus avoiding lengthy and error-prone manual data input by personnel. Research studies and pilot projects have pointed out critical design and implementation issues [ 11 , 12 ] and have evaluated the impact of such infrastructures in ordinary hospital activities [ 13 ] as well as in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) [ 14 ]. This increases security and safety by automating checks for authorization enforcement and prevention of human error, respectively, in critical activities like medication administration [ 15 ].…”

False Positive RFID Detection Using Classification Models

“…Radio frequency identification (RFID) is a key Industry 4.0 enabling technology, and has been widely used throughout manufacturing and supply chains. RFID transfers data between readers and movable tagged objects and has been applied to many diverse areas, including tracking and managing assets in healthcare [2][3][4], reducing misplaced inventory throughout supply chains [5], measuring soil erosion [6], and improving just-in-time operation for automotive logistics [7]. The technology has also provided significant advantages for bee monitoring [8], tracking ship pipes [9], customer purchase behavior analysis [10], inventory management [11], indoor robot patrol [12], etc.…”

Factors Affecting RFID Subcutaneous Microchips Usage

“…In particular, UHF RFID also makes the coverage/reading area conformation easier by using diff erent kinds of antennas. Information is stored in a database, which is accessed from end-user mobile devices (tablets, smartphones) where the position and status of the assets to be tracked are displayed [5]. Th is allows for better time management and better human resource utilization.…”