The tests started in March and are scheduled to be completed by the fall of this year.

An operation requires all sorts of equipment, textiles and accessories, such as scalpels, scissors, swabs and sponges. All the medical instruments must be properly disinfected and in their proper place in the operating room,

and there must always be plenty of scrubs, swabs and sponges close to hand. With RFID, the entire equipment used for an operation can be scanned, identified and documented. In an initial test project, the sponges and swabs are equipped with RFID tags, which are then read in the operating room by a stationary RFID reader. From the moment they are removed from storage to their final disposal, they are traced seamlessly with the help of RFID and can no longer go missing.

The second RFID test project scans the individual staff members as they enter the operating room. Each team member affixes a card containing an RFID transponder before he or she starts to scrub down. The card does not contain any personal data, only the wearer's role, such as "surgeon" or "anesthesiologist". When the operation is over and the team members leave the operating room, they hand the cards back in. All information ? such as the operation's progress or materials being used ? can be tracked on the OR planning monitor. In addition, the system logs the start and end times of each operation, thus enabling its duration to be recorded accurately and helping ensure that OR capacities are used to their fullest.

The digital display includes the patient's name, weight, age, gender and the procedure he or she is undergoing. It includes a detailed list of medical staff on duty and where they are according to RFID tags they're wearing., followed by charts on the patient's heart rate, ventilation, fluids, body temperature and so on. That information is documented before, during and after the surgery. In most hospitals, that information would be held on clip boards and white boards, and within the computer systems and minds of medical staff. In most cases, it's hard to get all of that in one spot. "As you sit in the OR you get bits of information from different places. Rarely does the group have the big picture on the individual," said Michael Leonard, the physician leader for patient safety at Kaiser Permanente and former director of anesthesia at Colorado Permanente Medical Group. One of the most progressive--and controversial--elements of the system involves location tracking technology for medical staff and patients. Doctors and nurses wear radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, similar to key chains, which are synchronized

What You Will Learn:

• RFID basics — understanding the fundamentals of the technology• How patient tracking reduces labor and improves care• Locating hospital assets in real time• How to choose the right RFID technology for your needs• Taking an infrastructure approach to RFID to improve your ROI• The role of EPC standards in hospital systems and how to plan for long-term adoption• And much more

HOW RFID WORKSRFID technology consists of a tag or transponder, which uses a computer chip and antenna to emit radio waves that can be used to identify and track a specific item. RFID chips can operate in an active or passive mode, broadcasting data as required. The chips store an item's Electronic Product Code (EPC), which is divided into numbers that identify an item's manufacturer, product, version, and serial number. The EPC also has an extra set of digits that can store additional information, such as a product's expiration date.While chips are used to store information, the antenna enables the chip to transmit information to readers by converting radio waves received from RFID tags into a format that can be read by middleware software, which then

passes this data to various company applications, such as supply chain, asset tracking, and shop flow control programs.

PROS AND CONS OF RFID USEPros

Real-time data on assets and goods. Increased data and knowledge for decision-making. Reduced theft and loss. Improved inventory efficiency and management. Reduced labor costs. Increased efficiency and product flow. Goods authentication. Improved risk mitigation. Reduced human error.

Cons High implementation cost. Lack of globally accepted use standards. Lack of better middleware. Privacy intrusion. Strain in the IT infrastructure by overwhelming information systems as real-time scans move between

multiple applicationsWhat is RFIDShort for radio frequency identification, RFID is a dedicated short range communication (DSRC) technology. The term RFID is used to describe various technologies that use radio waves to automatically identify people or objects. RFID technology is similar to the bar code identification systems we see in retail stores everyday; however one big difference between RFID and bar code technology is that RFID does not rely on the line-of-sight reading that bar code scanning requires to work. The Technology Behind RFIDWith RFID, the electromagnetic or electrostatic coupling in the RF (radio frequency) portion of the electromagnetic spectrum is used to transmit signals. An RFID system consists of an antenna and a transceiver, which read the radio frequency and transfer the information to a processing device (reader) and a transponder, or RF tag, which contains the RF circuitry and information to be transmitted. The antenna provides the means for the integrated circuit to transmit its information to the reader that converts the radio waves reflected back from the RFID tag into digital information that can then be passed on to computers that can analyze the data.In RFID systems, the tags that hold the data are broken down into two different types. Passive tags use the radio frequency from the reader to transmit their signal. Passive tags will generally have their data permanently burned into the tag when it is made, although some can be rewritten.

Active tags are much more sophisticated and have on-board battery for power to transmit their data signal over a greater distance and power random access memory (RAM) giving them the ability to store up to 32,000 bytes of data. RFID FrequenciesMuch like tuning in to your favorite radio station, RFID tags and readers must be tuned into the same frequency to enable communications. RFID systems can use a variety of frequencies to communicate, but because radio waves work and act differently at different frequencies, a frequency for a specific RFID system is often dependant on its application. High frequency RFID systems (850 MHz to 950 MHz and 2.4 GHz to 2.5 GHz) offer transmission ranges of more than 90 feet, although wavelengths in the 2.4 GHz range are absorbed by water, which includes the human body, and therefore has limitations.

The figure above shows an overview of a RFID system. A simple RFID system consists of a RFID reader and a RFID tag. And, inside of each sophisticated tags there then consists of a radio transmitter and radio receiver. This enables a RFID reader and a RFID tag communicates each other through a specified radio frequency. There are three main roles a RFID reader plays other than signaling RFID tag to transmit desired information back to the RFID

reader. Firstly, a RFID reader has the responsibility of keeping RFID tags powered up. Secondly, a RFID reader demodulates incoming signals from the RFID tag down. This process slows the incoming signals down enough so that the RFID reader is able to process the signals. Finally, after the incoming signals are slowed down, RFID then has the responsibility of decoding the incoming signals into the words people can interpret. Both a RFID reader and a RFID tag can be easily made into almost any desired shape and size. Because of the versatility, RFID system can almost fit into wherever needs a field needs to identify, track, and manage objects,

How much does a fully functional RFID system cost? The cost depends on the application, the size of the installation, the type of system and many other factors, so it is not possible to give a ballpark figure. In addition to tag and reader costs, companies need to purchase middleware to filter RFID data. They may need to hire a systems integrator and upgrade enterprise applications, such as warehouse management systems. They may also need to upgrade networks within facilities. And they will need to pay for the installation of the readers. Not only do the readers need to be mounted, they need electrical power and to be connected to a corporate network.

What are some of the RFID applications implemented by companies in the health-care industry One company offers a system to track surgical sponges to ensure they are not inadvertently left behind in patients. And many hospitals are now tracking patients to ensure the right patient is given the proper care. These systems tend to reduce the data-entry workload of nurses, and also let them spend more time caring for patients and automate the process of billing. Additionally, hospitals are tracking high-value assets, including gurneys, wheel chairs, oxygen pumps and defibrillators. These systems reduce the time employees spend looking for assets, improve asset utilization and enhance the hospitals' ability to performed scheduled maintenance.