InfoLogix to Launch SurgiChip
InfoLogix, Inc., a provider of enterprise mobility solutions for the healthcare and commercial industries, announces that it will launch SurgiChip™, which is a real-time wireless solution designed to address leading causes of surgical identity and procedure mistakes in hospitals.
SurgiChip™ is a complete verification system using RFID technology in an automated, controlled process to accurately identify and document that a surgical team performs the proper procedure on the correct patient at the right surgical site prior to the start of a procedure. Designed to directly address patient safety goals, SurgiChip™ provides an electronic audit trail to verify compliance with the Joint Commission’s Universal Protocol® and is HIPAA compliant, using advanced encryption algorithms to secure patient data at all times.
“The repercussions from surgical identity errors are serious for both the patient and healthcare institution,” says David Gulian, President and CEO of InfoLogix. “In Pennsylvania alone, more than 170 ‘wrong site’ surgical errors and 250 ‘close calls’ were documented over a recent 30 months period.
In New York, a patient who had surgery on the incorrect knee recently settled with the hospital which committed the error for $450,000, and in Rhode Island, a hospital was fined $50,000 for a ‘wrong site’ surgery. With SurgiChip™ we are aiming to empower hospitals with a real-time system that helps eliminate patient identity errors such as these.”
SurgiChip™ provides electronic verification of comprehensive patient, surgical site, and procedural data both in pre-op and in the operating room. As part of InfoLogix’s enterprise mobility software suite for the healthcare industry, SurgiChip™ offers real time connectivity utilizing existing WLAN infrastructure to bridge the communication gap with all members of the surgical team—a common challenge in operating room environments today.
Awarepoint Announces Sterilizable Active RFID RTLS Asset Tag
Awarepoint announces the healthcare industry’s first-to-market active RFID Real-Time Location System (RTLS) asset tag that is sterilizable via steam autoclave and common liquid sterilization methods without removing it from equipment. The Awarepoint T2S asset tag is tested to endure standard autoclave cycles at temperatures up to 135 ºC, as well as immersion in the most common liquid sterilization methods. This new enhancement will further allow sterilize process workflows to be remotely monitored.
The Awarepoint system can alert appropriate staff (via e-mail, pager, or system reporting) if sterile protocol was compromised (e.g., equipment moves from one sterile area to the next before being processed by the sterile processing department).
Active RFID-RTLS solutions are currently used to track a variety of medical equipment — from wheelchairs and gurneys, to IV pumps and pulse oximeters. To date, hospitals have been unable to use an active RFID solution to track certain medical-surgical equipment, as the asset tags themselves could not withstand the cleaning and sterilization process.
Medical/surgical instrumentation tray and container systems are examples of devices that are critical to patient care, and designed for reuse only after adequate cleaning and sterilization. Searching for this equipment and knowing its status in the hospital’s sterile processing department can be a time consuming and frustrating experience for staff and surgeons alike. Now with the benefits of Awarepoint’s new sterilizable active RFID asset tag, staff can locate this equipment through the sterile processing department and understand its status (clean/dirty) at the touch of a button.
“Our new sterilizable tags can be cleaned and disinfected. With a battery life of five years or more, this makes it an extremely cost effective solution for medical instrumentation tracking applications,” says Jason Howe, Awarepoint’s Chief Executive Officer.
VeriChip Offers Its VeriTrace System for Emergency and Disaster Situations
VeriChip Corporation, a provider of RFID systems for healthcare and patient-related needs, offers its VeriTrace™ System. It is designed to assist state and federal agencies in the management of emergency situations and disaster recovery using implantable RFID technology.
The VeriTrace System includes an implantable RFID microchip, a VeriTrace Bluetooth™ handheld reader, a customized Ricoh 500SE Digital Camera capable of receiving both RFID scanned data and GPS data wirelessly, and a web-enabled database for gathering and storing information and images captured during emergency response operations.
This database ensures the precise collection, storage, and inventory of all data and images related to remains and the associated evidentiary items. The web-enabled database also allows the recreation of an accurate and complete reconstruction of a disaster setting, crime scene or similar setting where recreation is necessary.
VeriChip Corporation develops, markets, and sells RFID systems used to identify, locate, and protect people and assets. VeriChip's goal is to become the leading provider of RFID systems for people in the healthcare industry.
The company recently began marketing its VeriMed™ Patient Identification System, a passive RFID system for rapidly and accurately identifying people who arrive in an emergency room and are unable to communicate.
This system uses the first human-implantable passive RFID microchip, the implantable VeriChip™, cleared for medical use in October 2004 by the United States Food and Drug Administration.
NJM/CLI Introduces Enhanced Model 401X Pallet Labeler for RFID Tagging and Print & Apply Labeling
NJM/CLI introduces the enhanced Model 401X Print & Apply Pallet Labeler, which can be configured for optional RFID pallet tagging as well as standard corner, side, and multi-panel print & apply labeling. Ideal for pallets as well as barrels, tires, and other large products, the 401X offers a standard reach of up to 14” (356 mm) with the option of extending the reach to 36”(914 mm).
Now equipped with an Allen-Bradley PLC and Allen-Bradley PanelView 550 touchscreen user interface, the Model 401X Pallet Labeler offers extreme production flexibility and simple operation.
NJM/CLI’s Model 401X Pallet Labeler can be easily integrated with a plant wide network to download labeling data to the labeler, enable the labeler to communicate with other line equipment, and automate changeovers. With full clock and calendar functions as well as serialization, the labeler can print fixed and variable data including text and graphics and a wide array of barcodes using either a thermal transfer or direct thermal printer.
Designed to withstand the most challenging 24/7 production environments, the Model 401X Pallet Labeler features rugged construction and the highest quality components. An optional breakaway base allows the entire machine to pivot if the applicator arm is hit, eliminating damage to the arm. An optional retractable machine base allows the entire machine to be pulled away from the conveyor to ease maintenance.
PolyIC Offers Printed RFID Product Lines
PolyIC offers two new RFID product lines — one in the field of printed RFID called PolyID® and a second product line in the field of smart objects called PolyLogo®.
During the last four years, PolyIC has shown steady progress en route to printed products.
Says Managing Director Wolfgang Mildner: “With these first printed products, we will reach completely different market segments to conventional RFID transponders. Thus, we can tap into an enormous market potential, which PolyIC will approach with several pilot applications. We are already testing possible fields of application with various pilot customers. Our first products provide features ranging from presence control to 4-bit memory capacity in the PolyID® product line and even have a display function in the PolyLogo® product line.”
PolyIC presents applications in the fields of brand protection, voucher systems, marketing, and logistics. Within the PRISMA (Printed Smart Labels) project, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and has PolyIC as its consortium manager, all tickets to the Organic Electronics Conference will have a PolyID® tag attached to them. The tickets will be evaluated with a radio frequency reader at 13.56 MHz. This ticketing field test is being coordinated by Bartsch GmbH.
PolyIC 32- and 64-bit RFID chips have also been produced in the clean room. This success shows that the production of RFID chips with more memory capacity on the basis of the polymer semiconductor polythiophene is possible.
