The need for a reliable method of tracking medical equipment has recently been highlighted by the potential exposure of patients in a UK hospital to vCJD, a rare but incurable brain disease.
A powerful new approach to the tracking, traceability and identification of medical devices is now being offered by Innovision Research & Technology plc, the electronics solutions provider. They have developed a range of low cost RFID (radio frequency identification) tags, small enough and robust enough to be embedded in almost any shape or size of medical device.
"With our low-cost RFID DataLabel technology, issues such as traceability, re-use of single-use devices, medical errors and product authentication are tackled head-on in a practical, feasible and cost-effective manner,“ explained Marc Borrett, managing director of Innovision R&T.
"This powerful and elegant technology offers enormous scope for preventing mistakes and reducing costs.
" Intelligent medical devices could in effect tell you where and when they were manufactured, if and when they have been used and even on which patient they have been used. Not only could this help to prevent re-use of single-use equipment, but traceability of devices would become feasible and allow devices used in particular procedures or with specific patients to be tracked and identified,“ he said.
Marc Borrett continued: "Although this would not in itself have prevented the most recent case because no-one seems to have suspected the equipment until after it was re-used it does offer a technology which can genuinely improve the tracking of medical equipment and help reduce and assess a whole range of risks.“
Typically measuring the size of a small finger nail and less than 1mm thick, Innovision R&T's low-cost DataLabel tags are designed to fit into almost any shape or sized product or medical device and can contain any digitised information.
Powered by either strategically sited or handheld readers, DataLabel technology is capable of being injection moulded or hermetically sealed within devices, is unaffected by extraneous surface material and is designed to last the entire lifetime of its host product.
"We are talking to a number of manufacturers about implementing DataLabel technology into their products,“ said James Urie, Business Development Manager.
"The National Health Service (NHS) is already under huge pressure to perform without the addition of this latest problem. Healthcare manufacturers see DataLabel technology as a powerful complementary component to their products and a technology that can help improve patient care.
Innovision Research & Technology plc is a rapidly expanding electronics technology solutions provider and licensor specialising in the development and transfer of new electronics technologies into viable and profitable applications.
Bridging the gap between the lab bench and the commercial marketplace, Innovision R&T provides a complete turnkey service for R&D partners with new technologies and for end-user clients seeking new business opportunities.
For more information, visit www.innovisiongroup.com
