Researchers Warn RFID May Disrupt Medical Equipment

"There needs to be a growing awareness among hospitals that problems can occur," Collins says. "And it is difficult to say if something, such as an RFID system, will interfere with critical care equipment unless you do a study. Hospitals need to do a risk assessment of every wireless device that comes into the hospital, because [the wireless devices] all create a greater noise level in terms of radio frequency waves. You really don't know what to expect until they are tested."

Power coming from the RFID system, Collins says, may have more of an impact on devices than the type of frequency used—something the university's study revealed. According to the study, in fact, the number of EMI incidents increased with higher output power of transmitting RFID systems.

Collins deems the study well conducted, praising the researchers' disclosure that they conducted a worst-case scenario by using the maximal output power of both RFID systems. "Most devices don't operate at their highest power," he explains, adding that hospitals should test any RFID system—regardless of frequency—because any frequency may or may not impact devices. "You just don't know," he says.

According to the study's authors, although the two systems utilized in the test could be considered as a representative sample of RFID equipment used for applications in health care, the testing of one RFID system on EMI in a medical device "does not implicate immunity or vulnerability to other RFID systems if based on different signal characteristics or deployments."

AeroScout, one of several vendors that supplies Wi-Fi-based tracking technology to a number of hospitals, reports that not only are hospitals deploying Wi-Fi-enabled real-time location systems to track assets, but they are also increasingly using Wi-Fi-enabled equipment such as laptops. Executives from AeroScout claim their devices have been tested and certified as meeting regulations of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and ETSI, as well as the IEC6100/CE60601 standard that specifically defines electromagnetic compatibility rules for operation in a health-care environment.
As for the University of Amsterdam's study, its authors recommend that anyone implementing RFID in health-care environments take additional precautions, including on-site EMI tests. They further suggest that "the intensity of electronic life-supporting medical devices in this area requires careful management of the introduction of new wireless communications such as RFID."