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Tan Tock Seng Hospital Uses RFID to Take Patient Temperatures
"For example," Yong explains, "when a patient is discharged, housekeeping and the bed-management unit are notified in real time, and the bed is cleaned within 30 minutes. With advance notice, the emergency department could also better prepare their patients for transfer. Knowing the real-time location of patient also helps. When a patient goes in for an operation, ward nurses will be able to tell when an operation has been completed by virtue of the patient's location in the post-anesthesia care unit, and update the patient's family."
Given the success of that tracking system, Yong says—and the fact that its patients already wear RFID tags—it made sense for the hospital to embrace other features and make more productive use of radio frequency identification.
According to Lim Soh Min, director of Cadi Scientific, efforts to extend the system to include wireless temperature sensing and paperless vital signs commenced last month. The company developed new RFID tags, known as ThermoSensors, capable of monitoring patients' body temperatures and tracking their locations. Extensive testing was carried out on the ThermoSensors with more than 500 patients in four hospitals. A study involving 300 patients at Tan Tock Seng Hospital was also conducted at different settings, in order to compare temperature readings with various devices, such as tympanic, digital and mercury thermometers.
"Results showed the accuracy of the ThermoSensor was comparable to that of an ear thermometer, underarm thermometer and oral thermometer with an accuracy of within 0.2 degree Celsius," Lim says.
"Extensive tests that comply with the ISO 13485 procedure were also performed on the system, including accuracy tests, reader reception tests and system load performance tests," Lim states, referring to the ISO standard that specifies requirements regarding the design and manufacture of medical devices.
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Given the success of that tracking system, Yong says—and the fact that its patients already wear RFID tags—it made sense for the hospital to embrace other features and make more productive use of radio frequency identification.
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| The SmartTag, displayed on a person's wrist. |
According to Lim Soh Min, director of Cadi Scientific, efforts to extend the system to include wireless temperature sensing and paperless vital signs commenced last month. The company developed new RFID tags, known as ThermoSensors, capable of monitoring patients' body temperatures and tracking their locations. Extensive testing was carried out on the ThermoSensors with more than 500 patients in four hospitals. A study involving 300 patients at Tan Tock Seng Hospital was also conducted at different settings, in order to compare temperature readings with various devices, such as tympanic, digital and mercury thermometers.
"Results showed the accuracy of the ThermoSensor was comparable to that of an ear thermometer, underarm thermometer and oral thermometer with an accuracy of within 0.2 degree Celsius," Lim says.
"Extensive tests that comply with the ISO 13485 procedure were also performed on the system, including accuracy tests, reader reception tests and system load performance tests," Lim states, referring to the ISO standard that specifies requirements regarding the design and manufacture of medical devices.
