Jan 15, 2013RFID solutions provider ODIN has a new owner: Quake Global, a California-based supplier of remote asset-tracking technology. The acquisition, which took place on Dec. 31, 2012, will introduce Quake Global to the RFID market, while enabling ODIN to expand its customer base, according to Ronan Wisdom, ODIN's COO. The two companies will combine their engineering teams' expertise to continue developing RFID-based technology for tracking asset in the health-care sector, as well as in other markets. At the same time, ODIN has commercially released an Apple iPad-based asset-inspection system, known as EasyID, allowing hospitals and other users to conduct and monitor the inspections and maintenance of their health-care-related assets on an iPad, using an EPC Gen 2 ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) RFID reader with a Bluetooth connection.
Over the past few years, Wisdom says, ODIN has been exploring ways to further penetrate the health-care market with its RFID-based software and integrations services. To further that effort, the company acquired middleware and RFID appliance provider Reva Systems in 2010, in order to enable the production of scalable deployments (see ODIN Acquires Reva Systems) leveraging ODIN's EasyEdge operating system software.
"Throughout 2012, we've been looking at options to step up our availability to execute in the health-care market," Wisdom states. "The key for us has been greater scalability and distribution." His company was approached by three firms interested in acquiring ODIN, he says, and ultimately selected Quake Global. "They had the most fully developed vision for RFID in the health-care market," he explains, adding that Quake Global's culture regarding innovation and engineering also made it a good fit.
For Quake Global, which has declined to respond to requests for comment at this time, the ODIN acquisition will be its first foray into the radio frequency identification industry. ODIN will continue to operate out of its two offices, located in Ashburn, Va., and in Westford, Mass., and will provide technology under the ODIN name. Details regarding purchase price and other terms of the acquisition have not been made public.
The solution's purpose, Wisdom explains, is to provide an alternative to the handheld RFID readers used in other industries, such as logistics or industrial sites. In such cases, he says, a ruggedized RFID reader (gun) is appropriate for reading tags in places such as warehouses, but is not as applicable for the clinical environment for use by staff members working with patients and already carrying an iPad or other tablet. ODIN spent the past few years in discussions with customers to determine how smart devices already in the hands of their workers could be leveraged to increase their return on an RFID investment. The solution was initially developed for Burlington Medical Supplies and the company's customers to track the inspections of lead aprons used for X-ray imaging (see Burlington Medical Supplies Adds RFID Tags to Its X-ray Aprons).
ODIN considered developing a system for the Android market as well, Wisdom says, but at the time (approximately 18 months ago), "Android was too fragmented." Therefore, the company opted to develop a solution for the iPad, consisting of a handheld RFID reader wand that can be placed within a user's pocket, and that communicates with an iPad via a Bluetooth connection. When an individual inspects a lead apron at the hospital, he or she utilizes the device to capture the tag's unique ID number. That ID is transmitted to the iPad, where the EasyID software links the ID number to data regarding the apron, such as its serial number, date of manufacture and inspection history. If there is a Wi-Fi connection, the data is immediately forwarded to the back-end software, though the iPad can also store that information until such a connection becomes available.
The EasyID software not only displays data about an apron's inspection history, based on its tag ID number, but can also display alerts indicating, for example, that an inspection is due. What's more, Wisdom says, government agencies can utilize the technology in an effort to confirm hospital compliance related to inspections.
At present, an undisclosed number of hospitals are employing the technology to read tags attached to Burlington Medical Supplies' aprons, while ODIN is currently in discussions with health-care providers about using the technology on other medical devices. According to Wisdom, ODIN expects to release an Android-based version of the solution sometime this year.
