RFID Journal Staff asked 5 years ago I need to tag plastinated body parts for a medical school and have each RFID chip act as a security measure to make sure nothing is lost. The chip needs to be able to be scanned by students so that it can take them to a page offering information about a specific body part. What would you recommend?
—Donaq
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Donaq,
Because you are looking to use the tags for two different functions, you might need to employ tags that combine passive UHF and passive HF RFID technologies. There are a few companies that make such tags. See Smartrac's website, for example.
To track plastinated body parts, you would need to utilize passive UHF RFID since it offers the ability to track items from a distance of 20 feet or more. The right readers to deploy would depend on the environments in which the parts would need to be tracked. It might be possible, for instance, to place a reader above the table where students would look at the parts. Software could alert you if a part was removed from the area, thus ensuring no parts go missing. A less expensive approach might be to purchase a handheld reader and take inventory counts after each class to make sure all parts are accounted for.
There currently are no mobile phones that can read passive UHF RFID tags, so you wouldn't be able to use the same tags to allow students to access information. This would require passive HF tags, which use the Near Field Communication (NFC) protocol. The tags could be programed to launch a particular webpage. You will need to find the most appropriate way to apply these dual-frequency tags to the body parts in order to be sure they adhere permanently. Label providers should be able to assist you with that.
—Mark Roberti, Founder and Editor, RFID Journal
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