RFID Sensors in Medical Applications

Medical information systems are expected to be useful for both logistical and medical personnel. As such, the systems are reliant upon the sensors implemented to acquire information for both groups. Currently, such sensors may be divided by their competency in environment sensing or object identification. Typically, environment sensors are limited by their per-unit price, reducing their scalability. Similarly, current object identification systems involve barcodes which are limited by line-of-sight (LOS). Radio-frequency identification (RFID) proposes a reasonable solution to both problems, through comprehensive and cheap tag designs. Such designs allow real-time monitoring of medical equipment, patient medical adherence as well as new means of disease diagnosis in patients. Consequently, RFID may be viewed as an avenue for improving both medical equipment logistics and diagnostic options.