NIST Traceable Temperature Tracking Provides Visual Alert, RadarFind Sensor Now Waterproof Certified
Ensures accurate monitoring of sensitive medications and tissues.
Morrisville, North Carolina, August 31, 2010 — TeleTracking Technologies’ RadarFind real-time locating distributed sensor network now includes a temperature-measuring tag that is NIST traceable and certified to be waterproof and dustproof for hospital facilities. This built-in intelligence extends RadarFind’s advanced sensor capabilities beyond most other RFID and Real Time Location Systems (RTLS).
Hospitals leverage the temperature-sensing features of the system to wirelessly monitor refrigerators and freezers containing medications, blood and tissue samples, as well as other medical devices that warrant continuous temperature monitoring. The small cube-like temperature sensor tags are placed inside cooling or warming units without the need for a fragile external probe or connected wire. Real-time temperature data is continuously sent to RadarFind’s UL-listed RTLS plug-in Readers, powered by nearby electrical outlets. The innovative, patented pass-through design of the RadarFind Reader maintains availability of scarce hospital grade outlets for other electrical devices. Temperature information is transmitted through the sensor network and then reported via any web-based computer connected to the hospital’s intranet. The sensor network also provides various alerts when temperatures are recorded outside pre-set parameters.
“We are committed to harnessing the full power of our sensor-network based RTLS to monitor environmental conditions and the contextual status of various items, including temperature,” said Steve Jackson, chief technology officer for RadarFind. “Now we offer hospitals and other health-care facilities another level of security by ensuring that the network reliably reports the temperature of critical medications and tissues even in the event that they come into contact with water or dust.”
In addition to locating medical devices and patients, hospitals can use RTLS as an essential tool to further enhance patient safety, control costs and comply with accreditation regulations. The temperature sensing module enables hospitals to automatically document and keep digital historical logs in order to meet regulatory standards for maintaining consistent temperatures inside refrigerators and freezers.
RadarFind’s temperature tracking is proven to be in compliance with International Protection code 65 (IP65), meaning that testing has confirmed it is dust and waterproof. In addition, the module delivers readings that are traceable to reference standards developed and maintained by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), verifying that the results are accurate according to established and replicable processes.
The module also provides a visual alert (its built-in flashing light can be commanded to illuminate) and the system sends messages via email or pager when temperatures fall above or below pre-set parameters. This integrated alarm mechanism safeguards vaccines or other temperature-sensitive medications and samples when cooling equipment fails to perform adequately. Waterproof certification further ensures that the sensors continue to report accurate data when placed in therapeutic baths or if they come into contact with substances within a refrigerator.
In addition to being waterproof and dustproof, the sensor offers high accuracy, an extensive temperature-measurement range (-40oC to +70 oC), and extremely low power consumption to extend the sensor battery life beyond eight years.
The RadarFind RTLS patented technology encompasses an array of intelligent sensors to achieve room-level accuracy. The system operates wirelessly via a radio frequency ideally suited for accurately tracking assets and people without compromising a hospital’s WiFi network. The system can be installed while patients are in the room and can easily scale to accommodate thousands of location tags and temperature modules across multiple hospital facilities. RadarFind also communicates information on a tagged item’s status to show whether it is in-use, available or needs cleaning. Future contextual status indicators will include reporting additional environmental conditions, such as humidity and barometric pressure.
RadarFind’s Real Time Location System uses an innovative wireless sensor network platform for tracking medical equipment and patients that is highly accurate, yet non-disruptive to hospital operations. RadarFind is the only real time wireless sensor network developed by former doctors, nurses and hospital administrators specifically for the healthcare environment. RadarFind Corporation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of TeleTracking Technologies, Inc. For more information, please visit www.teletracking.com and www.radarfind.com.
TeleTracking Technologies, Inc. is the world-leading producer of automated solutions that relieve hospital overcrowding by improving patient flow. TeleTracking currently has nearly 800 clients in the U.S., UK and Canada with over 1,700 installed solutions. The Pittsburgh firm, which launched the automated patient flow industry in 1991, recently was named KLAS Patient Flow Category Leader for the third straight year.