Philips Electronics announced today that its Medical Systems division is introducing a turnkey asset tracking solution for locating hospital assets. Using Wi-Fi based technology by AeroScout, the asset tracking solution is designed around the hospitals’ existing 802.11 wireless infrastructure.
The Philips asset tracking solution utilizes wireless tags, a location engine, and the MobileView user interface. The tags, which can be attached to most mobile assets, transmit to the hospital’s existing 802.11 infrastructure. This information is fed into the location engine and the asset’s position can then be portrayed on a map, or in a table or report format for any networked hospital user.
“Asset tracking addresses many of the perennial problems that modern hospitals face,” said Yuval Bar-Gil, CEO of AeroScout. “This solution will enable Philips’ customers to optimize their asset utilization, meet JCAHO compliance requirements, and help to improve hospital efficiencies”
The first customer to deploy the Philips asset tracking solution is the University Medical Center in Tucson, Ariz. This installation, covering eight floors and a million square feet utilizes 2,300 tagged assets throughout the hospital. Hospital staff members use the Philips solution to track and manage equipment such as infusion pumps, beds, monitors, wheelchairs and other portable devices.
PanGo’s Active RFID Tags are similar, 802.11 active RFID tags. The PanGo Locator tracking system consists of two key components: PanGo’s Active RFID Tags, which allows users to track assets that are not wireless-enabled, and the Locator Software, that manages the system. PanGo’s location engine works over standards-based Wi-Fi LANs (including Cisco Aironet).
G2 Microsystems System-on-Chip combines traditional RFID with Wi-Fi in a single device that also has very low power consumption. It is much more than an RFID tag because it will traverse being read by an RFID reader and also connect directly to a Wi-Fi network. It can work in contiguous or non-contiguous environments. The 900 MHz EPC (Electronic Product Code) section can support data transfer rates of up to 80 kbps. This section is passive and while interactive with the rest of the circuitry (common bus), can operate autonomously.
Meanwhile, real-time location systems provider Ekahau today announced $16 million in additional funding, $12 million of which represents a Series B round of venture capital, and $4 million of which is loans and government grants.
Ekahau is one of the leading providers of WiFi-based RTLS solutions, which allow locationing functionality to be installed over existing WiFi networks.
Some organizations, like my own Multnomah County Library, don’t need to save time and money with a Vocera badge, like the Seattle Public Library. They kick people off the internet after 60 minutes.
Dear Multnomah County Library Board; $%*&% you, too.
