Several challenges and threats concern laboratories where specimens are connected, examined and processed. Any gaps during the treatment of the specimen can result in serious harm to patient care and treatment activities. Manual or barcode-based specimen tracking has been around for a while now, and with a thorough process, they can minimize errors. However, as this blog covers, RFID can get the job done with better effectiveness and ease.
Existing specimen tracking and the need for RFID
Specimen mismanagement in a laboratory can be severe and directly impact patients and their treatment. Any inaccurate diagnoses due to mismanagement of specimens can lead to false treatments. Such an error can cost laboratories money and credibility. A handful of traditional approaches are being used in libraries currently for quality control purposes. Some of them include specimen tracking systems with primitive manual labeling or barcodes.
Furthermore, manual or barcodes to track specimens may leave several loopholes open. The tracking of every sample must be performed end-to-end from the pre-analytical to the post-analytical phase. Manual labeling here can leave room for human errors; sometimes, these labels need relabeling throughout the process. Any specimen detected incorrectly would be marked and removed from further applications. As such, it is crucial to read samples as they are without any tampering or mistakes.
How can we use RFID for specimen tracking?
One can use RFID tags in a handful of ways for any application. Here for specimen tracking, their application can vary based on the particular challenge and need:
Short-range RFID
- Short-range RFID can be used to read a specific sample with a near-touch range.
- The ideal application would be reading a certain sample at a time to get insights about the same.
- These RFID tags have a small form factor so that they can be applied to a vial easily.
- RFID cards here are unique and associated with a sample beforehand, so they can not be tampered.
- Plus, being short range, these samples can not be read with eavesdropping.
Mid-range RFID
- Medium range RFID cards can be read from a distance of several meters.
- The extended reading distance can help read multiple RFID samples with ease.
- They are ideal for applications where labs need to scan multiple samples in a room or a storage unit.
- They are costlier, slightly bigger, and quicker to read in comparison to short-range RFIDs.
Long-range RFID
- Active RFIDs can provide an exceptional long reading range of up to 100 meters.
- Such reading distance can even allow reading batches of specimens altogether.
- Active RFIDs require a power source or a battery, making them bulkier in size compared to the shorter range or passive RFID tags.
- They are ideally used as one tag for a whole batch of samples. These tags can then be read to track the movement of samples between multiple laboratory facilities.
- Such tags can use embedded sensors for extensive tracking, including temperature, acceleration, tamper, etc.
While specimen tracking presents significant values to the laboratory, choosing the right RFID solution for your unique needs is important. The ease of RFID implementation is complemented by its ability to correlate them to a middleware user interface. Contact us now to know how you can enroll your own RFID lab specimen solution.
