Intelligent medical cabinet management system solution based on RFID technology

1. Industry Background

At present, medical institutions are facing problems such as expired drugs, recalls, empty shelves, misplaced products and missing inventory, which lead to inefficient Hospital projects, insufficient patient care and troubled medical staff. In order to cope with the pressure faced by the global medical system, healthcare institutions are in urgent need of new technologies to improve efficiency, reduce costs, save time and improve patient safety. In this regard, radio frequency identification (RFID) technology provides new opportunities for the medical industry.

2. RFID radio frequency identification technology

RFID technology is one of the most advanced wireless radio frequency identification technologies. It is widely used in warehousing and logistics, archives informatization, aviation and shipping, clothing retail, production and manufacturing, smart medical care, Asset MANAGEMENT, anti-counterfeiting and traceability, etc., providing users with stable, easy-to-operate, differentiated and innovative comprehensive technical services, from product selection to solution design and system platform support.

3. RFID smart medical cabinet

RFID smart medical cabinets are "smart cabinets" in healthcare institutions and an important part of the smart hospital ecosystem. They are becoming more and more popular in healthcare institutions because they optimize workflows, improve patient safety and reduce costs. RFID smart medical cabinets achieve these goals through inventory and consignment inventory management, tracking of high-value medical devices, and safe use of medicines, enabling hospital personnel to distribute medicines quickly, safely, and accurately. In addition, automation technology replaces the previous manual and tedious tasks, and each item removed or added is automatically recorded by the medical cabinet, saving time and eliminating human errors.

From surgical instruments to blood samples, RFID technology plays an important role in establishing a "smart hospital" with a network of smart devices. RFID technology supports consumables tracking, patient and staff identification, error prevention and anti-counterfeit drug tracking, and asset/equipment tracking. RFID medical solutions can improve patient care, optimize workflows, reduce operating costs, avoid errors, and reduce expensive theft. For original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), being able to provide customers with "smart products" is the key to success.

3.1 Working Principle of RFID Smart Cabinet

RFID smart cabinet is a system that uses radio frequency identification technology (RFID) to manage and track items. The working principle is as follows:

(1) Each cabinet is equipped with several RFID Readers to record each transaction, that is, what items are removed and who removed them. RFID smart cabinets can use standard ultra-high frequency (UHF) passive RFID tags and RFID readers, but high frequency can also be used.

(2) Each item in the cabinet is marked with a small RFID tag that contains basic information about the item. In some hospitals, the items are pre-labeled.

(3) All relevant personnel open the RFID smart cabinet through face recognition and fingerprint verification.

(4) Typically, external RFID readers are required to check items entering and leaving the cabinet for double verification of input or removal of items.

When integrated with the hospital's information system, real-time data can be sent directly to suppliers, distributors, and manufacturers, allowing the entire supply chain to accurately view inventory levels and usage, and automatically reorder consumables when inventory is low.

3.2 Application of RFID Smart Medical Cabinets

RFID smart medical cabinets are used in various departments. Effective inventory management and item tracking are particularly important for the following departments:

(1) Cathepsin laboratory

(2) Operating room and intensive care unit

(3) Emergency department

(4) Interventional radiology laboratory

(5) Pharmacy and clinic

(6) Patient floor

3.3 Application cases of smart medical cabinets

Hosting inventory through smart medical cabinets is a typical application case of RFID inventory management. For example, an orthopedic implant manufacturer works with hospitals to sell their implants. Since they only get paid when the product is used and reported, they have a significant lag between usage and revenue. At the same time, they also face high transportation costs. Manual inventory counting, misplaced products and high inventory costs lead to losses. Therefore, most large distributors and manufacturers are looking for automated, real-time inventory and order management solutions.

In this way, the company can obtain a customized security cabinet with an embedded UHF RFID reader/writer, which is responsible for storing and sorting implants. In addition to tracking the implants used, the RFID reader/writer can also verify and record the identity of individuals accessing the cabinet. When connected with the manufacturer's order and fulfillment system, the hospital can ensure that it has the right products at the right time, and the manufacturer can issue invoices immediately after the products are taken out.

Smart medical cabinets can also be applied to pharmacies and clinics. Pharmacies are very important departments in medical institutions and need to manage a large number of medicines and medical supplies. By using RFID smart medical cabinets, pharmacies can realize automated drug distribution and inventory management, improving work efficiency and accuracy.

In the smart medical cabinet, each drug is equipped with an RFID tag. The pharmacy staff accesses the cabinet through biometric verification. When the doctor prescribes the prescription, the pharmacy staff quickly finds the required drugs by scanning the RFID tag and puts the drugs in the designated location of the cabinet. The system automatically records the outbound information of the drugs to ensure the accuracy and traceability of the drugs.

At the same time, RFID smart medical cabinets can also help pharmacies manage drug inventory. When the inventory is lower than the set threshold, the system automatically sends a reminder to notify pharmacy staff to restock, avoiding delays in patient treatment due to insufficient inventory and reducing the waste of expired drugs.

In addition, RFID smart medical cabinets can also be applied to patient floors. The nurse stations on patient floors usually need to manage various medical supplies and equipment, such as catheters, blood pressure monitors, blood glucose meters, etc. By using RFID smart medical cabinets, nurses can easily find the items they need and record the use of items, improve nurses' work efficiency, reduce the time to find items, and ensure timely replenishment and maintenance of items.