Sonitor's Ultrasound RTLS For Hospitals (USID) Does Not Have EMI Risks As Reported By JAMA For RFID-Based Technologies
Sonitor Technologies, Inc. -- A JAMA article, published on June 25, 2008 and referenced by the media recently, highlights serious issues with Radio Frequency (RF) based location and tracking devices in a hospital environment as found by the recent study by Remko van der Togt at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam(1). The referenced study indicated that the operation of a relatively high number of medical devices was disturbed through interference caused by the RF field emitted by the RFID tags or infrastructure. This study reinforces Sonitor's ultrasound technology, and lends credibility to its proprietary Real Time Location Solution (RTLS)
"Ten years ago, the scientists at Sonitor Technologies concluded that the use of RF technology for tracking and positioning of equipment, people and charts should be avoided in a healthcare environment because of the serious risk of electromagnetic interference with sensitive medical equipment," says Dr. Wilfred Booij, CTO of Sonitor Technologies. "This was a key reason for why Sonitor Technologies set out and developed a positioning and tracking solution based on (non-RF) Ultrasound signals. Ultrasound signals inherently do not cause interference with medical equipment since ultrasound signal are acoustical pressure waves just as ordinary sound. And as we all know sound does not interfere with medical equipment."
Terry Aasen, CEO & President of Sonitor Technologies, adds, "The additional benefit of using Ultrasound Identification (USID) for hospital RTLS is that 100% room-level or better location accuracy is automatically attained, which is impossible with RF-based RTLS technologies."
Sonitor's ultrasound RTLS is gaining widespread use in hospitals and is recognized for reliable location performance -- without the risk of electromagnetic interference. The system is currently in place in near 30 hospitals across the US, including Seton Medical Center (Austin, TX), St. Vincent's East (Birmingham, AL), Lehigh Valley Hospital (Allentown, PA), Providence Portland Medical Center (Portland, OR), and White Memorial Medical Center (Los Angeles, CA).
For more information on Sonitor and its products visits www.sonitor.com or email mail.sonitor.com.
(1) As reported by van der Togt, Remkon, et. Al. "Electromagnetic Interference From Radio Frequency Identification Inducing Potentially Hazardous Incidents in Critical Care Medical Equipment." Journal of American Medical Association. 2008;299(24):2884-2890.
About Sonitor Technologies, Inc.
Sonitor Technologies is the developer, manufacturer and supplier of a proprietary ultrasound indoor positioning system (IPS) that automatically tracks, without interference and with reliable 100% room-level or better accuracy the real-time location of moveable equipment and people in complex indoor environments, such as hospitals. Sonitor Technologies' RTLS technology is designed for seamless integration with third party software and integration solutions. Sonitor Technologies was founded in Norway in 1997. To learn more about Sonitor Technologies and its ultrasound IPS, please visit the corporate website at www.sonitor.com.
SOURCE: Sonitor Technologies, Inc.