Applying RFID to Hospital Logistics
Vinicius Oliveira Glauco Fontgalland
Department of Electrical Engineering Department of Electrical Engineering Department of Electrical Engineering
Federal University of Campina Grande Federal University of Campina Grande
Campina Grande, Brazil Campina Grande, Brazil
vinicius.oliveira@ee.ufcg.edu.br fontgalland@dee.ufcg.edu.br
Abstract—This document is.
Index Terms—RFID, healthcare, logistics
I. I NTRODUCTION
A hospital intends to offer the best experience to the
users. However the complexity of logistics issues may impose
challenges to its functioning. Different from others sectors that
inneficiencies may cause financial deficits, in the health sector
it can imply human losses. This way, improvements in this
complex system must be continuous, even indirectly to the
medical activity.
At hospital warehouse there are many high value items.
A correct and efficient inventory management is needed.
Inventory shrinkage is a common problem. Many factors
may contribute, such thefts, spoilage, perishability. Moreover,
normally urgency accompanies each demand. RFID appears
as a potential solution for solving this trouble.
In the hospital environment, the use of RFID technology
has been growing last years [1]. Several studies report the
importance of their to reduce medical errors [2] [3], tracking
and location patients [4] [5] [6].
Indirectly to the medical activity, find supplies or medicines,
be alerted about expiration of the validity, check quantity in
stock, automatically request the purchase to replenish inven-
tory, track and monitor items in real time are one of the
improvements made possible by RFID technology .
II. RFID
RFID is a technology for Auto-identification (Auto-ID) that
allows automatic and remote identification of entities (objects,
people, animals, etc.) using electromagnetic waves. It stands
out from the other technologies (barcode, OCR, biometrics)
Fig. 1. High-value items in hospitals’ warehouse.
Raquel Rodrigues
name of organization (of Aff.)
Campina Grande, Brazil
raquel.rodrigues@ee.ufcg.edu.br
mainly for the ability to read multiple objects simultaneously
and without the need of line os sight.
An RFID system consists mainly of two components:
Tags (transponders) attached to entities carrying a unique
information and readers (transceivers) for querying tags data.
Normally, readers are connected to a middleware transforming
raw data into useful information.
A. Tags
Passive RFID tags do not have their own power source
as batteries, and all the power required for chip activation
comes from linking to the reader. They are usually idle and
only manifest when questioned by the reader. Because they
do not have batteries, they are much cheaper, requiring no
maintenance and their reduced size allows them to be used
in plastic or paper adhesives. As a major disadvantage the
reduced reading range may be cited.
B. Reader
The RFID readers are devices responsible for querying
labels about their informations via electromagnetic waves. In
passive systems they have the additional function of providing
energy to activate the chip of tags. There is also the possibility
of writing or modifying the data of chips. Typically they can
be fixed or portable. They can also communicates with another
device or a middleware through various protocols.
An RFID reader also requires an antenna to interrogate the
tags. In this work is used the reader antenna developed in [8],
a low-cost microstrip antenna with 3.1 dBi of directivity that
operates in American standard (902 – 928 MHz).
III. P ROBLEM S TATEMENT
In the warehouse and pharmacy of the University Hospital
of the UFPI there are several items with high-value. Main-
taining strict control of the destination of these products is of
paramount importance in the proper use of public resources.
In order to control, an inventory is needed. But this process
demands time, human, and financial resources.
With this work, it is proposed the implementation of a
monitoring system for part of these items, focusing on those
with higher value and well-defined destination. It is worth
mentioning that a method of identifying an object should
cost less than the benefit of knowing its identity . Thus,
the items chosen are pacemakers, pharmacological stents and
 Fig. 2. Proposed system.

catheters (Fig.1), which are relatively high priced and are

always intended for the surgical center.
The first step is the commissioning of the products, with
Fig. 3. Characterization of tag Alien ALN-9662 .
the placement of UHF RFID tags and subsequent insertion of
the characteristics and expiration dates into a database. After
this step, the labeled items are placed in the warehouse and
will be monitored by the antenna developed in [8] connected
to the RFID reader. Another antenna is placed adjacent to
the surgical center entrance so that the correct destination of
the item is confirmed. Together with closed-circuit television
system already working at hospital.
Assembled the system, its operation is given as outlined in
the Fig.2. The caregiver requests the item, and a flag is gener-
ated. After the stockman, using a LF RFID bracelet, positions
the same in a reader to control access to the warehouse and a
second flag is generated. When the requested item is removed
and leaves the antenna field of view, an event that must be
recorded in the database along with the exact time. However, if
this event occurs without professional’s request or registration
of access by the warehouse, an alert must be issued.
IV. R ESULTS
This section deals with the presentation and analysis of the
results obtained in this work. Initially the results obtained by Fig. 4. Disposition and identification of six tagged catheters in warehouse.
simulation computation, then a comparison will be made with
the experimental results.
A. Simulation results
In this paper the tag Alien ALN-9662 was chosen given its
ease in acquiring many tags and its low price. At first a char-
acterization of a single tag was developed in CST Microwave
Studio in order to verifying its Radar Cross Section, resonance
frequency and radiation pattern. A summary is showed in
Fig.3.
Afterwards, the behavior of several tags arranged as in the Fig. 5. Radiation patterns for six tags disposed closed.
warehouse was simulated (Fig.??).
B. Realization of Inventory Gen 2 standard, presents good connectivity, compact design
In order to verify the effectiveness of antenna in reading and applicability both in commercial and industrial. It has
objects with RFID tags, an application was proposed with an four antenna ports whose power at each port can be set at
actual RFID system (Fig.6) (Table I). The fixed reader used +15 dBm to +30 dBm.
in this research is compatible with the EPC UHF Class 1 The antenna is connected to the reader via a coaxial cable
 TABLE II
TAGS IDENTIFICATION AND RSSI OBTAINED

Position EPC RSSI (dBm)

1 E20051800011016813009325 -70
2 E20051800011016813608EA1 -71
3 E2005180001101681460811E -72
4 E20051800011016813708C65 -80
5 E2005180001101681470835A -72
6 E20051800011016813109561 -80

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Fig. 7. Six tagged catheters.

and used to detect presence of catheters (Fig.7).

TABLE I
E QUIPMENT U SED FOR I NVENTORY

Equipment Used
UHF RFID Reader Antenna Vinuch-LEMA [8]
Tags UHF RFID Alien ALN-9662
UHF RFID Reader Motorola FX7400
Notebook Dell Inspiron

V. C ONCLUSIONS
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ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work was supported by the Laboratory of Applied
Electromagnetism (LEMA) of the Department of Electrical
Engineering, Federal University of Campina Grande and Uni-
versity Hospital of University Federal of Piaui.