Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
MHLW's demands for safety management will result
in a huge burden on
healthcare unless countermeasures are taken.
The use of IC tags with surgical instruments is expected because of the IC tag's
capability of providing multiple item authentications at the same time. Marcario
had tried to find the gauze left in a human body by scanning a small IC tag attached
into the gauze (Macario et al.
2006
). However, we have to overcome a weak point
of the IC tag in order to account for surgical instrument materials. Surgical
instruments are mainly made of metal, and sterilization is necessary. Ethylene
oxide gas sterilization is used for precision instruments, such as an endoscope,
that should not be heated at high temperatures. Steel devices, such as scalpels or
forceps, are sterilized by high-pressure steam (Wolfgang et al.
2009
). IC tags need
to be resistant to high temperatures and chemical agents. IC tags should also have
impact resistance because they can be subjected to the impact of automated
cleaning and transportation. IC tags are required to maintain readability under
these severe environments.
To address these issues, Yamashita et al. developed the ceramic IC tag, which
buried a small IC tag in a ceramic body; this allows the tag to perform durability
management by logging usage frequency and the history of surgical instruments
through the cycle of irrigation, sterilization, and keeping (Yamashita et al.
2007
).
The ceramic IC tag is resistant to high temperature, pressures, and chemical agents.
The advent of the ceramic IC tag eliminates the areas where IC tags cannot be used
in healthcare, and may lead to ubiquitous use. The issues that remain to be solved
are reducing the costs, standardization of the information on IC tags, and develop-
ment of a tag management system.
6.4 Challenges for the Future
6.4.1 Workarounds for Barcode
There are some problems with regard to BCMA that need to be resolved. One is that
the mobile terminals of BCMA have a tendency to be heavy, because a barcode
scanner module has to be attached to the terminal. The labels on a deformable
package or on a curved surface are difficult to read. Machine error, unreadable
barcodes, and users forgetting to read the barcodes are major risk factors that
threaten medical safety (Koppel et al.
2008
). However, barcode systems cost less
than RFIDs, hence it is expected that barcodes will coexist with RFID in the future.
One future challenge is that of developing a mobile terminal that can process
barcodes more easily. One possible solution is a smartphone equipped with an AF
(Auto Focus) camera. Smartphones have high-speed processors so they can handle
more advanced image processing than conventional PDAs, in a shorter amount of
time. Reading barcodes with AF cameras and performing advanced image
