Deployment of RFID, GPS and IOT technology for medical specimen logistic system

Abstract

This paper aims to implement a specimen logistic system using RFID technology combined with modern IoT technology in Chulalongkorn hospital. The specimen is a sample collected from the human body. Samples can be urine, saliva, sputum, feces, semen, and other bodily fluids and tissues. Samples are usually collected from the patient and stored in a test tube. Then test tubes are delivered to the corresponding laboratory for examination. Normally, barcodes are tagged over the test tubes for the purpose of recording patient information. In this work, RFID is deployed on the test tube instead for patient data logging. This solution overcomes the limitations imposed by using the barcode labels. RFID tag, which is attached on the test tube, has a memory to store patient information which can be written by using an RFID reader. While test tubes being in transit from one department to another, they are kept in a specimen transport cooler box to maintain their quality in proper temperature and humidity. In addition, IoT sensor and GPS system are employed inside the cooler box to provide the temperature and humidity values, as well as the location tracking, which can be accessed via the cloud platform. In summary, the proposed new combination of RFID, GPS, and IoT technologies for medical specimen logistic system can make better and simpler system for specimen transportation and management.