Inventory tracking and control system
AssigneeMEPS Real-Time, Inc.
InventorsShariq Hussain, Jeffrey Shamblin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An automatic inventory tracking and control system tracks the inventory of medical articles in an enclosure by providing a robust electromagnetic (EM) field within the enclosure. The enclosure has electrically-conductive walls. Wireless identification devices such as RFID tags, attached to each medical article respond to the electromagnetic field by transmitting unique data identified with each medical article. A probe or probes are used to generate transverse electromagnetic modes in the enclosure.
Claims23
A system for tracking medical articles, each of which has an identification tag attached to it, wherein each identification tag is configured to provide identification data in response to receiving electromagnetic (EM) energy having a predetermined operation frequency, the system comprising:
- an enclosure in which medical articles with their respective attached identification tags are stored, wherein surfaces of the enclosure surrounding the stored medical articles are electrically conductive;
- and
- a first probe inductively coupled to the enclosure, the first probe configured to inject electromagnetic (EM) energy into the enclosure at the predetermined operation frequency to establish a transverse magnetic (TM) mode in the enclosure;
- whereby, the injected energy at the predetermined operation frequency activates the identification tags on the medical articles located within the enclosure to provide their respective identification data.
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A system for tracking medical articles each of which has an identification tag associated with it, wherein each identification tag is configured to transmit identification data in response to receiving electromagnetic energy (EM) having a predetermined operation frequency, the system comprising:
- an enclosure in which medical articles with their respective associated identification tags are stored, wherein surfaces of the enclosure surrounding the stored medical articles are electrically conductive;
- and
- a first probe capacitively coupled to the enclosure, the first probe configured to inject electromagnetic (EM) energy into the enclosure at the predetermined operation frequency to establish a transverse electric (TE) mode in the enclosure;
- whereby, the injected energy at the predetermined operation frequency activates the identification tags within the enclosure to transmit their respective identification data.
A method for tracking medical articles, each of which has an identification tag attached, wherein each identification tag is configured to transmit identification data in response to receiving electromagnetic energy (EM) having a predetermined operation frequency, the method comprising:
- storing medical articles with their respective attached identification tags in an enclosure in which surfaces of the enclosure surrounding the stored medical articles are electrically conductive;
- and
- injecting electromagnetic (EM) energy into the enclosure at the predetermined operation frequency with a first probe magnetically coupled to the enclosure, the first probe configured to establish a transverse magnetic (TM) mode in the enclosure;
- whereby, the injected energy activates the identification tags within the enclosure to transmit their respective identification data.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.