September 01, 2006
RFID In Healthcare: Diabetes Management Device
With diabetes becoming an epidemic in many countries, due to a sedentary lifestyle full of rich food, the demand for insulin is likely to grow. Several of the diabetics I know find that having a busy life means running the risk of not administering their dosage at the right time or in the right amounts - with potentially fatal consequences. To help combat some of the difficulties of managing diabetes, a prototype insulin pump system using RFID-based NFC (Near Field Communication) technology has been developed.
The system, built jointly by Cambridge Consultants and Philips Semiconductors (now known as NXP) consists of an insulin pump and glucometer as separate devices that communicate with each other using NFC wireless transmission. As per a typical glucometer, a drop of blood has to be place on a test strip. The glucometer will determine the appropriate dosage of insulin, which the user can decide to accept or reject. If s/he accepts, the glucometer is waved near the insulin pump. Both devices have an NFC chip. The pump applies insulin via a catheter.
This is, in my opinion, a brilliant application of RFID, reducing some of the difficulties that diabetics have in managing the disease. I'm hoping to see more such applications in the area of healthcare. It'd be interesting if someone could combine some of the ideas in this system with VitaCraft's RFID-enabled cookware, to come up controlled recipes for diabetics.
Sources: [RFID Journal via RFID Blog, RFID Weblog]
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