Your Body Is Phoning, and It Says Take Two Aspirin and Call Back In The Morning

Sounds far-fetched: an RFID temporary tattoo that can sense a variety of illnesses, then use its built-in antenna to communicate to you or your healthcare professionals that you need medical attention. A scene from Star Trek? Not at all. The same RFID technology that tracks inventory from the warehouse to the end user is now being adapted to detect infections and wirelessly signal nearby computers for assistance. In theory, your doctor could receive a text saying that you’ve contracted a life-threatening disease long before any symptoms are visible.

The applications are myriad: First responders could scan an injured person for allergies or medical conditions before administering medications. Doctors could be alerted to a patient’s impending heart attack hours before onset. Epidemiologists in the field could identify asymptomatic patients before they spread disease through a community. The potential for improved healthcare is tremendous. And it all started with an asthma patient’s permanent medical tattoo combined with the practical application of RFID, currently well-known for inventory management and materials handling. Read the whole story at .

Of course, we’re not claiming that storage professionals are helping to save the world, but this new RFID solution seems to point in that direction!

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