ASSET TRACKING AND IDENTIFICATION IN HOSPITAL

Asset Tracking and Identification in a Hospital Environment Using RF and Ultrasound Hybrid System

Abstract

Location tracking systems has brought tremendous benefits, especially to the medical field; one of its benefits is to help keeping track of critical equipment of the hospital which is a challenge in any hospitals. However hospital's equipment often scattered throughout the facility, forcing busy staff to waste precious time tracking down intravenous pumps, wheelchairs or other equipment. Furthermore, hospital also suffers the lost of the equipment due to thefts. Therefore, equipment management system using Wireless Location Area (WLAN) based indoor location tracking system is proposed to alleviate these problems. A simple measurement campaign will be conducted to study the properties of the Ekahau location tracking system and then the equipment management system which include real-time equipment tracking and security system. Ekahau WLAN-based indoor location tracking system will be applied in this project to provide real-time location estimation. Each equipment will equipped with Ekahau WLAN Tag, and its location will be calculated by the Ekahau engine server. The location is predicated through WLAN signal strength finger-printing technique. Requirements of basic equipment tracking and security will be developed and examined in Java platform. A test-bed would then be setup within the confines of the WCC (wireless Communication Centre) using the existing WLAN incorporating the IEEE 802.11g standard AP (Access Point) and adapters. The location of the equipment will be provided by Ekahau positioning engine software readily available at the WCC. At the end of the project, a system which is capable to provide real-time equipment's location to user will be developed. Besides that the system will be capable to give alert to the control centre if the hospital's equipment is brought out from the authorized area.

Table of Contents

Abstract2

Chapter 1: Introduction5

1.1 Problem Statement6

1.2 Objective7

1.3 Scope of Work7

1.4 Thesis Organization9

1.5 Contributions to the field10

1.6. Cmmercial constraints13

Chapter 2: Requirements of local positioning systems and proximity detectors15

2.1. Global and terrestrial positioning systems16

2.2. Local positioning systems18

2.3. Proximity detectors20

2.4. Technology Overview25

2.5. Decision Making27

2.6. Defining Applications29

2.7. Recall Management31

2.8. Perspectives33

2.9. Applications of local positioning systems and proximity detectors33

2.9.1 Hospitals34

2.9.2 Passive entry36

2.9.3. Drawing requirements out of the applications38

2.10 Ultrasound42

2.11 Radio Frequency (RF)45

2.12 Discussion49

2.13 Infrastructure required by existing RF local positioning systems58

2.14. Simplifications59

2.15 Grid patterns used in the calculations62

2.16 Conclusion67

Chapter 3: System Design And Development68

3.1 Designing and Developing Real Time Equipment Tracking System68

3.2 Test-bed Selection72

3.3 Hardware Specification and Setup73

3.3.1 Wireless IEEE 802.11g Access Points73

3.3.2 Mobile Station (Laptop)77

3.3.3 Ekahau T101 Wi-Fi Tag79

3.4 Ekahau Software Setup (both engine and client)81

3.5 Ekahau site Calibration.82

3.6 Software Development Tools85

3.6.1 Ekahau Software Development Kit 3.0 (SDK 3.0)85

3.6.2 Selection of SDK™ Java API or Ekahau YAX™85

3.6.3 Understanding Location Estimates86

3.6.4 Understanding the Logical Areas87

3.7 Java and the Java Development Kit (JDK 1.4.2)89

3.7.1 Mastering a Java Integrated Development Environment (IDE)-JBuilder90

3.8 Development of Equipment Tracking System user-interface Module91

3.9 Development of Tracking Module91

3.10 Trail Run of the System92

3.11 WLAN Signal Strength (SS) Measurement92

3.12 The Effect of Access Points and Calibration Nodes on the Accuracy93

Chapter 4: Program Implementation and ...