IBM has unveiled a radio frequency identification (RFID)
system for the tracking and tracing of
pharmaceuticals.
It is estimated that one in 12 of the world’s prescriptions
distributed each year contain counterfeit medicines. The US Food
and Drug Administration has cited RFID as the most promising
technology to help prevent such distributions.
With the RFID system, RFID tags are embedded on products at the
unit, case and pallet level, authenticating the product from
manufacturer to wholesalers to hospitals and pharmacies.
Each tag contains a unique identifier – like a licence plate –
that can be linked back to descriptive product information such as
dosage and strength, lot number, manufacturer and expiration
date.
The IBM RFID system for pharmaceutical tracking and tracing is
based on the IBM WebSphere web services software platform, and on
an architecture that allows customers to reuse existing assets –
enabling them to build new applications quickly and at a lower cost
for development.
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