Whitley County Tech Company Scores Patents
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA northern Indiana medical software company has been awarded patents for its Radio Frequency Identification technology. Columbia City-based Solstice Medical LLC now owns a total of seven U.S. and international patents. Solstice Medical RFID Patents Now Total Seven
July 19, 2013
News Release
COLUMBIA CITY, Ind. – Solstice Medical, LLC (Solstice), a leading provider of advanced inventory management and workflow optimization software solutions for the healthcare industry announced today the company was recently awarded U.S. and International patents for its Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag solutions specially designed for use in the healthcare industry.
The recent awards of U.S. Patents 8,462,062, 8,344,889 and 8,461,992 compliments four additional issued patents for Solstice's MD3 product line of RFID technology tag solutions. Since 2005, Solstice has led the market with innovations specifically designed for the healthcare industry.
These innovations include the market's first autoclavable medical grade RFID tags and DOCK to DOC, a healthcare business intelligence solution suite which provides surgical inventory management solutions, RFID smart cabinets and patient flow optimization.
“Our patent portfolio for our MD3 tag product line is arguably the most comprehensive in the industry, uniquely compliments our entire product offering and competitively positions Solstice in the healthcare marketplace worldwide,” said CEO Dan Sands, “Our designs, production processes, and domestic and international system implementations are not only innovative, but most importantly are effective taking into consideration the multiple supply chain challenges for performance, durability and compliance in the medical industry,” continued Sands.
The MD3 product line is designed specifically for reusable surgical devices and is able to withstand the harsh rigors of sterilization and life cycle logistics. Solstice Medical has been awarded (5) five U.S patents and (2) two European patents so far for these innovations. Solstice's intellectual property portfolio (IP) protects aspects of: UHF RFID antenna designs that couple with metal to extend read distance, encapsulation for long term safe use in the medical industry, read performance on, in and through metal, shielding for harsh sterilization processes, as well as, patch and passive repeater antenna designs.
“Solstice established the industry benchmark for survivability and has demonstrated long-term successful use at leading medical device manufacturers and healthcare providers,” said Sands, “Our patented technologies enable very small ultra-high frequency (UHF) passive RFID tags to generate long read distances on metal and non-metallic surfaces and that endure extreme temperature variations, making them ideally suited for the medical industry.”
“Solstice envisioned the value of a single RF bandwidth (UHF) having multiple uses within an electronically connected healthcare supply chain,” said VP of Engineering and Program Management Matt LaFontaine, “Our IP and product solutions enables tagging of surgical cases, surgical instruments and high cost implants and consumable surgical supplies utilizing one internationally accepted platform.”
Solstice's vision is congruent with legislation passed by Congress in 2007, directing the FDA to develop regulations establishing a unique device identification (UDI) system for medical devices. A UDI system has the potential to improve the quality of information in medical device adverse event reports, which will help the FDA identify product problems more quickly, better target recalls and improve patient safety.
“The MD3 RFID tag line and intellectual property uniquely provides this UDI capability for a wide range of difficult-to-tag medical devices,” said LaFontaine, “Additionally, Solstice incorporates UHF RFID labels for packaged medical implants that seamlessly integrate together in Solstice's DOCK to DOC business intelligence solutions creating a robust platform to enable a comprehensive UDI system,” says LaFontaine.
About Solstice Medical LLC
Solstice Medical engineers, manufactures and installs radio frequency identification technology and software systems globally for medical device manufacturers, distributors and hospitals to reduce cost and improve the quality and safety of healthcare delivery. Solstice Medical's commitment is to provide advanced technology solutions that exceed customer expectations enabling effective asset utilization and operational excellence. For more information regarding Solstice Medical's pioneering DOCK to DOC system, MD3 autoclavable medical grade RFID tags, MEDIC auto-inventory cabinets and turnkey system solutions, visit the company's website at www.solsticemedical.com.
Source: Solstice Medical LLC