Medical article tracking using hybrid isolated magnetic dipole probe with energy pattern control
First Claim
1. A tracking system for medical articles stored in an interior volume of a container, each of the medical articles having wireless identification device that is configured to respond with its respective identification data upon receiving activation energy, the interior volume of the container having a resonant frequency that is different from a frequency of operation of the wireless identification device, the system comprising:
- electromagnetic (“
EM”
) shielding located about the interior volume of the container to shield the interior volume of the container from the passage of EM energy both into and out of the interior volume, whereby the interior volume is isolated to keep activating radio frequency (“
RF”
) energy within the container so that wireless identification devices located outside the container are not activated and read;
an EM energy conducting injection probe located within the EM shielding, the injection probe located and configured to inject activation RF energy into the interior volume having an energy pattern directed to fill the interior volume of the container with an EM field, wherein the injection probe comprises a main conductive element having capacitive coupling thereby forming an isolated electric field that fills the interior volume of the container, and wherein the main conductive element is spaced apart from a ground plane by a selected distance thereby forming a robust magnetic field that is orthogonal to the electric field and that also fills the interior volume of the container;
a parasitic element located at a selected position in relation to the main conductive element of the probe, the parasitic element being configured to control the energy pattern of the main conductive element in the internal volume of the container;
a signal source producing activation RF energy having a frequency that is different from the resonant frequency of the interior volume of the container, and coupled to the probe; and
a processor connected with the signal source, the processor being programmed to control the signal source to deliver the activation RF energy to the injection probe for injecting into the interior volume of the container to activate identification devices in the interior volume, the processor further being programmed to stop the signal source from delivering RF energy to the injection probe to allow identification signals from activated identification devices in the interior volume to be received.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for tracking medical articles located in a container includes a hybrid isolated magnetic dipole (“IMD”) probe that provides an activating EM energy RF field having a magnetic near field at least as great as the electric near field, both of which cover the entire interior of the container. The probe comprises a main element having capacitive coupling across at least one slot and spacing above a ground plane to thereby form an isolated electric field and an equally strong or stronger magnetic field that fills the interior of the container to activate RFID tags therein. A dual system is provided for larger containers. A dynamic impedance tuning system controls the probe impedance for increased efficiency in transferring power to the interior of the container. Beam steering is provided with the IMD probe.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A tracking system for medical articles stored in an interior volume of a container, each of the medical articles having wireless identification device that is configured to respond with its respective identification data upon receiving activation energy, the interior volume of the container having a resonant frequency that is different from a frequency of operation of the wireless identification device, the system comprising:
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electromagnetic (“
EM”
) shielding located about the interior volume of the container to shield the interior volume of the container from the passage of EM energy both into and out of the interior volume, whereby the interior volume is isolated to keep activating radio frequency (“
RF”
) energy within the container so that wireless identification devices located outside the container are not activated and read;an EM energy conducting injection probe located within the EM shielding, the injection probe located and configured to inject activation RF energy into the interior volume having an energy pattern directed to fill the interior volume of the container with an EM field, wherein the injection probe comprises a main conductive element having capacitive coupling thereby forming an isolated electric field that fills the interior volume of the container, and wherein the main conductive element is spaced apart from a ground plane by a selected distance thereby forming a robust magnetic field that is orthogonal to the electric field and that also fills the interior volume of the container; a parasitic element located at a selected position in relation to the main conductive element of the probe, the parasitic element being configured to control the energy pattern of the main conductive element in the internal volume of the container; a signal source producing activation RF energy having a frequency that is different from the resonant frequency of the interior volume of the container, and coupled to the probe; and a processor connected with the signal source, the processor being programmed to control the signal source to deliver the activation RF energy to the injection probe for injecting into the interior volume of the container to activate identification devices in the interior volume, the processor further being programmed to stop the signal source from delivering RF energy to the injection probe to allow identification signals from activated identification devices in the interior volume to be received. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for tracking medical articles stored in the interior volume of a container, the interior volume of the container having a size selected to receive a plurality of medical articles each of which has a wireless identification device associated therewith that has individual identification data, and each wireless identification device configured to respond with identification data upon receiving activation energy, the interior volume of the container having a resonant frequency that is different from a frequency of operation of the wireless identification device, the method comprising:
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shielding the interior volume of the container from the passage of electromagnetic (“
EM”
) energy from the passage of electromagnetic energy both into and out of the interior volume, whereby the interior volume is isolated to keep activating RF energy within the container so that RFID tags located outside the container are not activated and read;injecting activating radio frequency (“
RF”
) energy into the interior volume in an energy pattern with an injection probe located within the EM shielding to fill the interior volume with an EM field, wherein the injection probe comprises a main conductive element having capacitive coupling across at least one slot of the main conductive element thereby forming an isolated electric field that fills the interior of the container, and wherein the main conductive element is spaced apart from a ground plane by a selected distance thereby forming a robust magnetic field that is orthogonal to the electric field and that also fills the interior of the container;controlling the energy pattern in the interior volume with a parasitic element located at a selected position in relation to the main conductive element of the injection probe; delivering activating RF energy to the injection probe from a signal source, the activating energy having a frequency that is different from the resonant frequency of the interior volume of the container; controlling the signal source to deliver the activating energy to the injection probe for injection into the interior volume, and controlling the signal source to stop delivering activating energy to the injection probe, whereby responsive identification signals from activated identification devices located in the interior volume can be received. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A tracking system for medical articles stored in an interior volume of a container, each of the medical articles having a wireless identification device that is configured to respond with its respective identification data upon receiving activation energy, the interior volume of the container having a resonant frequency that is different from a frequency of operation of the wireless identification device, the system comprising:
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electromagnetic (“
EM”
) shielding located about the interior volume of the container to shield the interior volume of the container from the passage of EM energy both into and out of the interior volume, whereby the interior volume is isolated to keep activating radio frequency (“
RF”
) energy within the container so that wireless identification devices located outside the container are not activated and read;an EM energy conducting injection probe located within the EM shielding, the injection probe located and configured to inject activation RF energy into the interior volume, the activation energy having an EM energy pattern, wherein the injection probe comprises a hybrid isolated magnetic dipole device in which the electric field and the magnetic field are circularly polarized, the dipole device comprising a main conductive element having capacitive coupling thereby forming an isolated electric field in the interior volume of the container, and wherein the main conductive element is spaced apart from a ground plane by a selected distance thereby forming a robust magnetic field that is orthogonal to the electric field and that also is directed to the interior volume of the container; a parasitic element located at a selected position in relation to the main conductive element of the probe, the parasitic element comprising a controllable active tuning element connected with the parasitic element to alter the effect of the parasitic element on the main conductive element to controllably change the energy pattern of the main conductive element in the internal volume of the container; a signal source producing activation RF energy having a frequency that is different from the resonant frequency of the interior volume of the container, and coupled to the probe; and a processor connected with the signal source and the controllable active tuning element of the parasitic element, and being programmed to control the signal source to deliver the activation RF energy to the injection probe for injecting into the interior volume of the container to activate identification devices in the interior volume, the processor further being programmed to control the active tuning element of the parasitic element to beam steer the EM energy pattern in the interior volume.
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26. A method for tracking medical articles stored in the interior volume of a container, the interior volume of the container having a size selected to receive a plurality of medical articles each of which has a wireless identification device associated therewith that has individual identification data, and each wireless identification device configured to respond with identification data upon receiving activation energy, the interior volume of the container having a resonant frequency that is different from a frequency of operation of the wireless identification device, the method comprising:
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shielding the interior volume of the container from the passage of electromagnetic (“
EM”
) energy from the passage of electromagnetic energy both into and out of the interior volume, whereby the interior volume is isolated to keep activating RF energy within the container so that RFID tags located outside the container are not activated and read;injecting activating radio frequency (“
RF”
) energy into the interior volume in an energy pattern with an injection probe located within the EM shielding, the injection probe comprising a hybrid isolated magnetic dipole device in which the electric and magnetic fields are circularly polarized, wherein the injection probe that comprises a main conductive element having capacitive coupling across at least one slot of the main conductive element thereby forming an isolated electric field that fills the interior of the container, and wherein the main conductive element is spaced apart from a ground plane by a selected distance thereby forming a robust magnetic field that is orthogonal to the electric field and that also fills the interior of the container;controlling the energy pattern in the interior volume with a parasitic element located at a selected position in relation to the main conductive element of the injection probe, wherein the parasitic element comprises a controllable active tuning element configured to alter the effect of the parasitic element on the main conductive element to thereby controllably change the energy pattern; delivering activating RF energy to the probe from a signal source, the activating energy having a frequency that is different from the resonant frequency of the interior volume of the container; receiving within the EM shielding identification data response signals from activated wireless identification devices located within the interior volume, the receiving antenna providing the received identification data response signals; and controlling the signal source to deliver the activating energy to the injection probe for injection into the interior volume to activate identification devices in the interior volume and controlling the controllable active tuning element of the parasitic element to beam steer the EM energy pattern in the interior volume.
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Specification