David Savastano, Editor05.16.24
RFID and the IoT are growing in usage in numerous fields. In key industries such as pharma, there are growing regulatory mandates, a strong need for safe and authentic products, as well as visibility into supply chains. There is a need to come up with clear standards and technology that everyone in the supply chain can adhere to and consumers can trust.
This is where the Axia Institute and Identiv’s collaborations come in.
The Axia Institute, founded in 2013 and based out of Michigan State University, works with industry to create effective, sustainable solutions for public and private value chains. Among the areas the Axia Institute is working on are smart packaging and anti-counterfeiting.
John D. Hatfield, executive director, The Axia Institute, said that the Axia Institute is a value chain institute of excellence across three verticals: food and agriculture, healthcare and manufacturing.
“We’re doing fundamental R&D and working on traceability solutions at our Axia labs,” Hatfield added. “We are doing a lot of work in healthcare specifically. We are engaged in large-scale studies on the efficacy of radio signals to complement some of the regulations laid out by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).”
Hatfield noted that Axia’s approach is to bring together companies by industry and understand their challenges.
Axia is bringing a wide range of brand owners and technology providers together to brainstorm solutions for industry challenges. For example, the goal of the FDA’s Food Safety and Modernization Act is to prevent foodborne illness, and traceability requirements mandate that the foods in question be pulled out of the system within 24 hours. This requires a sophisticated network and Axia’s ecosystem of partners can develop solutions for the benefit of industry.
“Our goal is to bring different parties together to solve challenges in the industry,” Hatfield said. “A lot of what we are doing is being driven by the regulatory environment. In food, you’re talking restaurants, grocery stores, QSRs, food suppliers. There are all sorts of nodes involved here, and a lot of complexity.
“As a research institute, our goal is to explore the entire value chain and help industry address challenges in a collaborative fashion,” Hatfield added. “In the case of healthcare, we are promoting patient safety and helping track prescription drugs across the supply chain, consistent with the Drug Supply Chain Security Act, or DSCSA. In the area of food, spoilage as an example is a grand challenge that needs to be addressed alongside the charge of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Are there technologies that can help fight or reduce spoilage? Are there better ways that you can do this?
“When tracking pharmaceuticals, the FDA mandates 2D barcodes as the data carrier of choice. During the public comment period for the DSCSA, the Axia Institute submitted feedback to the FDA about RFID’s potential for helping enhance traceability across the pharmaceutical industry. The Axia Institute is now engaged in a broader industry wide study with several of our partners aimed at demonstrating the efficacy of RFID as an enhancing technology and plan on sharing results from phase 2 of this study later this year.”
Being a thought leader in the RFID IoT field, Identiv plays a vital role here. Amir Khoshniyati, EVP and GM, Identiv IoT, said that HF RFID is gaining in specific areas. Khoshniyati noted that Identiv is a leader in the specialty IoT space, specializing in HF NFC.
“There are certain standards that are geared to UHF, but when you get toward the compliance side of things such as auto-injectors, HF NFC is ideal,” said Khoshniyati. “You can mix and match, giving you the traceability and the condition monitoring as needed.”
“We are working closely with Axia and are seeing the gains they are making in developing standards in healthcare,” Khoshniyati added. “We were missing this for HF NFC, and I see it becoming the prime organization for steering all of the players to work with HF NFC.”
Hatfield noted that working with various industry workgroups, the Axia Institute has recently put forward a set of new Tagged Item Performance Protocols (TIPP) for RFID tagged pharmaceuticals.
“Only limited standards existed for the RFID tagging of medications,” Hatfield observed. “RFID tagging can be difficult for a number of reasons and the presence of foil and different liquids can further complicate matters. During our research, we importantly looked at the different drug formulations and dielectric properties which impact tag readability in addition to looking at the containers in which the prescription medications were packaged. After exhaustive testing , we put forward a new set of pharma grades that we believe will help speed adoption of RFID in the pharma industry.”
To best achieve this, Axia brought together several partners from the pharma industry.
“One of the first companies to use RFID Tags with medication was Fresenius Kabi, a pharmaceutical company that specializes in making lifesaving medications,” Hatfield said. “To increase patient safety, Fresenius Kabi started placing RFID tags on many of their medications on the dose level, and we provide third-party verification to provide Fresenius Kabi that their tags are working as intended.”
In another healthcare related example, Axia is working with the pharmaceutical industry to address the challenge of providing medication usage instructions to patients in a more usable format to increase medication adherence and to help promote patient safety.
This could better be done by digital means, such as over a smartphone, and Axia is working with a number of industry participants to develop a pilot effort to demonstrate the feasibility of sharing this information in new ways, while ensuring patients always have access to this important information. Having Identiv as part of this effort will be crucial as Axia works to develop a solution that can help the industry solve this important industry challenge.
“The Axia Institute is developing standards that will make it much easier for the industry to work together to benefit consumers,” Khoshniyati added.
Axia and Identiv are holding events and collaborative activities to educate the market on how to digitally transform their operations.
The Axia Institute and Identiv held a joint webinar, including their joint partner NXP, on May 15, “How to Harness HF-NFC for Enhanced Patient Safety and Experience.” Please check out the recording here.
This is where the Axia Institute and Identiv’s collaborations come in.
The Axia Institute, founded in 2013 and based out of Michigan State University, works with industry to create effective, sustainable solutions for public and private value chains. Among the areas the Axia Institute is working on are smart packaging and anti-counterfeiting.
John D. Hatfield, executive director, The Axia Institute, said that the Axia Institute is a value chain institute of excellence across three verticals: food and agriculture, healthcare and manufacturing.
“We’re doing fundamental R&D and working on traceability solutions at our Axia labs,” Hatfield added. “We are doing a lot of work in healthcare specifically. We are engaged in large-scale studies on the efficacy of radio signals to complement some of the regulations laid out by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).”
Hatfield noted that Axia’s approach is to bring together companies by industry and understand their challenges.
Axia is bringing a wide range of brand owners and technology providers together to brainstorm solutions for industry challenges. For example, the goal of the FDA’s Food Safety and Modernization Act is to prevent foodborne illness, and traceability requirements mandate that the foods in question be pulled out of the system within 24 hours. This requires a sophisticated network and Axia’s ecosystem of partners can develop solutions for the benefit of industry.
“Our goal is to bring different parties together to solve challenges in the industry,” Hatfield said. “A lot of what we are doing is being driven by the regulatory environment. In food, you’re talking restaurants, grocery stores, QSRs, food suppliers. There are all sorts of nodes involved here, and a lot of complexity.
“As a research institute, our goal is to explore the entire value chain and help industry address challenges in a collaborative fashion,” Hatfield added. “In the case of healthcare, we are promoting patient safety and helping track prescription drugs across the supply chain, consistent with the Drug Supply Chain Security Act, or DSCSA. In the area of food, spoilage as an example is a grand challenge that needs to be addressed alongside the charge of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Are there technologies that can help fight or reduce spoilage? Are there better ways that you can do this?
“When tracking pharmaceuticals, the FDA mandates 2D barcodes as the data carrier of choice. During the public comment period for the DSCSA, the Axia Institute submitted feedback to the FDA about RFID’s potential for helping enhance traceability across the pharmaceutical industry. The Axia Institute is now engaged in a broader industry wide study with several of our partners aimed at demonstrating the efficacy of RFID as an enhancing technology and plan on sharing results from phase 2 of this study later this year.”
Being a thought leader in the RFID IoT field, Identiv plays a vital role here. Amir Khoshniyati, EVP and GM, Identiv IoT, said that HF RFID is gaining in specific areas. Khoshniyati noted that Identiv is a leader in the specialty IoT space, specializing in HF NFC.
“There are certain standards that are geared to UHF, but when you get toward the compliance side of things such as auto-injectors, HF NFC is ideal,” said Khoshniyati. “You can mix and match, giving you the traceability and the condition monitoring as needed.”
“We are working closely with Axia and are seeing the gains they are making in developing standards in healthcare,” Khoshniyati added. “We were missing this for HF NFC, and I see it becoming the prime organization for steering all of the players to work with HF NFC.”
Hatfield noted that working with various industry workgroups, the Axia Institute has recently put forward a set of new Tagged Item Performance Protocols (TIPP) for RFID tagged pharmaceuticals.
“Only limited standards existed for the RFID tagging of medications,” Hatfield observed. “RFID tagging can be difficult for a number of reasons and the presence of foil and different liquids can further complicate matters. During our research, we importantly looked at the different drug formulations and dielectric properties which impact tag readability in addition to looking at the containers in which the prescription medications were packaged. After exhaustive testing , we put forward a new set of pharma grades that we believe will help speed adoption of RFID in the pharma industry.”
To best achieve this, Axia brought together several partners from the pharma industry.
“One of the first companies to use RFID Tags with medication was Fresenius Kabi, a pharmaceutical company that specializes in making lifesaving medications,” Hatfield said. “To increase patient safety, Fresenius Kabi started placing RFID tags on many of their medications on the dose level, and we provide third-party verification to provide Fresenius Kabi that their tags are working as intended.”
In another healthcare related example, Axia is working with the pharmaceutical industry to address the challenge of providing medication usage instructions to patients in a more usable format to increase medication adherence and to help promote patient safety.
This could better be done by digital means, such as over a smartphone, and Axia is working with a number of industry participants to develop a pilot effort to demonstrate the feasibility of sharing this information in new ways, while ensuring patients always have access to this important information. Having Identiv as part of this effort will be crucial as Axia works to develop a solution that can help the industry solve this important industry challenge.
“The Axia Institute is developing standards that will make it much easier for the industry to work together to benefit consumers,” Khoshniyati added.
Axia and Identiv are holding events and collaborative activities to educate the market on how to digitally transform their operations.
The Axia Institute and Identiv held a joint webinar, including their joint partner NXP, on May 15, “How to Harness HF-NFC for Enhanced Patient Safety and Experience.” Please check out the recording here.