Speaking of RFID and drugs, AdvantaPure has unveiled a tag for high-volume items that require repeated gamma sterilization. The high-purity products manufacturer says that GammaTag 500 withstands repeated exposure to gamma radiation. It handles typical doses of 25 kGy (kilograys) and a cumulative amount of 500 kGy with no loss of data.
The read-only tag is 4mm by 52mm, operates at a frequency of 2.45 GHz and is available as a bare inlay or finished tag. Applications include pharmaceutical vials and biotech processing equipment, especially processing equipment that is routinely gamma irradiated.
Like most formative technologies, RFID sometimes appear to suffer from the too-many-cooks syndrome. Addressing the matte is an EU-funded project called GRIFS, for Global RFID Interoperability Forum for Standards. The group had its kickoff meeting on July 1 in Washington, at which representatives fro ISO, ITU, IEEE and AIM Global met with other standards bodies to discuss the need for such a forum and to review a proposed memo of understanding to be submitted to those bodies working on RFID standards.
According to GRIFS, some 250 standards describing RDID-related solution have been crafted by about 30 organizations. "It is therefore essential that standardization organizations cooperate with a view toward leveraging economies of scale," says Mr. Gérald Santucci, head of unit networked enterprise and radio frequency identification, DG Information Society and Media, European Commission, in an announcement.
- see the GammaTag 500 release
- here's a link to the GRIFS site, including the downloadable announcement