Newtown, Pa.-based CenTrak Inc., a provider of real-time locations systems (RTLS) for tracking equipment and people indoors, has been granted a patent for dual Infrared/Radio Frequency (IR/RF) location technology.
The dual technology approach allows bed-level location accuracy, capabilities not achievable with RF-only systems like WiFi-based RTLS, according to CenTrak.
CenTrak’s InTouchCare systems use monitors that are placed in various hospital areas (for example, patient rooms, hallways and treatment bays). Each monitor emits an IR signal that is received by the system’s tags, enabling InTouchCare to track each tag’s location over time. Every time the system "blinks," the InTouchCare Location Server receives the "what, where and when" of all the hospital’s tracked equipment and patients, according to the company.
