Wireless tags give physicians details and condition of orthopedic implants with the wave of a wand (TechNews)
Ortho-Tag would be affixed to an orthopedic implant and scanned via radio-frequency with a probe and RFID tag developed at Pitt. A card (foreground) would be available to patients with an existing implant. Credit: U of Pittsburgh
Radio-frequency technology developed at the University of Pittsburgh that uses human tissue instead of air as a conduit for radio waves is the basis of the first electronic “tag” system designed to track and monitor orthopaedic implants.