Benefits and Barriers of Implementation and Utilization of Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) Systems in Transfusion Medicine.

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology is used by hospital supply chains to track medical products and monitor inventories. Hospitals have also begun incorporating RFID technology as part of their transfusion processes. The purpose of this review was to analyze how healthcare organization supply chains can benefit from the utilization of RFID systems in transfusion service departments.

Utilizing Radiofrequency Identification Technology to Improve Safety and Management of Blood Bank Supply Chains.

Introduction: The importance of efficiency in the supply chain of perishable products, such as the blood products used in transfusion services, cannot be overstated. Many problems can occur, such as the outdating of products, inventory management issues, patient misidentification, and mistransfusion. The purpose of this article was to identify the benefits and barriers associated with radiofrequency identification (RFID) usage in improving the blood bank supply chain.

Force microscopy studies of fibronectin adsorption and subsequent cellular adhesion to substrates with well-defined surface chemistries.

Molecular force spectroscopy was used to study the mechanical behavior of plasma fibronectin (FN) on mica, gold, poly(ethylene glycol), and -CH(3), -OH, and -COOH terminated alkanethiol self-assembled monolayers. Proteins were examined at two concentrations, one resulting in a saturated surface with multiple intermolecular interactions referred to as the aggregate state and another resulting in a semiaggregate state where the proteins were neither completely isolated nor completely aggregated. Modeling of the force-extension data using two different theories resulted in similar trends for the fitted thermodynamic parameters from which insight into the protein's binding state could be obtained.

Quantifying adhesion bond parameters to distinguish interactions of hydrophilic and hydrophobic blocks of polystyrene-poly-2-vinylpyridine with a silicon nitride surface.

An analysis of the loading rate dependence of the forces required to rupture an AFM tip from a block copolymer surface has provided insight into the structure of the surface-macromolecule contact, differentiation of the block contacting the tip, a measure of the polymer-surface binding energy, and the rigidity of the contact. Polystyrene-poly-2-vinylpyridine block copolymers were studied adsorbing to silicon nitride. Polystyrene makes stiff van der Waals contact with the silicon nitride surface in aqueous solution, while the bond of poly-2-vinylpyridine to the surface is more flexible and may involve a bridging water.