SYRINGES WITH ID CHIPS COULD PROTECT WORKERS FROM DIRTY, INFECTED NEEDLES

The Cost Would Be A Fraction Of That Spent On Treatment

(CNS) Tiny radio-frequency ID chips embedded in syringes could make
life safer for city workers and cleanup teams who daily scour streets
looking for discarded needles.

The RFID tag, which could be attached to a 20-cent syringe for an
extra five cents, is similar to a grocery bar code. People collecting
needles would carry an RFID reader that starts beeping about a metre
from a needle, said Mustafa Ahmed, part of a team of University of
Victoria MBA students.

The team hopes the idea will be picked up by needle-distribution organizations.

"We started to notice a lot of used needles in Victoria just lying
around," Ahmed said. "It's a huge problem, especially when you have
little kids and other people being exposed in places like parks and
baseball fields."

The cost would be a fraction of the expense of treating people for
accidental needle jabs and would eliminate worries about potential
infection, he said.

The next steps are feasibility and business plans and getting
information about RFID-equipped syringes to decision-makers, he said.

"The manufacturing part is quite easy, but it needs some strong
backup. It is something which would have to have government support."

The NeedleSight project won the people's choice award in the
university's information technology trade show earlier this year.

David Speed, City of Victoria assistant director of parks, said about
four staff have received needle punctures over the last 12 years and,
although none have become infected, it is a concern.