RFID pill to act as your doctor on demand at walking events

Filed in archive Sports on July 25, 2008

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Image# 4707225

Every year hundreds of people participate in various marathon and walking events in support of some cause but mind you these people are not athletes but people from every walk of life and there is always a chance that they might fall ill since they are not used to such strenuous physical activity in everyday life. At times it might also turn out to be life threatening and in order to avoid such situations Dutch researchers at Radboud University have created an RFID pill which would keep a watch on the temperature of participating people.

Comprising of an RFID tag and thermometer, the RFID pill needs to be swallowed before the start of any physical activity and with the aid of event processing technology it becomes easier to monitor body temperature as a signal is send every ten seconds.

In case the temperature shoots up an onsite medical team is alerted which is able to offer medical assistance within no time. I remember a few years back I had attended a half marathon event where a person lost his life since medical assistance could not be offered on time. I hope that with this RFID pill it would become easier to take care of the health of participants and avoid any form of casualties. A pilot has already been conducted at International Four Day Marches Nijmegen and hopefully it may soon find a place in other events around the world too.