Boulder, Colo. and Trento, Italy, February 21, 2006 – Tiomed S.r.l., manufacturer of the Bedside Automatic System for Identification and Communication (BASIC), is using RFID reader technology from SkyeTek’s ReaderWare suite as part of the Italian company’s efforts to improve patient care, from within the BASICHEMO blood transfusion safety system.

In the BASICHEMO model, Tiomed’s handheld Palmed scanner is used to identify patients using RFID reader hardware and software components from SkyeTek. Once identified, Palmed – which closely resembles a cell phone – looks up patient information over a hospital’s computer network and a request for a blood transfusion can be made. The transfusion request carries with it information such as blood type and patient location. When the blood arrives, Palmed uses RFID again to ensure the blood delivered is the right type and the transfusion complete Palmed updates the patient’s record to indicate when the procedure was performed.

“We selected SkyeTek’s ReaderWare suite because with our existing Palmed hardware design, front-and backend software systems, and planned new BASIC applications the RFID reader solution we chose had to be highly embeddable, configurable, and extensible,” Marco Rossi, IT Manager of Tiomed. “SkyeTek’s truly horizontal approach to reader technology, the depth of their development experience and the richness of their development platform allowed us to rapidly move from concept, through pilot, to deployment.” Tiomed reports that its BASICHEMO system, with embedded RFID technology from SkyeTek’s ReaderWare will be used in some of the most sophisticated and demanding hospitals across Italy and Spain.

"Our growing list of healthcare related customers now includes Tiomed, PDC, Medica, and others who are using ReaderWare components to improve the quality and accuracy of patient care through applications such as RFID-enabled medicine cabinets, internal scopes, and blood gas analyzers," said Rob Balgley, CEO of SkyeTek. "SkyeTek's horizontal approach to readers is changing the dynamics of the RFID industry by enabling customer to treat RFID as a feature as opposed to an application within itself." ReaderWare 1.0 is available immediately as a licensed development platform for new and existing OEM reader designs or for use with SkyeTek’s HF and UHF small footprint, low power, Tagnostic™ reader modules and reference designs. For more information on SkyeTek or ReaderWare, visit www.skyetek.com.