Kyocera ceramic UHF RFID Tag to trace surgical instruments

About Kyocera’s robust ceramic UHF RFID Tag

The new product offers a robust package made of Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramic (LTCC) with embedded antenna that withstands high temperatures up to 300°C (depending on RFID tag structure) and humidity levels up to 85%. Additionally, the ceramic package is designed with a special cavity structure to protect the IC chip against mechanical stress and chemical exposure.

Additionally, Kyocera’s UHF RFID tag has a unique antenna design which differentiates itself from conventional tags. The proprietary multilayer structure of the antenna results in an increased read range in combination with a miniaturised ultra-small tag size. The RFID tags offer a superior reading distance in regard to their small size, so that a reading distance of 0.4 m can be achieved with a tag of the size of 5 x 2 x 1.5 mm (when applied on metal).

Kyocera offers four different sizes of the robust UHF RFID tag; the smallest UHF RFID tag offering an ultra-small design of only 5 x 2 x 1.5 mm:

Dimensions: 5 x 2 x 1,5 mm, 6 x 3 x 1,7 mm, 10 x 5 x 1,7 mm, 15 x 5 x 1,7 mm

Read Range: 250 mW: 10 cm, 10 cm, 25 cm, 35 cm

                        1 W: 40 cm, 60 cm, 120 cm, 18 cm

IC type: Monza R6-P, Monza 4QT

Connection: Flip-Chip, Wire-Bonding

EPC memory: 128 bits

User memory: 32 bits, 512 bits

Note: Possible to use on metal

RFID for the medical industry

With the new European Medical Device Regulation (MDR) coming into force, a new law regarding consistent traceability of surgical tools is currently introduced to Europe. The related worldwide system to assign a unique identifier to medical devices, called Unique Device Identification (UDI), will take effect from beginning of May 2021 for high risk products. In case of direct marking on the product, UDI will take effect from May 2023.