Digital express service for patient files

There are over 2000 hospitals with almost 350,000 resident physicians in Germany. They all exchange results, diagnoses, and therapy plans with each other. With chronic or complicated diseases, the files become quite full. Often the general practitioner as well as several hospitals and specialists are involved. The physicians receive the information via medical reports. Several days can pass before all of the relevant data have been assembled by fax or mail.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems FOKUS in Berlin and Fraunhofer Institute for Software and Systems Engineering ISST in Dortmund have accelerated this process. With Electronic CaseRecord, physicians can exchange information about patients simply via computer. “They receive the data faster and the data are always com- plete. With the classical approach, files are sometimes simply overlooked if too many parties are involved,” says Dr. Jörg Caumanns from FOKUS.

The researchers have developed a communications platform in cooperation with physicians and software manufacturers. The beta tests were successful. Since then, several hospitals have started using Electronic CaseRecord or are preparing for its deployment in regional health networks. “Electronic CaseRecord is well along to becoming the standard for exchange of patient information between physicians,” according to Caumanns. Protection of senstive data is the first priority: the files reside on local servers of the participating hospitals and physicians; exchange of data over the Internet is secured by digital certificates.

Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems FOKUS
Kaiserin-Augusta-Allee 31 | 10589 Berlin | www.fokus.fraunhofer.de
Contact: Dr. Jörg Caumanns | Phone +49 30 3463-7581 | joerg.caumanns@fokus.fraunhofer.de
Press: Dr. Michael John | Phone +49 30 3463-7400 | michael.john@fokus.fraunhofer.de

Predicting the remaining operating life of power plants

Wind power today can already cover most of the electrical power requirements in Germany – as long as the wind blows. If not, the power grid needs to be fed from other sources. Natural gas or coal fired power stations that can operate flexibly – delivering full power quickly on demand – are of increasinging importance in Germany. Especially the components in the steam circuit that undergo enormous temperature changes are heavily stressed. During a cold start they are heated from less than 50 °C to over 500 °C within a few hours. While a cold start seldom occurs, hot starts from 380 °C to more than 500 °C every other day are common, especially in combined cycle power plants.

“The life expectancy of a conventional power plant based on fossil fuels is currently around 40 years. However, the longterm investigations and simulations of power stations that turn on and off frequently to compensate for fluctuations of regenerative energy sources are not available,” says Dr. Gerhard Maier, a scientist at the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM in Freiburg, Germany. Both the experiments and computational modeling for simulations are being developed by IWM in a research project for RWE Generation SE. Then the remaining life times of flexible power stations should be predictable using the IWM methodology by 2015.

Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM
Wöhlerstraße 11 | 79108 Freiburg | www.iwm.fraunhofer.de
Contact: Dr.-Ing. Gerhard Maier | Phone +49 761 5142-431 | gerhard.maier@iwm.fraunhofer.de
Press: Katharina Hien | Phone +49 61 5142-154 | katharina.hien@iwm.fraunhofer.de


RFID wristband identifies merchandise quickly and without direct contact

Endless rows of high shelves fill the hall. Where are the sensor and the cable that are supposed to be connected to the component group later in vehicle assembly? Inventory warehouse workers do not have a lot of time to locate items with the desired color and finish. Until now, they had to scan the boxes on the shelves using a manual barcode scanner in order to post the correct withdrawal of the part from inventory. In the future, this process will be carried out using an RFID wristband device. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation IFF in Magdeburg have developed the lightweight system of just over five oz (150 gr). Warehouse workers and assemblers can quickly identify items without direct contact. The advantage of the RFID wristband over barcode scanners employed up to now, as well as over other mobile RFID handscanners, is that the employees have both hands free. This reduces superfluous movements and workflow is not unnecessarily interrupted. “Workflow is better and employees can work not only faster, but more comfortably as well,” says Martin Kirch, an engineer at IFF.

RFID transponders replace the barcodes on the items and identify them. The data are transmitted by radio to the wristband where an integrated antenna receives it. The radio interface and battery are built into it as well. In addition, there is an alternative design to the wristband design – the RFID glove. The system is in prototype form. Employees in the logistics and manufacturing sectors – the automobile and nutrition sectors for instance – will likely be able to employ it later this year.

Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation IFF
Sandtorstraße 22 | 39106 Magdeburg | www.iff.fraunhofer.de
Contact: Dipl.-Ing. Martin Kirch | Phone +49 391 4090-487 | martin.kirch@iff.fraunhofer.de
Press: René Maresch | Phone +49 391 4090-446 | rene.maresch@iff.fraunhofer.de