Researchers at University of Guelph borrow RFID technology for pathogen transmission studies

Researchers at the University of Guelph have been testing radio frequency identification technology to track the movements of horses and staff to determine how the disease is transmitted. The technology uniquely identifies the person wearing the RFID tag, which itself can collect the data of the tag with which it is in contact. The solution eliminates the need for researchers to install card readers in stables and fields.

"We are using computer simulations to find trends that could lead to the spread of the disease," said Amy Greer, assistant professor of population disease modeling at the Ontario Veterinary College of the University of Guelph.

Researchers at University of Guelph borrow RFID technology for pathogen transmission studies

(Researchers put each label in a sealed plastic sleeve to prevent it from being contaminated and wasted.)

In the past, Greer said, potential infections were based on the notion that a group of animals in restricted areas had the same risk of being affected by infection. She pointed out that this view oversimplifies the risk of infection for each animal and does not take into account factors such as the care of animals and the causes of the disease.

Greer said researchers hope that hospitals, like hospitals, use technology to track the movement of people and people around them to understand the risks of disease transmission. Therefore, they studied RFID technology. However, the hospital has Wi-Fi networks and power supplies that make it easier to capture information and download it into the software, Greer said. The stables do not have this infrastructure.

As a result, the group has developed a system that is currently in use at 3 sites. The system, horses and staff wear a high memory transponder, can transfer data to each other, and can be downloaded in the network area. In this way, the user does not need to install the gateway in the field.

The technology consists of the OpenBeacon active 2.4 GHz proximity tag and the Nordic nRF51822 Bluetooth low energy (BLE) chip, which is attached to the horse by a hook. The unique ID number of each tag is tied to a person or a horse, and the tag ID is stored in a software developed by the university. Although the technology can use BLE to communicate with beacon devices, researchers now use only the RFID capabilities.

Each tag has a built-in 8M storage capacity. When a horse or a person wears a tag that is within 2 meters of another tag, the tag transmits ID number information to each other. Then store the data in two tabs. The built-in button battery life of these labels can last up to one week. Researchers put each label in a sealed plastic sleeve to prevent water and dirt and then attach it to the straps.

Researchers at University of Guelph borrow RFID technology for pathogen transmission studies

(There is a tag on the bridle, and when the tag is within the range of another tag, the tag will read the signal to another tag)

At the completion of each study, researchers linked the tags to a computer to upload the data. OpenBeacon tags can also use BLE to send data to mobile devices, but the researchers are not yet enabled. These data will not only reflect the label information contact with each other, but also reflect the contact order and duration.

Due to the size of the horse and the presence of fluid in the body, Greer said it is a challenge to ensure that tags read each other efficiently, which is also a barrier to the spread of RF signals. The team considered attaching two labels to each one immediately, one on the front and one on the back, but only the tag on the bridle was chosen because the face-to-face contact triggered the infection.

All three of the university's studies were conducted this year and at different racecourses. The first racecourse has 9 mark and 5 mark staff, while the largest racecourse has 30 mark horses and 10 mark staff. So far, the system has collected 300,000 staff contacts. The group plans to deploy it again this spring and summer. Greer said that this summer, we will analyze these data. The team will then determine the pathways that may lead to pathogen transmission.

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