Westminster, Colorado, March 26, 2007 – SkyeTek, Inc., the leading provider of embedded RFID reader technology, today announced that Iris Diagnostics, a Division of IRIS International Inc., (NASDAQ: IRIS) a leading manufacturer of medical diagnostic systems, has adopted the M2 SkyeModule with ReaderWare Security as its single source solution for authenticating reagents used in its flagship product, the iQ200 Automated Urinalysis System.
In the healthcare industry, using reagents of the proper type, freshness, and authenticity is critical to ensuring proper instrument performance. Counterfeiting poses a significant threat as cloned reagents tend to negatively affect patient safety, insurance costs, and provider brand equity. SkyeTek's M2 SkyeModule with ReaderWare Security creates a unique digital fingerprint for the iQ200's reagent units, ensuring accurate test results that maintain the highest levels of patient safety.
“Our urinalysis systems oftentimes process hundreds of specimens per day and each result affects a patient's diagnosis,” said John Yi, Corporate Vice President for Operations, Iris Diagnostics. “Given this responsibility, we do not have any margin for error in our results. Our customers choose Iris Diagnostics because we enable faster and more accurate test results, and working with SkyeTek will ensure that we are able to provide an extra layer of authentication as part of the process.”
Iris will integrate an M2 HF SkyeModule with ReaderWare Security into the iQ200 Urinalysis System that will read data on the RFID-tagged consumable reagent system. With the M2 incorporated, the iQ200 will now be able to check for reagent type, manufacturing date, and authenticity each time the reagent system is used for sample testing. Zebra's R110Xi-HF RFID printer, which also utilizes SkyeTek's M2 as its internal reader engine, will generate an encrypted, tag-specific digital fingerprint and encode it onto the reagent label as it is being printed.
“We are pleased to be working with SkyeTek and Iris Diagnostics in the introduction of one of the RFID industry's first network-based, multi-party authentication solutions,” said Steve Park, Vice President and General Manager of RFID Solutions at Zebra. “RFID has the potential to greatly simplify and dramatically increase the effectiveness of product authentication across a wide range of industries. The combination of our printer solutions and SkyeTek's reader technology helps customers like Iris reap the benefits of RFID-based product authentication.”
The M2 HF SkyeModule is part of SkyeTek's Advanced Universal Reader Architecture (AURA) which includes ReaderWare Security. Unlike other RFID solutions that leverage proprietary cryptography, ReaderWare Security implements open standards-based versions of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA) for state-of-the-art encryption and hashing. ReaderWare Security can be used on any generic tag with requisite memory, significantly decreasing overall solution costs while delivering the same privacy and security protection found in government, financial, and internet applications.
“Iris Diagnostics is one of the first customers in any industry to implement an RFID-based product authentication solution throughout its supply chain – a step that is critical for the widespread adoption of RFID,” said Rob Balgley CEO of SkyeTek. “SkyeTek's unique combination of intelligent, secure software and affordable hardware will help ensure the safety of the patients that rely on the accuracy of Iris Diagnostics' results. Over the years RFID has gained a reputation as simply a cost-saving technology, but we're glad to be working with customers like Iris Diagnostics to enable innovative ways to apply RFID in making peoples lives simpler, safer and more secure.”
About SkyeTek, Inc.
SkyeTek, Inc. develops reader technology that enables the pervasive adoption of RFID as an embedded feature in existing products. Customers use SkyeTek's technology to create new applications for their product lines in areas such as anti-counterfeiting, configuration management, consumables authentication, item-level inventory, patient safety, patron management, contactless payment, and mobile data collection. SkyeTek specifically designed AURA to serve as the multi-frequency, universal reader architecture for embedded RFID applications. AURA's common architecture disaggregates the RFID reader into a ReaderWare software layer, optimized for broad tag support, reader intelligence and easy application integration, and ReaderDNA hardware reference designs, crafted to optimize read range / performance while exploiting Moore's Law for gains in cost, space, and power efficiency. SkyeTek offers its AURA-based products as either a SkyeModule or ReaderWare license, which comes with access to ReaderDNA. Customers using SkyeTek represent numerous vertical markets and range from mid-market companies to Fortune 500 corporations. Based in Westminster, Colo., SkyeTek sells exclusively through OEMs, systems integrators, and distributors. For more information about SkyeTek, visit www.skyetek.com or call 720-565-0441.
