Ramos, VictoriaSuárez Vicente, Óscar JavierSuárez Rodríguez, David SamuelFebles Santana, Víctor M.Aguirre Gallego, ErikZradziński, PatrykRabassa López-Calleja, Luis EnriqueCelaya Echarri, MikelMarina, PabloKarpowicz, JolantaFalcone Lanas, FranciscoHernández Armas, Jose Ángel2023-04-252023-04-252022Ramos, V., Suárez, O. J., Suárez, S., Febles, V. M., Aguirre, E., Zradziński, P., Rabassa, L. E., Celaya-Echarri, M., Marina, P., Karpowicz, J., Falcone, F., & Hernández, J. A. (2022). Electromagnetic assessment of uhf-rfid devices in healthcare environment. Applied Sciences, 12(20), 10667. https://doi.org/10.3390/app1220106672076-341710.3390/app122010667https://academica-e.unavarra.es/handle/2454/45195In this work, the evaluation of electromagnetic effect of Ultra High Frequency Radio Frequency Identification (UHF-RFID) passive tags used in the healthcare environment is presented. In order to evaluate exposure levels caused by EM field (865–868 MHz) of UHF-RFID readers, EM measurements in an anechoic chamber and in a real medical environment (Hospital Universitario de Canarias), as well as simulations by 3D Ray Launching algorithm, and of biophysical exposure effects in human models are presented. The results obtained show that the EM exposure is localized, in close vicinity of RFID reader and inversely proportional to its reading range. The EM exposure levels detected are sufficient to cause EM immunity effects in electronic devices (malfunctions in medical equipment or implants). Moreover, more than negligible direct effects in humans (exceeding relevant SAR values) were found only next to the reader, up to approximately 30% of the reading range. As a consequence, the EM risk could be firstly evaluated based on RFID parameters, but should include an in situ exposure assessment. It requires attention and additional studies, as increased applications of monitoring systems are observed in the healthcare sector—specifically when any system is located close to the workplace that is permanently occupied.application/pdfeng© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.UHF-RFIDOccupational exposurePublic healthSAR3D-RLElectromagnetic riskHospitals2D contour mapsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/article2023-04-25Acceso abierto / Sarbide irekiainfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess