Japan Tags Dementia Sufferers with Barcodes

December 8th, 2016

Via: AFP:

A Japanese city has introduced a novel way to keep track of senior citizens with dementia who are prone to getting lost — tagging their fingers and toes with scan-able barcodes.

A company in Iruma, north of Tokyo, developed tiny nail stickers, each of which carries a unique identity number to help concerned families find missing loved ones, according to the city’s social welfare office.

The adhesive QR-coded seals for nails — part of a free service launched this month and a first in Japan — measure just one centimetre (0.4 inches) in size.

“Being able to attach the seals on nails is a great advantage,” a city worker told AFP.

“There are already ID stickers for clothes or shoes but dementia patients are not always wearing those items.”

If an elderly person becomes disorientated, police will find the local city hall, its telephone number and the wearer’s ID all embedded in the QR code.

The chips remain attached for an average of two weeks — even if they get wet — the official said, citing recent trials.

One Response to “Japan Tags Dementia Sufferers with Barcodes”

  1. tochigi says:

    I hate to be pedantic but…
    it’s not “Japan” but one company offering this service to local council welfare agencies.
    And QR codes are not “bar codes”.
    But the bit that is misleading is the reference at the end to “chips”. These are printed stickers, no electronics components present.

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