RFID-equipped Stability Chamber for In-Vial Wireless Monitoring of Pharmaceuticals

Ensuring precise monitoring of the micro- environment inside pharmaceutical packaging is essential for drug stability and safety, especially during Accelerated Predictive Stability (APS) studies conducted in climatic chambers. In such environments, characterized by metallic walls and shelving that cause electromagnetic reflections and shadowing, achieving consistent and complete data collection from wireless Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) sensors deployed inside pharmaceutical packages can be challenging. This paper presents an optimized four-antenna RFID reading architecture embedded within a climatic chamber, specifically designed to maximize read performance and coverage across the chamber’s internal volume. Experimental evaluations demonstrate that this setup achieves ≃100% read accuracy and uniform coverage across various RFID sensor probes orientations and positions, effectively overcoming the challenges posed by electromagnetic interference. The proposed system enables real-time, non-invasive, wireless monitoring of in-package temperature and humidity, ensuring high-fidelity data collection over time.