Edible RFID – A breakthrough in healthcare industry

Introduction

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is used primarily for asset and personnel tracking. Some research is also in progress to implant RFID chips in endangered animals so as to track and study their behavior. But Kodak has announced the invention of an edible RFID. Why should anyone eat a RFID tag? Is it safe to consume a radio frequency wafer? The answer to these questions, as envisioned by Kodak, is an emphatic Yes.

How does edible RFID work?

The functioning of various parts of human body has been the subject of interest for medical practitioners from centuries. If we can introduce a tag inside the body, such that we can monitor the functioning of inner organs, then it can prove to be a great help to any doctor. This can be done to certain extent by probes or implant RFID chips. But a probe and implanted chip cannot reach every part of body. For instance, it’s not possible to detect various digestion related processes by the usual probes. What if we can introduce a RFID tag in the digestive system? That can certainly help to understand complicated digestion processes. The tag is edible and gets digested in few hours like usual food. This is why it’s called ‘edible’ RFID.

More applications of the edible RFID

Additionally, Kodak claims that it can get such chips implanted in various joints of the body. If a weak joint breaks, then the implanted tag too would break. It would then not get tracked by the RFID detectors. Thus this will alert the doctor that something is wrong with the joint. Kodak says that edible RFID can be mixed with a medicine dosage. Unless the patient consumes the dosage, the edible RFID would keep getting tracked and the doctor would know that the patient has not followed the prescribed dose.

Advantage of RFID tag

The main advantage of edible RFID is that it is safe to consume it. Once consumed, it has a normal fixed life. If it continues to be tracked more then this fixed life or lesser then it, then the difference could prove to be a strong indicator of something wrong in the body.

RFID is now regularly used to detect counterfeit drugs. With Edible tags, a number of new innovative applications will be found in the critical health care industry.