Kodak Markets Optical Marker as RFID Alternative

At various locations throughout the supply chain, Kodak readers, measuring about 6 inches in height, can capture the substance's presence on bar codes and thereby confirm that the bar-coded labels—and, thus, the products to which they are attached—are authentic and not counterfeit copies. The interrogator's optical system contains a laser that illuminates the substance, and also includes a sensor and image processing software.

The "traceless" materials are undetectable by other means, and the software's analysis of the visible and invisible images determines whether a label is authentic—that is, whether it matches what the reader is programmed to expect—or fake. Visible information such as bar codes and other patterns can also be processed as part of the authentication process. The system can read through glass, plastic and translucent materials, but requires a clear line of sight.

Pharmaceutical companies can design the system either to send an alert at the time a Kodak reader does not detect a substance on a bar code, or to save that data for later use in the event of forensic evidence, helping determine at which point a spurious product entered the supply chain. Powell says it would be impossible for counterfeiters to copy the proprietary substance Kodak uses, adding, "Our substance is uniquely engineered."

Pharmaceutical manufacturers on several continents have already begun using the solution for bar-code label authentication, Powell notes, though these companies have asked not to be named. Med Health Pharma, a drug repackager in the United States, is also using the Kodak solution but was not able to comment for this article.

Not only does the solution cost less than implementing RFID technology, Powell says, it is also less disruptive since it is simply an add-on to the bar-coding process that nearly every pharmaceutical company is already using.