RFID Tattoos for Livestock
Somark Innovations, a biotech startup, has developed a chipless and antenna-less asset identification and tracking system for animals and even food.
By Beth Bacheldor
Feb. 1, 2007—Radio frequency identification technology is a valuable tool for tracking livestock, but the button-size RFID tags stapled into animals' ears can fall off, and glass-encased RFID tags injected into skin can migrate deeper into the body and become unreadable. Somark Innovations, a St. Louis biotech startup, thinks it has a better solution: a permanent ink tattoo that relies on radio frequency waves to read and render unique identification numbers.
The chipless and antenna-less asset identification and tracking system uses biocompatible, translucent ink that can be tattooed onto livestock, pets, laboratory animals and even food, such as meat or fruit. The tattoo is applied using a micro-needle, which is actually a geometric array of many tiny needles, and each tattoo is made up of a unique pattern.
"The tattoo is applied at the same layer of skin as you'd do if you went to get a tattoo that says 'I Love Mom,'" says Ramos Mays, who developed the technology and cofounded the company with Mark Pydynowski.
Feb. 1, 2007—Radio frequency identification technology is a valuable tool for tracking livestock, but the button-size RFID tags stapled into animals' ears can fall off, and glass-encased RFID tags injected into skin can migrate deeper into the body and become unreadable. Somark Innovations, a St. Louis biotech startup, thinks it has a better solution: a permanent ink tattoo that relies on radio frequency waves to read and render unique identification numbers.
The chipless and antenna-less asset identification and tracking system uses biocompatible, translucent ink that can be tattooed onto livestock, pets, laboratory animals and even food, such as meat or fruit. The tattoo is applied using a micro-needle, which is actually a geometric array of many tiny needles, and each tattoo is made up of a unique pattern.
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| The RFID tattoo could solve a problem associated with using RFID tags to track cattle: “If you miss one, you have to stop a 600- or 800-pound cow and turn it around.” |
"The tattoo is applied at the same layer of skin as you'd do if you went to get a tattoo that says 'I Love Mom,'" says Ramos Mays, who developed the technology and cofounded the company with Mark Pydynowski.
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