TechBlog

Human-implantable RFID microchips face an uncertain future in the wake of developments that the technology’s developer, VeriChip, announced last week. The Delray Beach, Florida-based company announced it sold most of its assets to tool manufacturer Stanley Works for $45 million and that the rest of the company is for sale (see VeriChip Sells an RFID Business, More Change May Come). The remaining company essentially consists of the VeriMed Health Link business line, a patient identification service based on VeriChip’s controversial, FDA-approved line of implantable RFID tags for lifetime human identification.

“That business is not self-sustainable,” VeriChip vice president of corporate development Jay McKeage candidly told RFID Update. “It cannot stand on its own because of the cash burn involved in marketing to consumers.”

VeriMed Health Link is a service in which patients have an RFID tag injected under their skin in the arm to provide lifetime identification. The tag is encoded with a 16-digit unique ID number, which medical professionals with VeriChip-issued readers can use to access the patient’s complete medical history from a secure database. VeriChip markets the system on patient-safety benefits — emergency room doctors or other medical staff can access a patient’s medical history without relying on a patient response or an ID card. The idea is that even if a patient arrives unconscious or otherwise uncommunicative, his or her complete medical history is still accessible. The FDA approved VeriChip’s human-implantable passive RFID microchips in 2004, but adoption has been limited.

Continue reading ‘Implantable RFID Business ‘Not Self-Sustainable’’ »

 The selection of technology greatly impacts the performance and functionality that can be expected from an integrated-circuit UHF RFID transponder.
Faisal Mohd-Yasin, M.B.I. Reaz, Y.K. Teh  |  ED Online ID #13722 |  October 2006

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) transponder design techniques were introduced last month, in the opening installment of this two-part article series. This month more advanced methods will be explored for enhancing the performance of UHF RFID transponders, using four design examples in Germany, the United States, Italy, and Switzerland.

The German group was involved in pioneering work in UHF RFID, developing a variety of efficient circuit design techniques. However, their work required the use of a nonstandard 0.5-µm CMOS process. The US group proposed a low-cost design using Schottky diodes, employing novel data readout circuit and the capability of boosting the data rate to 10 Mb/s. The Italian group focused on low-power consumption and achieved submicrowatt power consumption with their digital module, based on AMI’s 0.5-µm CMOS process. The Swiss group developed their UHF RFID transponder using silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) technology and achieved the farthest detection range.

Continue reading ‘Develop Advanced Designs For RFID Transponders’ »