New Invisible Tattoos to Track Cows and ... Soldiers!

A new finding seems to come away from the science fiction, where the unknowing characters bear tracking tags.

The Saint Louis based Somark Innovations have recently developed biocompatible RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) ink, which was already been tested to tattoo cattle and laboratory rats.

The Somark's system use an array of needles to injects a passive RFID ink which can be read through animal hair.

One day, this could also be used on people.

Other RFID are already used in passports, dogs and Dutch VIP clubbers.

This new RFID technology does not contain metals and is not toxic, being 100 % biocompatible and chemically inert and the tattoos can be applied to be colored or invisible.

"The RFID ink is fully biocompatible and was safe for use in humans," said Somark Innovations co-founder Mark Pydynowski.

The Somark ID System creates a "biocompatible ink tattoo with chipless RFID functionality."

The tattoo can be made in 5 to 10 seconds with no shaving involved and can be tracked from up to 4 feet away (1.2 m).

The bigger the tattoo, the larger the information amount stored.

The new RFID ink tattoo can be employed without a model of barcode required by other RFID devices, thus the biocompatible RFID ink system is an improvement for readability rates.

When marking cattle, RFID ink tattoos are much more practical than ear tags, as these fall off up to 60-90% and are quite expensive, $2.25 (apply it to a herd of thousands).

The new technology could be employed for tracking and rescuing soldiers.

"Military personnel" is Somark's "secondary target market."

"It could help identify friends or foes, prevent friendly fire, and help save soldiers' lives," said Pydynowski.

VeriChip tags for patients are already FDA approved and have been proposed for immigrants.

But the invisible ink can also be applied onto flexible surfaces or cloths, not necessarily on tattoos.