The Verichip™ is the first human-implantable RFID chip and personal health record, cleared for medical use by the United States FDA. The $200 chip is about the size of a grain of rice and inserted just under the skin in the back of your right arm. The VeriMed™ Health Link system, incorporates the RFID microchip (the VeriChip), a handheld scanner and and an online, electronic, personal health record.

Recent advances mean the chips are now also able to read bio markers such as glucose levels. This enables diabetics to get live readings of their glucose levels without having to prick their fingers.

In September 2009 Verichip gained the exclusive rights from their development partner RECEPTORS LLC to use "artificial receptors” technology to develop a virus triage detection system for the H1N1 virus also known as swine flu. This technology can also be applied to detect other viruses and biological threats such as Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Originally the system was promoted for use with Alzheimers patients, so that medical staff can identify them when they don't know who they are. Its also promoted for anyone with chronic illness who are likely to find themselves in emergency rooms and unable to speak. The system makes it much faster for hospital staff to identify the patient and their history.

In 2008, VeriChip joined with Microsoft allowing VeriMed customers to open a Microsoft HealthVault account and use it to access and manage their personal health records and data that are stored in the VeriMed database.

One of the concerns over these implants is that anyone with a RFID reader could read a persons information. So Verichip has now formed another campnay called PositiveID Corporation to provide secure identification technologies to protect consumers and businesses using encryption technologies.

According to the Verichip website there are thousands of people who already use the system, but they don't give an exact number. However the 16 bit identifier that the chip uses allows for up to 65,536 people.

The Verichip website makes a strong point that the implantable RFID microchip does not have the capabilities to track people because the chip does not have GPS support or long-range wireless communications. It can only be read by a VeriChip reader held up closely to the location of the inserted chip. It cannot be used to track children, prevent kidnappings, etc.

VeriChips two main competitors for RFIDs in implantable medical identification devices are Smart Tokens by Datakey Inc. and micoID by MicroChip Inc.

Sources: http://www.verichipcorp.com/press_releases.html , wikipedia.com and CNN

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