VeriTeQ has filed two new patents with the US Patent and Trademark Office to protect its breast implant identification and safety technologies, according to Digital Angel Corporation.
The first patent is for VeriTeQ’s temperature-resistant microchip, designed to withstand high temperatures during sterilization in the manufacturing of breast implants and other implantable medical devices. The second patent covers the process of using the Company’s temperature-resistant microchip in the manufacturing of a breast implant.
VeriTeQ is working with implantable medical device manufacturers in the United States and abroad to incorporate its federal Food and Drug Administration-cleared passive radio frequency identification (“RFID”) microchip, referred to as “Q Inside Safety Technology,” within breast implants and other medical devices to so they can be quickly and safely identified from outside the body.
“We have chosen to focus initially on … breast implants due to the global demand for the safe and accurate identification of these devices once inside the body. This demand stems from past recalls of breast implants, particularly the scandal involving Poly Implant Prothese’s implants (PIP) in the European Union,” says Scott R. Silverman, chairman and chief executive officer of VeriTeQ, in a news release.