Implantation of an RFID-tag into human molars to reduce hard forensic identification labor. Part I: Working principle

Recently the tsunami disaster, the London bombings and the landfall of hurricane Katrina demonstrated once more the need for an accurate, quick and easy to handle identification system. The implantation of a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag into a human tooth and the read-out of its information may give an answer to this problem. A description is given of the modification of an existing RFID-tag that was made for veterinary use. This modified system was implanted in human molars using directly bonded resin composites. A protocol for tooth preparation and tag implantation was developed. A study of tag read-out patterns, revealed their accurate read-out distance range, the optimal site of RFID-tag implantation, assemblage of its components, and dimensions of the primary coil. It was found that disassembling the commercial RFID-tags was practically feasible and resulted in a properly working set-up. Further research is needed to optimize the design and the stability of RFID-tags for human identification purposes.