Patent Application
20080117021
The present invention generally relates to electronic identification methods and devices. More particularly, this invention relates to a technique for the preparation, placement, and closure of a transponder in a tooth or dental prosthesis, and the use of such a transponder for identification purposes.
Transponders and particularly radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and chips (microchips) have been employed to identify products, inventory and various other inanimate objects, and living beings including pets and livestock. For use in product and inventory identification, RFID microchips are typically relatively large in size and mounted to an adhesive strip for application to the objects of interest. When interrogated by a reader unit, the microchip transmits a signal that uniquely identifies the object. For use in animals, RFID microchips are typically encapsulated and placed beneath the skin by injection. Such RFID microchips are typically small, such as about one millimeter in length and about one millimeter in diameter, and can be coded with up to ten digits to uniquely identify the animal. A commercial example of such an RFID microchip is sold under the name AVID® by Avid Marketing, Inc., Norco, Calif. USA.
Because RFID microchips have the undesirable potential to migrate when implanted subdermally, their use with humans has not been widely accepted or practiced. However, if transponders could be securely placed in a manner that eliminates migration, their use for human identification could become more widely practiced, particularly for children, the elderly, and others whose age, mental capacity, or other physical or mental status puts them at risk of being lost, abducted, etc. Furthermore, the use of transponders could find use in other scenarios, such as to identify members of the armed services.
The present invention provides a method for identifying individuals, and involves the preparation, placement, and closure of an electronic identification transponder in a tooth, denture, or dental prosthesis.
More particularly, the method entails identifying a human with an electronic identification transponder that can be interrogated by and communicate with a separate reader unit while the transponder is implanted in a surface region of a dental structure, namely, a mammalian tooth, denture, or dental prosthesis. According to a preferred aspect of the invention, the reader unit is used to interrogate the electronic identification transponder, read an identification number stored by the electronic identification transponder, and read additional information from the transponder associated with the person in which the transponder is implanted.
In view of the above, the present invention provides a secure, non invasive, and confidential method for instantaneously retrieving identification and potentially other information concerning a person into which the transponder is implanted. Such information can be vital to identify persons in a variety of emergency and nonemergency situations. Furthermore, the transponder can be present without visual detection by uninformed parties, such that unauthorized removal of the transponder is not likely to occur. Finally, the transponder can be permanent if so chosen, yet removable by a skilled technician without causing pain or permanently disfiguring the individual.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will be better appreciated from the following detailed description.
The present invention makes use of transponders that are sufficiently small to permit their implantation in a human dental structure, such as certain locations on certain human teeth. Placement on dental structures is particularly selected to facilitate implantation, be accessible for interrogation and communication with a separate reader unit, and reduce the risk that the transponder will be damaged or interfere with the bearer's normal behavior. For this purpose, the transponder is preferably not larger than about one millimeter in width by about six millimeters in length, and is carried on a pliable substrate to have a thickness of less than four millimeters, more preferably less than one millimeter. The transponder is sufficiently small to also be placed in a denture or partial denture. Preferably, once placed the transponder is registered to the particular individual by entering or registering a personalized multi-digit identification code. The transponder can also be encoded to provide certain information concerning the individual, such as the individual's medical history. As an example, the identification code could be or include the individual's social security number, and may contain data or be associated with a database that contains portions or all of the individual's medical history. The transponder can be scanned by the reader unit, which is preferably adapted to interrogate the transponder and, optionally, program the transponder.
A preferred transponder is an ultrahigh frequency (UHF) RFID tag or chip (microchip), such as an RFID tag commercially available from Lutronic International under the name NONATEC®. According to Lutronic International literature, the NONATEC® tag utilizes an electronic chip from Philips Research. In contrast to conventional silicon-chip-based RFID tags, the Philips chip is understood to be a fully functional 13.56 MHz RFID chip printed directly onto a plastic substrate along with an antenna. For illustrative purposes,
The tag 10 is not required to be self-powered, but instead is preferably capable of transmitting and receiving data when interrogated by a reader/writer unit. Intra-oral and extra-oral reader/writer units 20 are schematically represented in
In investigations leading up to this invention, the NONATEC® transponders and reader/writer units noted above were shown to perform well for the intended application, including the capability of interrogation and communication through the cheek of the individual. Nonetheless, it is foreseeable that other transponders and reader/writer units operating at various other frequencies could be used. For example, an RFID transponder disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,559,507 could potentially be used. Furthermore, it is foreseeable that various functionalities could be incorporated into the tag 10, including a global positioning system (GPS) capability.
While the NONATEC® RFID tag is adapted to be placed subdermally in animals by injection, the present invention places the tag 10 in a human (mammalian) tooth, as schematically represented in
Following rinsing and drying to remove debris, a standard acid etch and bond is performed. Any conventional acid etch and bond technique can be used, though a one-component light-cured self-etched/self-priming dental adhesive is preferred. Alternatively, a separate etch and bond could be performed, in which case it is necessary that all etchant is remove by a water rinse. Suitable self-etching/self-bonding dental adhesives are known to contain mono-, di- or trimethacrylate resins, dipenta-crythritol penta acrylate monophosphate, photo-initiators, stabilizers, water acetone, and cetyl amine hydrofluoride. All tooth surfaces are preferably scrubbed with generous amounts of the adhesive for about fifteen to twenty seconds to thoroughly wet all tooth surfaces. This procedure is then repeated, after which excess adhesive is removed and the remainder dried for about five to ten seconds with clean dry air. Cure can then be accomplished by subjecting the adhesive to light for about ten seconds.
If a separate etch and bond technique is used, the etchant may contain a phosphoric acid concentration of 35 to 50% in solution or gel. A treatment of about thirty to sixty seconds is appropriate, followed by rinsing and drying without dessication for about fifteen seconds. The bonding agent preferably contains a sulfur-based amine activator within an ethyl alcohol solvent. The use of a hydrochloric or hydrofluoric acid etch is not recommended due to the risk that the tag 10 might be attacked by these acids at high concentrations.
The composite resin undergoes curing until a full set is confirmed, after which the restoration 34 is polished. Armamentarium for finishing the final restoration 34 includes fine grit diamond, 12 to 20 bladed carbide burs, tapered or round stones, finishing strips and disks, rubber cups and a resin glaze.
The tag 10 can also be placed in complete or partial dentures (not shown). If placed in a complete maxillary denture, the tag 10 can be placed into the facial surface of the right posterior flange apical to the distal buccal root of Tooth #3. If placed in a complete mandibular denture, the tag 10 may be placed into the facial surface of the right posterior flange apical to the distal root of Tooth #30. Secondary locations are the Tooth #14 or #19 buccal flanges, and tertiary locations are at palatal or lingual locations of the same tooth numbers. If the tag 10 is to be placed in removable maxillary partial dentures, preferred primary locations are the same as those of a maxillary complete denture. Secondary locations include placement into the facial surface of the right posterior flange apical to the most distal tooth's distal root. Tertiary locations include placement into the facial surface of the left posterior flange apical to the most distal tooth distal's root. Finally, quaternary locations include placement on the facial flange in an area that will accommodate the size and depth requirements for tag 10 (e.g., dimensions similar to those identified for the cavitation 30).
The tag 10 can also be placed in a removable dental prosthesis (not shown). For this purpose, a surface region of the prosthetic material (typically an acrylic) is removed with a round bur or other suitable tool at one of the priority locations set forth for implantation of the tag 10 in a tooth. The resulting void is then cleaned, rinsed, dried, and conditioned to accept new acrylic. After activation of the tag 10 is verified with a reader unit, the mesial and distal ends of the tag 10 are tacked into place within the void using an adhesive, such as a cold cure resin. After drying, the remaining void is filled with an adhesive, such as a cold cure acrylic, which is polished after curing. Preferred locations and prosthetics for the tag 10 include those corresponding to the prioritized sites for natural teeth as described above.
The tag 10 can be programmed before or after placement. As previously noted, programming generally entails storing on the tag 10 a unique identification number, and preferably coding associated with other pertinent information, such as the medical history of the individual. Once programmed and placed in accordance with one of the forgoing implantation procedures, the functionality of the tag 10 should be confirmed with a reader unit. The identification number associated with the tag 10 and other pertinent information can then be downloaded for storage in a secure database, for example, in a computer with software with which the reader unit communicates, such as through a USB jack. Depending on the circumstances, the individual may be provided with a printout of the contents of their record stored in the database. Also depending on the purpose of the implantation and the availability of appropriate systems, the individual's identification may be included in a database accessible by certain individuals, such as healthcare providers, and particularly dentistry professionals who in the normal course of a dental examination can verify the identity of a patient, including whether a child patient is listed in a missing child database, and/or the medical history of the patient. Alternatives include identifying military personnel, and use when traveling such as to confirm the individual's identify at military facilities, airport security checks, customs checkpoints, etc.
Once correctly placed by a dental professional, the tag 10 will not migrate and cannot be altered or lost, nor can the tag 10 be readily detected without appropriate equipment capable of communicating with or otherwise sensing the tag 10. For example, an individual can be equipped with the tag 10 without the telltale bump associated with a subdermally implanted RFID chip. An additional feature of the invention is the ability to remove the tag 10 without injuring or scarring the individual. For example, if the individual is a child, he or she may choose to remove the tag 10 once he or she reaches adulthood. Likewise, if the individual is a military personnel, the tag 10 may be removed once he or she is discharged from military service. The tag 10 can generally be removed with a round bur or any other suitable dental tool, and the resulting cavitation repaired by restoration procedures commonly used in dentistry practices.
While the invention has been described in terms of specific embodiments, it is apparent that other forms could be adopted by one skilled in the art. For example, the physical configuration of the tag 10 could differ from that described, and a wide variety of dentistry materials and procedures are known by dentistry professionals and could be used in place of for those materials and procedures noted. Therefore, the scope of the invention is to be limited only by the following claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/866,531, filed Nov. 20, 2006, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60866531 | Nov 2006 | US |
