Raheeqa Razvi et al
Available online at www.ijpbr.org
Int. J. Phar. & Biomedi. Rese. 2016, 3 (1): 19-20
ISSN: 2394 – 3726
ISSN: 2394 - 3726 Int. J. Phar. & Biomedi. Rese. 2016, 3 (1): 19-20 Review Article
Implantation of Microchip in Animals: A Review Raheeqa Razvi1, Parveez Ahmad Para2 and Subha Ganguly3* 1
Teaching Associate, Department of Veterinary Anatomy, PGIVER, Jaipur - 302020, Rajasthan, India 2 Assistant Professor, Department of Livestock Products Technology, 3 Associate Professor, Department of Veterinary Microbiology, Arawali Veterinary College (Affiliated with Rajasthan University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Bikaner) N.H. – 52 Jaipur Road, V.P.O. Bajor, Dist. Sikar, Pin - 332001, Rajasthan, India *Corresponding Author E-mail:
[email protected] Received: 12.02.2016 | Revised: 18.02.2016 | Accepted: 26.02.2016
ABSTRACT A microchip is an identifying integrated circuit implanted under the skin of an animal. To protect the pets, many pet owners turn to high technology by implanting the identification microchips in their pets. The present review highlights on the various aspects and veterinary directives for the use of such microchip in animals. Keywords: Animal, Identification, Implantation, Microchip
INTRODUCTION Implanting the animal with microchip is not enough until the animal is being registered with the microchip company. Microchips are being implanted by the veterinarian by injecting the chip with a syringe and as such no anesthesia is required. The chip’s unique identification number is recorded. An enrollment form is completed with the chip ID, owners contact information, pet/animal name and description, veterinarian contact information and an alternate emergency contact designated by the animal owner. The owner receives a registration certificate with the chip ID and recovery service contact information. The certificate serves as a proof of ownership and is transferred with the animal if sold or traded [1]. Components of microchip A microchip is of very small size (about the size of rice grain) and in it several components are incorporated. First component is biocompatible glass material that encapsulates the device. Today, the modified version of microchip which include a cap made of polypropylene polymer to Copyright © February, 2016; IJPBR
keep the chip from moving around once it is inside the animal. The polymer works by encouraging connective tissue and other kinds of cells to form around the capsule to hold it in place. Beneath the biocompatible glass, is the actual silicon microchip (that holds the important information), tuning capacitor and an antenna coil. The capacitor receives power and sends it to the microchip. The microchip’s information can then be picked through the antenna which is a copper coil over ferrite core [2]. How microchip works The microchip implant uses passive radio frequency identification technology (RFID) and is also known as PIT tag (for passive integrated transponder). Microchips has no internal power source and needs the external reader or scanner (also known as interrogator) to energize and read it. When the scanner is set to the correct frequency, the microchip gets interrogate the capacitor with electromagnetic power. When energized, the microchip capsule sends radio signals back to scanner with the identification 19
Raheeqa Razvi et al
Int. J. Phar. & Biomedi. Rese. 2016, 3 (1): 19-20
number. The scanner then interprets the radio waves and displays the identification number on a liquid crystal display screen (LCD). Competing microchip companies use different frequencies to send signals to scanner and this creates problem if a pet had a microchip that a particular scanner couldn’t detect. There was no universal scanner that could read all the frequencies. But now many microchip companies manufacture universal scanners which are able to detect the microchips of very wide frequencies [3,5]. Externally attached microchips such as RFID ear tags are commonly used to identify farm and ranch animals. Some external microchip scan be read with the same scanner used with implanted chips [3]. Implant location of microchips Microchip implantation is common in dogs and cats. In Israel its mandatory in dogs. In cats and dogs, the chips are very usually inserted below the skin at the back of the neck between the shoulder blades on the dorsal midline. The chip can be felt under the skin. In case of horses these chips are implanted on the left side of neck, halfway between the poll and withers and approximately one inch below the midline of the mane, into the nuchal ligament. Implantation of chips in birds is done in their breast muscle. Many other animal species have been microchipped including pigs, deer, elephants, mice, bears tortoises, snakes an, penguins etc [4, 5].
Copyright © February, 2016; IJPBR
ISSN: 2394 – 3726
CONCLUSION In case of pets it is very usually done for their safety in case they are lost. [5] In some advanced animals farm the microchipping is done to maintain dairy and health record of their animals. During natural disasters it becomes easy to trace the microchipped animals. Implantation of microchip is nowadays very common in wild animals to trace their location during rescue, to record their census and vaccination schedule also [2].
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