10Meters News Service

April 4, 2002 – VeriChip has been given an official green light to begin selling its implantable human microchip in the United States.

The Palm Beach, Fla., company yesterday announced that it had received "written guidance" from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that the chip is not considered a "regulated medical device."

The designation clears the way for the company to begin marketing, distributing and selling the rice-sized chip for use in a "variety of security, emergency and healthcare applications," the company said.

"Since we introduced VeriChip to the world in December, it has received global recognition as life-enhancing technology. This favorable FDA guidance was a major goal of Applied's new management team. It has been accomplished. We can now begin to sell, market and distribute VeriChip in the United States," said Scott R. Silverman, president of Applied Digital Solutions.

VeriChip was launched as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Applied Digital Solutions on February 7.

VeriChip chip vs. a Dime

The chip is a miniaturized radio frequency identification device (RFID) that can be embedded with a unique identification number and other critical data about the wearer. Requiring only local anesthesia and a tiny incision, it can be inserted in an outpatient setting.

The data on the chip is retrieved through an external scanner. It works by allowing a small amount of radio frequency energy to pass through the skin and "energize" the dormant VeriChip. The chip emits a radio frequency signal that transmits the verification number. It then utilizes radio frequencies to transmit the information for display on the scanner.

Data can also be transmitted via the telephone or the Internet to an FDA-compliant data-storage site.

VeriChip made news in February when it challenged Andy Rooney, the curmudgeonly commentator on TV's "60 Minutes" news magazine, to "chip" his words.

Rooney quipped during his segment on the February 10 show that he would be willing to have a chip implanted under his skin, if that would help speed up and assure security at airports.

"We need some system for permanently identifying safe people. Most of us are never going to blow anything up and there's got to be something better than one of these photo Ids," Rooney said. "I wouldn't mind having something planted permanently in my arm that would identify me."

Applied Digital Solutions responded the next day by inviting Rooney to "join a select group of people to get chipped."

A family in Boca Raton, Florida, had contacted Applied Digital Solutions in December to volunteer as chip "guinea pigs."

Digital Angel, a St. Paul, Minnesota company that produces Global Positioning System (GPS) devices – including a pager and two wristwatch models for children and adults – is also a wholly-owned subsidiary of Applied Digital Solutions. (See "A 'Digital Angel' for Troubling Times.")

For more information, visit Applied Digital Solutions at http://www.adsx.com/.