MYTH: Will your RFID Implant Explode During an MRI?

As seen in “MythBusters: Viewer Special II. Pet Radio Frequency Identification Devices, aka RFIDs, are tiny metallic microchips encoded with the owner’s contact information and possibly the pet’s medical history. If your dog gets lost, a veterinarian can wave a radio wave scanner across the implantation site and access the microchip’s information. Humans can also get RFID implants, which would typically contain personal medical information, such as blood type, allergies and disease history. The tech could be a handy tool for doctors, but MythBusters fans have worried that if someone undergoes an MRI scan, the machine’s powerful magnetic waves might rip the metallic chip out of the skin or cause it to explode. MythBuster Kari Byron agreed to take one for the team by getting an FDA-approved RFID tag implanted in her arm and sliding into an MRI machine.Find out what happened.Learn more from the Discovery Channel’s MythBusters.