![horse owner using a hand reader to check a horses microchip and vital signs](https://www.merck-animal-health-usa.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/54/2021/10/Equine-Identification-microchips.jpg)
Equine
Identification
THE MICROCHIP FAMILY OF PRODUCTS FOR YOUR HORSES
![](https://www.merck-animal-health-usa.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/54/2024/04/Bio-Thermo®-Microchips-for-Horses-product-box.png)
Bio-Thermo®
Microchips for Horses
Bio-Thermo microchips contain a patented built-in temperature biosensor1 and are therefore able to measure a horse’s temperature at the implantation site. It is an easy, safe, and quick alternative method of taking multiple temperature measurements.
Bio-Thermo microchips2,3 are Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) systems which offer unique and unalterable identification for horses. The microchip is a passive transponder, each about the size of a grain of rice, programmed with a unique 15-digit identification number compatible with ISO Standards 11784 and 11785.
Key Structural and Identification Features Include:
- Microchips are pre-loaded in syringes with an easy to inject 12-gauge needle inside a sterile pouch
- Each Bio-Thermo microchip is capped with a polymer sheath on one end called BioBond®, which can help keep the microchip from migrating by favoring tissue adhesion
- The 15-digit identification number can be read by universal or ISO compliant readers
- Microchip temperatures from Bio-Thermo microchips can be read by our universal scanners Global Pocket Reader™ Plus (GPR+) or the HomeAgain® microchip readers
- When used in conjunction with the EquiTrace® app, temperatures can be quickly recorded and monitored in an easy to read chart located directly within the app
![](https://www.merck-animal-health-usa.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/54/2024/04/LifeChip®-Microchips-for-Equines-product-box.png)
LifeChip®
Microchips for Horses
LifeChip microchips are Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) systems which offer unique and unalterable identification for horses. The microchip is a passive transponder, each about the size of a grain of rice, programmed with a unique 15-digit identification number compatible with ISO Standards 11784 and 11785.
Key Structural and Identification Features Include:
- Microchips are pre-loaded in syringes with an easy to inject 12-gauge needle inside a sterile pouch
- Each LifeChip microchip is capped with a polymer sheath on one end called BioBond®, which can help keep the microchip from migrating by favoring tissue adhesion
- The 15-digit identification number can be read by universal or ISO compliant readers, including the Global Pocket Reader™ Plus (GPR+) and the HomeAgain® microchip readers
![GPR+ handheld microchip scanner](https://www.merck-animal-health-usa.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/54/2022/01/Global-Pocket-Reader-Plus-01.jpg)
Neoprene cover with convenient zipper (shown in image)
sold separately from GPR+ scanner
Global Pocket Reader™ Plus (GPR+)
Microchip Scanner for Horses
The Global Pocket Reader Plus (GPR+) is an ISO compliant universal microchip scanner for horses. It is able to read and store up to 3,000 unique microchip identification numbers and displays and stores microchip temperatures when reading Bio-Thermo® microchips4. The GPR+ scanner is compatible with the EquiTrace® app, and when used in conjunction, syncs microchip numbers. When used with the Bio-Thermo microchips, temperatures are also displayed in the app.
![EquiTrace App on mobile phone](https://www.merck-animal-health-usa.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/54/2021/10/EquiTrace-app-on-mobile.png)
EquiTrace®
EquiTrace is a horse health management app that is designed to link a microchip scanner to a smartphone, providing a complete monitoring and recording system for veterinary practices or farm managers. This allows the entire horse care team to securely update and access each horse’s health information in one convenient location.
The app works in conjunction with Merck Animal Health’s Bio-Thermo® microchips, allowing horse care professionals to instantly read, graph, and monitor a horse’s temperature. The app gives users complete control of horse health data in a method that can never be lost. When treatments, vaccines, or dentals are carried out for the horse, they can immediately be recorded within the app, allowing a horse’s management team to access, update, or simply view while on the farm or traveling.
The EquiTrace app works with the Global Pocket Reader™ Plus (GPR+) and the HomeAgain® UWSR+ microchip readers. The app will work with ISO5, 15-digit standard microchips used in horses.
For more information about the EquiTrace app, please visit www.equitrace.app.
Resources
Learn more about the updated line of microchip products
Refences:
1. For patent information: www.merck.com/product/patent/home.html
2. Auclair-Ronzaud, J. et al. 2020. No-Contact Microchip Monitoring of Body Temperature in Yearling Horses. J Equine Vet Sci. March 2020: 86(0): 102892.
3. Kang, H. et al. 2020. The Use of Percutaneous Thermal Sensing Microchips for Body Temperature Measurements in Horses Prior to, during and after Treadmill Exercise. Animals 2020, 10, 2274.5
4. Display temperature range: 91.4*F to 109.4*F. If the temperature is below or above this range, scanners will display “TEMP BELOW RANGE” or ‘TEMP ABOVE RANGE”.
5. ISO microchips comply with the international standards 11784 and 11785.