Systems and methods for printing radiopaque inks

A method of printing radiopaque ink compositions on substrates, the method comprising:

• providing an ink printing device comprising:
• a cartridge containing a radiopaque ink composition, the radiopaque ink composition comprising one of:
• i) a polymer matrix having an average molecular weight of from about 1,000 g/mol to about 50,000 g/mol, and a radiopaque compound dispersed within the polymer matrix, the radiopaque compound comprising one or more elements having an atomic number of 53 or greater in an amount effective to render the ink composition radiopaque;
• and
• ii) a plurality of nanoparticles having an average diameter from about 5 nm to about 300 nm suspended in a solvent, each nanoparticle comprising at least 50,000 atoms having an atomic number of 53 or greater, wherein the plurality of nanoparticles are present in the solvent in an amount effective to render the ink composition radiopaque;
• receiving, by a control circuit, an object identifier;
• selecting, by the control circuit, one or more printing parameters;
• and
• causing, by the control circuit, the ink printing device to deposit the radiopaque ink composition on a substrate using the selected one or more printing parameters to form on the substrate a machine-readable code associated with the object identifier.

A system for printing radiopaque ink compositions on substrates, the system comprising:

• a substrate;
• an ink printing device comprising a cartridge containing a radiopaque ink composition;
• a control circuit communicatively coupled to the ink printing device, the control circuit configured to:
• receive an object identifier to identify a product for commercial sale;
• select one or more printing parameters;
• and
• cause the ink printing device to deposit the radiopaque ink composition on the substrate using the selected one or more printing parameters to form on the substrate a machine-readable code associated with the object identifier;
• and
• the product for commercial sale having the substrate applied thereto and configured for storage in a retail facility.