Radiopaque ink formulations containing nanoparticles and uses thereof

A system for identifying an object, the system comprising:

• an object having disposed thereon an identifying marking formed of a radiopaque ink composition, the radiopaque ink composition comprising:
• a solvent;
• and
• a plurality of nanoparticles having an average diameter from about 5 nm to about 300 nm suspended in the 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;
• a radiographic imaging device configured to irradiate an object with x-ray radiation and detect reflected x-ray radiation;
• a display device;
• and
• a control circuit communicatively coupled to the radiographic imaging device, and the display device via a network, the control circuit configured to:
• cause the radiographic imaging device to irradiate the object;
• receive, from the radiographic imaging device, image data associated with the object;
• process the image data to generate an x-ray image based on detected x-ray radiation, wherein the x-ray image shows the identifying marking of the object;
• cause the display device to display the x-ray image showing the identifying marking of the object;
• and
• identify the object based on the identifying marking of the object shown in the x-ray image.

A method of identifying an object, the method comprising:

• causing, by a control circuit, a radiographic imaging device to irradiate an object with x-ray radiation and detect reflected x-ray radiation, the object having disposed thereon an identifying marking formed of a radiopaque ink composition, the radiopaque ink composition comprising:
• a solvent;
• and
• a plurality of nanoparticles having an average diameter from about 5 nm to about 300 nm suspended in the 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 the control circuit from the radiographic imaging device, image data associated with the object;
• processing, by the control circuit, the image data to produce an x-ray image, wherein the x-ray image shows the identifying marking of the object;
• causing, by the control circuit, a display device to display the x-ray image showing the identifying marking of the object;
• and
• identifying, by the control circuit, the object based on the identifying marking of the object shown in the x-ray image.