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Microchip Could Replace Pills
webhat writes "BBC News reports in an article that a microchip implanted in your body may be the end of swallowing pills. A microchip of a centimeter long was created with a sandwich coating of a drug (heparin) and a slow biodegrading polymer. As the polymer layer degrades the drug is released into the system."
I wonder if the microchip catches a virus what THAT does -- could be lethal, right?
The only problem would be that if it stuffed up, you could get an instant overdose :(
Really, the way this is being implimented, how is it exactly different from pills anyway?
BBC News reports in an article that a microchip implanted in your body may be the end of swallowing pills.
Finally! The last obstacle to the ascendance of human race to a godlike status, namely, swallowing pills, is conquered. This is indeed a great day to be alive!
Save your wrists today - switch to Dvorak
Upgrades.
"To lead the people, you must walk behind them"
The different types of polymer degrade at different rates, but what we do not have here is polymers activated by some kind of electronic pulse that is controlled by some mini operating system / timer chip. This is just clever dissolving stuff, not some mini robot or electronic activation of dose release.
They're just using the word 'microchip' in the same way you might advertise microchips as fries that you can cook in your microwave oven. Bah!
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Ugh. The article is incredibly terse and glosses right over internal trauma. Sure, if all is peachy-perfect, but what happens when you're in an accident and your little chip gets smashed in the process, instantly releasing the entire contained dosages into your bloodstream. Simply fabulous. You'd think people would have learned from silicon, and even from the occasional problems with the in-your-arm-time-release-birth-control products. Is anyone really willing to make these tradeoffs? [Sure, go ahead, argue that this could be useful for non-trivial drugs for which massive dosages wouldn't matter.....if there is a drug you /should/ be taking every day, there should also be a lifestyle change that should reflect that....]
disclaimer: both my parents are pharmacists. i read too much of their continuing ed crud.
When in doubt, parenthesize. At the very least it will let some poor schmuck bounce on the % key in vi. (Larry Wall)
Where is the microchip? This sounds just like a typical retarded-release pill.
BOO! TERRO
Unless I'm really missing something here, I fail to see how this qualifies as a microchip in the sense that we commonly refer to it as.
Didn't they have something like this before but for Birth Control pills? And where does the 'Microchip' come in? It seems like the polymer does all the work adjusting the dosage by
slowly biodegrading..
Anyways, I'd rather swallow pills than have a Microchip stuck into my body. While this could be very useful for people using addictive drugs like Morphine (the 'patient' would always have the same dosage, and wouldn't be able to do more than their normal dose), I don't know if it would catch on for other medications.
do they run Linux?
Whats the difference, the person will still get the correct dosage of the drug with a normal pill, and they wont even have to swalllow a centimeter long microchip :|
i think this could be very useful in applying birth control drugs...
--Slashdot readers delight in generalizing the behavior of other Slashdot readers.
I should have read the article before the comments.
This microchip isn't an electronic device but a slow dissolving container for medicines.
I still fail to understant why theu used the word "microchip", though.
Sorry for the misleading parent post anyway.
The body is not a 'static problem', but a 'dynamic process'. (Okay, no kill -9 jokes, please).A microchip, despite all the possible intelligence, does not take into account that the body is (rather should be) capable of taking care of itself. -
If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
So, you have to get this thing implanted in your body in order for it to release the stuff into your bloodstream... So, what's the advantage of having this thing instead of, say, a dermal patch? (Besides not having a patch on your body...)
Seems to me that this thing would be quite annoying. You'd have to make sure you didn't fall on it, you'd have to go through the initial pain of getting it in there, etc. Why?
-- Dr. Eldarion --
i think this could be very useful in applying birth control drugs...
Translation: I have sired several illegitimate children.
But really? How long until you can mod stories?
Your credit card information wants to be free.
When I read microchip, I thought computer controlled release too, but as it is actually a small wafer build up of layers of polymer and whatever drug, in a similar way to what you might call a `real' microchip. I think you can use it.
I very much doubt your potato chips are created in that way.
'I am become Shiva, destroyer of worlds'
This could be extremely useful in treating AIDS and tuberculosis in the 3rd world. Apart from the problems of many 3rd world people in ensuring that drugs are taken continuously, there is the risk that they will sell drugs or have them stolen by other sufferers who are not being treated. I do not know how dosage would stack up against feasibility, but the principle looks sound. There's also the possibility of slowly releasing chemotherapy right into tumors.
Obviously any new technology is going to have risks, but if people are going to die of something without treatment, and existing means of delivery are unreliable or worse, surely this has to be worth pursuing.
Panurge has posted for the last time. Thanks for the positive moderations.
How is that a microchip? It's just slowly degrading polymer with drugs in it. Well, I may have misunderstood the definition of a microchip, but I figured that you'd need some sort of electrical binary logic processing going on for you to be able to call your piece of hardware an actual "microchip".
Jag pratar lite svenska.
While this particular device may not be what I'm thinking, I've long assumed that government prohibitions against drugs will eventually be made irrelevant by similar technologies.
So much of the furor over "drug abuse" is truly about drug dosage and unhygenic methods of taking them.
The whole argument against, for instance, coke, heroin and amphetamines becomes quite different when you take out overdoses, needles and high temperature pipes.
At that point you're left arguing against euphoria from the obviously puritanical moral position that really does underlie many people's attitude's towards drug use. But, while those people will remain, by getting separating off the social evils of bad hygeine, dangerous paraphenalia and the medical compications of overdose, it should be much easier to win the majority over to the side of free choice.
But it's not really going to be necessary to win people over, because just as the next generation of doage devices are maturing, so are micro labs. Chemical engineering is seeing a huge revolution in on-chip synthesis. It's obviously just a matter of time before illicit drug labs on-a-chip make their way into the consumer market. And coupled with new dosage devices, that's a good thing as far as I'm concerned.
It may be the only way to knock out the money element in the drugs trade which I personally feel is the single greatest source of damage and destruction to human life in the whole prohibition game.
Rush! They let you out of rehab already? Great to have you back.
I don't know about you, but I'm not up to swallowing a Plll! One of those VIA nano-BGA C3's maybe. Anyhow, Plll's are obsolete now.
return 0; }
I very much doubt your potato chips are created in that way.
Aww man, I was going to try and get on Slashdot's main page with my revolutionary home brewed micro potato chips.
http://use.perl.org
I remember watching this very same concept on the anime series Serial Experiments Lain, but there, the microchip was actually a powerful drug sought after in the black market.
I believe this is an accurate view of the future, because patients could automatically follow a doctor's prescription using a microchip like this.
I myself have been yelled at several times by my doctor for not taking my medication on time, and I bet drug addicts would die to have something that takes care for them getting their dose and not having to hide in the bathroom or try to sneak prohibited stuff inside a disco.
OTOH, it also has potential for drug screening, because the microchip could be used to detect the presence of certain drugs in the bloodstream and trigger an alarm.
By the way, you can see a summary of the mentioned Lain episode here.
- Otaku no naka no otaku, otaking da!!!
re implanted heparin, well if the person had a haemorrhagic stroke or ended up somehow bleeding (eg. accident/injury) things will be a lot harder to control. Especially, if the impact of an accident dislodges and damages this device causing an unintentional infusion - making 'em bleed further.
btw, what would you choose, a pill you need to take regularly or have an injection with a reasonable sized needle.. humm.. maybe i'm just needle phobic
n yeah, the use of the microchip is poorly explained, wonder if it can alter the dosage delivered or even better monitor the coagulability (APTT) of the patients blood and accordingly alter the dosage - that would be cool!
So, how do you get it out if you have a reaction to the medication? Vomit? No, then Xacto or Dremel?
Let's be real -- the artical talks about HIV treatments and the like, but I can imagine this chip being a _lot_ more expensive than standard gel caps or pressed pills. I don't see African countries shelling out for this, when even standard medication is a blue sky concept for them (about the only thing they have plenty of).
Medicine is damn expensive, and maybe I'm overly cynical, but I can't see the big pharmaceutical companies getting all altruistic on us any time in the foreseeable future.
--
Rare Window - free your photos
just imagine what would happen if you'd use one of these babies to fuel our caffeine addiction
... real life viruses, worms and such, huh?
I hope they are not full of spikes.
this reminds me of Seria Experiments Lain... :P, so I dont trully know if the chip is swallowed, but given its coated with some sort of drig, what are the chances?
And I thought to myself, "what? swallow a chip?"...
well, I must admint I havent read the article
Anyway, "anyone knows what OS will it be running?"
errera hunamum ets
Neo, you can take the red microchip or the blue microchip...
Just doesn't have the same ring to it.
But seriously, this could be an interesting breakthrough provided the technology is stable. Having a delivery problem could be deadly. While it would be beneficial to chronically ill people that would otherwise be forced to take pills for the rest of their lives, I think they need to improve on the 140 day dose limit. Depending on the invasiveness of the procedure, having to do it every 4 to 5 months could be though of as annoying. I think if they could get it up to a year, it would be much easier to except. And the next drug tested for this delivery system should be...Viagra!
--
Luck is just skill you didn't know you had.
I checked out the Nature Materials website and found this abstract that has the same info as the article. Apparently the author was as cheap as I am and didn't fork over the $30 US to see the full text.
ERROR-1341: Error supplying stroke dossage, not enough memory, please consult your nearest vendor.
The lunatic is in my head
You mean I donned my tinfoil hat for nothing? There goes my 'govt using microchips in our body to track us' post. Damn you, Auntie Beeb!
Would this be usable on someone who gets heartburn a lot? Would too much stomach acid would release too much of the drug too early?
I don't understand why people have such a problem just taking a pill everyday. I worked at a hospital for a while, and it was insane how often people would simply forget to take their pills. And I'm not talking about the confused or the elderly here, these were people quite healthy in mind, if not in body. And so often they would just skip a day or three, and then get upset at 'us' because they were suddenly feeling bad. If reaching out ones arm, opening a bottle, and putting the tablet in ones mouth is too much work to stay alive, than I have little sympathy at this point.
How exactly would you end overdoses with time release pills? If one pill releases x amount per hour, 10 pills releases 10x. If you can put the drug in your body, you can overdose.
Besides, hygene and dosage pale in comparison to the fact that coke and heroin are massively addictive and suck people into a spiral of poverty and crime. That's a little worse than some holes in the arm.
I can see what the spammers will do with this:
"Satisfy her with your 20" king kong schlong with a the new PEN1S C,HIP!!. No need to take pills. Also works as hair restorer and lets you play "backups" on your PlayStation 3".
I was confused briefly until I read the body text... I thought the P4 replaced the PiII a while ago.
You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
...That microchip pill will be the perfect match for this damn robot in my tooth.
Wise men say, "Forgiveness is divine, but never pay full price for late pizza."
Scientists at [Research organization] have found a new way to do [common task]! Could this spell the end of [age-old solution]? [Age-old solution] is dead!
What does this translate to? Maybe 5 or 10 years from now we'll start to see this being taken seriously by doctors. In 15 years it may be common practice in isolated situations. Our society doesn't move anywhere near as fast as technological innovation, and it never has.
-3Suns
~~~~
The Revolution will be Slashdotted
Can you just imagine what could be done here. Let's be honest though, anything this good will immediately be taken over by the high-profit sector of medicine (just like the smut peddlers took over the web). The first application will be viagra knock-offs. The man could program it to dump everyday when he gets home, the woman could restrict it to once every other weekend. This could be the ultimate battle for the remote.
How Microsoft got into this I can't figure unless the poster is hoping to get modded up on MS bashing. Face it, Microsoft woouldn't want the liability. After all, a crash on one of these things gives "blue screen of death" a whole new meaning.
It doesn't matter what you wrap your emotions around, Reality is a brick wall specifically designed to scramble eggs
Mind you, I'm not one of those nuts who thinks all pills are bad. They have their applications. I'm just sick of doctors looking at every problem as something to be medicated. It's understandable, what with the big PharmaCorps out there pushing their particular products, but it leads to the classic single-solution problem: when all you have is a hammer, all problems start to look like nails.
If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
a minor surgery to clear up an infection rather than just having to remember to take a pill 3 times a day.
I am the Alpha and the Omega-3
It is a microchip, it's just not a microprocessor.
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Africa and HIV can seem like a far away threat to justify such an expense when there's street people that could infect you with TB just a block away from you...
Information: "I want to be anthropomorphized"
This would work well for me, since I'm allergic to both the corn and the rice that most pill casings are made out of. ^_^.
Isn't one of the big problems with new strains of diseases is that folks don't finish their drug regimen thus increasing the probability of a drug-resistant version?
This could really help out. I think to a certain point saying "finish your meds" is the same as "say no to drugs". Yeah it's easy to say but difficult in practice. If you're bed-bound at home with a 102 fever, it isn't hard to remember to take your pill every 6 hours. But once you're better, back at work, and trying to make up for the sick leave? I think people severely overestimate their own internal timekeeping.
What is music when you despise all sound?
...ugh...need coffee...
---- It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again. It does this whenever it's told.
Isn't this effectively just a new Norplant?
Phat Tony.
Can anyone tell me how to set my sig on Slashdot?
From what I can tell from the article (and IANAD) it is not a COMPUTER chip, bu merely some little 1cm long "thingy" that is little more than a retarded release medication pill that is directly in contact with the blood. I can imagine all sorts of complications, including overdoses.
That said, I'm waiting for the day when we can GET RID of traditional medications and all their side effects that can be worse than the original problem being treated at times. I suspect that the answer is somewhere in a mix between nano-machines that actually monitor various conditions of the body, and much more natural medications (not synthetic drugs) which tend to have less side effects. (Atleast less drastic ones.)
A microchip... *IMPLANTED* in your body?
Taking pills is easier... it's already painless, and the so called "human error" factor generally isn't *THAT* bad.
Now these guys are talking about taking a system that, imperfect though it may be, and introducing what would clearly be a delicate surgery into the equation. Not to mention that either this surgery would have to be repeated with each prescription refill or else plugs would have to be attached to our bodies for convient external access.
Or is anyone here so naive as to think that different drug manufacturers would standardize, and all use the exact same external access device? No... a person who is taking a variety of meds could have a socket for each different drug they take... resembling what Neo, Morpheus, and the others looked like in the real worled in The Matrix.
Are we really in that much of a hurry to become borg?
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
How many thousand articles have random morons posted to slashdot about things like this?
Now how many of those things have become reality?
None.
A whole new way of poisoning someone!
-- Jim Crigler In 1937, I began, like Lazarus, the impossible return. -- Whittaker Chambers
I'd rather swallow the pill. Heck, I'd rather get a shot.
unless its a sign of Armageddon!!!
I believe this is may be done using MEMS (micro electro mechanical systems) for drug delivery.. Kurt Petersen (who published one of the first papers on the subject) is part of the company who develop similar products.. [Cepheid.com] Also [IVT Technologies]
Polymer Drug Sandwich. *drool*
A healthy lifestyle may one day replace synthetic drugs altogether.
Western medicine continues to look for new ways of solving problems with drugs, instead of targeting the sources of those problems. Well, I guess that will continue until it ceases being profitable.
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The Christians are all shouting "Its the mark! The end is near!"
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This isn't some sort of big pump to be implanted in the chest cavity to deliver drugs, it's a small (half-inch across, half-mm thick in the current form) wafer that could go under the skin. (Tell me, do you consider the *implants* that release birth control hormones to be "surgery"? This is very similar, except that it's dose-based delivery rather than a constant level.) Of course you know this, since of course you read the BBC report and the original article before condemning it sight unseen. (That is, again, assuming you're not just a karma whore.)
What's somewhat more ridiculous is automatically opposing new concepts/technologies simply because they tend to blur previous distinctions or defy easy categorization. But I guess it'll make life simpler for you to understand, so what does that matter?
But I for one am thoroughly disgusted by you and other wilfully-close-minded opponents of this.
(And no, I don't think it'll solve all the world's problems either, even with the kinks worked out, but it's an interesting new application and it does sound like it's got exciting possibilities for providing medication in ways that really do patients good.)
Of monitoring all your movements and intake of chemicals, so it can be reported back the next time you walk past a street post.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
If you want the drug delivered to your stomache or duodenum, then I guess this works. But it's hardly optimal.
My company is working with "contrast destruction agents", which is a way to use ultrasound to precisely deliver an agent to the heart at a precise time. The agent (drug) is encapsulated in microscopic bubbles that get disintegrated at a specific ultrasound frequency. Target the area with ultrasound, press a button to briefly change the frequency, and you get delivery where you want it. Apply this same technology to chemotherapy and you have an amazing innovation in cancer treatment. The process already out there, and once the research and approval hurdles are met, it will become a routine application in many areas of medicine.
Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
If it needs to be installed by a professional, and it does, then it's surgery. It becomes slightly more dangerous and MUCH more expensive.
Medical care is expensive enough without needing surgery every time I have some minor infection or somesuch.
Sure, I'll bite. I'm all for free choice.
If you came up with a way that you could spend your days sitting around your apartment doing heroin without any threat of spreading disease, without harming yourself such that you became a burden on the health system, without supporting underground economies that funnel money into much worse things than drugs, then I guess I might run out of reasons why such drugs should be regulated.
But you'd still be a loser. And the worst kind of arch-materialist, I might add. True "euphoria" does not come from a product you buy.
Breakfast served all day!
Are you one of my patients? (g)
I would call you a troll... but your latest 18 replies have yielded no moderation and only 4 replies. You comments appear to be not interesting at best.
Anyway, to defend my position... Implants are more dangerous than pills. Inability to take various medicines orally is more dangerous than implants for many medical conditions. No one is suggesting this will replace oral medications.
Options are good.
so if you dont feel good with the chip , you have to break it off your body ?
Opposition does not mean closed mindedness, actually Opposition can lead to a discussion that leads to an improvement or working the kinks out. IF you want to reply on /. and get touchy with any opposition you recieve then why...? Being an A.C. doesent help your solidify your argument much either. so fish or cut bait.
I eat my grapes at room temperature, cuz the cold ones hurt my teeth
Um, hello, a centimeter hardly qualifies as micro. No thanks, pass me the pill and call me when the chip is one millimeter on a side.