Jam a Microchip Under Your Skin and Never Forget to Take Your Medication Again

You know it happens, you travel somewhere and forget to take your medication or maybe it’s been such a busy day that you simply forget. Well, scientists have now figured out a way to make sure you get the proper dosage of medication without fail — a microchip.

Roughly fifteen years ago, MIT  began developing a wirelessly controlled device that would release medication at preset times via a microchip that is implanted just under the skin’s surface. This breakthrough technology has long been sought after, and the lucky company that received the licensing for this project is microCHIPS (very creative).

The microchip is only a few centimeters long and is broken up into 20 compartments each holding around 600 nano-liters of drug solution. Each compartment has a thin, titanium or platinum coating that is burned away with an electrical current when the dose needs to be released. The exact amount and timing of the dosage is controlled by the patient’s physician and can be reprogrammed wirelessly through a computer or even a cell phone.

Eight women who take osteoporosis injections tested the device this past February and results showed the implant worked just as effectively as the traditional needle injections patients self-administered and was far more accurate in the dosing than those administered by the patients. The implant operation itself only lasted less than 30 minutes with no pain, while treatments for osteoporosis tend to be very painful and inconvenient. In fact, only around 25 percent of patients go through the entire 24 month standard treatment.

Although the current model only allows for 20 doses, the researchers at microCHIPS are working on a device that will hold an entire year’s worth of medication, though it probably won’t be ready for another four years.

This technology is definitely sought after, however it is still in its infancy. Out of the eight implants, one of the devices did not work at all, which could be crucial for patients that need a regular dose of medication like diabetics. Other issues include overdosing a patient. Some malfunction could burn all of the titanium backings releasing an entire month’s full of medication. There is definitely much more testing necessary until the device is fully utilized and marketable, however the company plans on filing for regulatory approval for its first microchip device in 2014.