Tech | February 18, 2012 | 44 comments

No more injections: implantable microchip delivers drugs

source: http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/rethinking-healthcare/no-more-injections-implantable-microch...

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FreeSpiritMuse
A clinical trial composed of Danish women with the bone disease osteoporosis is the first to test a wirelessly controlled microchip that can release drugs into the body at any time.

Patients can release medication with the push of a remote-controlled button, ditching their daily injection pens.

These results represent the first successful test of such a device and could help usher in a new era of telemedicine – delivering health care over a distance, says coauthor Robert Langer of MIT. “You could literally have a pharmacy on a chip,” he adds. (Pictured, flash drive for scale.)

The implant would keep patients on their meds – especially because osteoporosis is a ‘silent’ disease and people don’t feel worse as their bone density decreases. “This avoids the compliance issue completely,” says coauthor Michael Cima of MIT, “and points to a future where you have fully automated drug regimens.”

The tech could be ideal for treating conditions that require regular pulses of medication, including pain, infertility, multiple sclerosis, and perhaps even diabetes, LA Times reports. The tech also allows doctors to adjust medication using a computer or smartphone.

About 15 years ago, Langer and Cima created a device that holds daily doses of a drug inside tiny wells that pop open either on a pre-programmed schedule or via a wireless signal. But once implanted into animals, a fibrous collagen-based membrane would develop around the device.

In this trial, the team of academic and industry researchers – led by Robert Farra of MicroCHIPS , along with Langer and Cima – wanted to see if the membrane actually slowed down the absorption of the medication.

They implanted the chip (pictured, right) just below the waistline of 7 women between the ages of 65 and 70. This half hour procedure was performed in a doctor’s office with local anesthetic.

The women received daily doses of the bone-forming drug teriparatide, individually sealed in tiny reservoirs about the size of a pinprick. The reservoirs are capped with a thin layer of platinum and titanium that melts when a small electrical current is applied, releasing the drug inside.

The devices were tracked for 12 months.

They showed how the drug was delivered as effectively as daily injections – even with the fibrous membrane around the device. The treatment improved bone formation and reduced the risk of bone fracture.

Massachusetts-based MicroCHIPS is currently developing new designs that have enough reservoirs for a year’s supply of doses. The company hopes to make the device available for mainstream use in 5 years.

The work was published in Science Translational Medicine yesterday. Via AAAS, MIT, and Nature

http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/rethinking-healthcare/no-more-injections-implant...
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44 comments // No more injections: implantable microchip delivers drugs

  • MotherForTruth
  • circlesquared
  • nikonwilly
    • +3
      nikonwilly  

    • I can not for the life of me understand how this has any beneficial capabilities for the patient. Is taking medication the normal way now so difficult we need a chip implant ? Throat surgery maybe...if you couldn't swallow.
      I fear this is just another guise towards chipping humans for future control.

    • 3 months ago
  • FreeSpiritMuse
    • +2
      FreeSpiritMuse  
    • nikonwilly:

      I agree and I also see it as a means to prey on those who are suffering and want to improve their quality of life. Too many questions come to mind. It's invasive, what if you have an allergic reaction to the medicine, what if it becomes unstable, if you are injured could it leak and administer a fatal dose, what if you need different medication, will you need another surgery, what if your body rejects this implant, what if other organs are affected by it, can it cause cancer and if it did would you even tell me?

    • 3 months ago
  • JanforGore
    • +6
      JanforGore  

    • The antithesis to personal freedom. God forbid we work on actually curing diseases. It's much more lucrative to keep people sick and in slavery.

    • 3 months ago
  • circlesquared
  • FreeSpiritMuse
  • CreditFigaro
  • bailey78
    • +3
      bailey78  

    • Nope this is Bad MoJo. They start chipping us and we have no where to hide. Get close to a WiFi port and they could pinpoint ya People that believe this to be a good idea have already drank the Kool-Aid This gives the Government way to much control over us.

    • 3 months ago
  • Debra_
    • -5
      Debra_  

    • Many wondrous things can come from this. Public Health, Public Convenience, Public Safety. Children should be required to get microchips to make sure they get the appropriate vaccines and don't threaten public health by missing vaccination appointments . The children's health records could be contained right on the implant and made immediately available to healthcare providers when the child has a medical emergency. Instead of having to give your child a credit card that they can easily lose, you could just transfer credits right to the child's chip. You'll never again have to worry about them not having their lunch money and going hungry. Most importantly, the chip could also be used to quickly track the whereabouts of an absent child to protect them from a world overwhelmed with child predators.

      It seems that almost everyday now I am encouraged and inspired by developments like this that bring the world even closer to a true light. Just like personal computers,(PC), Personal Micro chips within your person (PMC) will be the foundation of a new world of peace, order, and civility.

    • 3 months ago
  • KB723
  • Debra_
    • -4
      Debra_  
    • KB723:

      Everyone will in the near future. It's in the interests of progress and us all. But right now we should be most concerned about the children. If we can't secure the children, we can't secure the appropriate future.

    • 3 months ago
  • bailey78
  • KB723
  • KB723
  • Debra_
    • -4
      Debra_  
    • KB723:

      The boyscouts are a backward, misogynistic organization. I can't imagine anyone you met there growing up had any enlightened and illuminated thought, especially when it comes to technology and building a new better society.

    • 3 months ago
  • KB723
  • Debra_
  • KB723
  • Debra_
  • KB723
  • nikonwilly
  • circlesquared
  • circlesquared
  • circlesquared
  • bailey78
  • KB723
  • The_Wanderer_Kansas
    • +3
      The_Wanderer_Kansas  

    • Awe hell no! I will take the injection thanks! Better to actually see whats getting out into your system and when. Besides how exactly is this little chip going hold multiple doses of anything? Oh your gonna put enough of some drug into a baggie inside my body and "hope" this device doesn't suffer a failure release all of the medication at once. Not to mention the potential for a "killswitch" someone somewhere hits a switch and millions of people nationwide fall dead at once.... awe hell no!

    • 3 months ago
  • FreeSpiritMuse
  • bailey78
  • charliesommers
    • 0
      charliesommers  

    • I wonder what the cost of the device will be? My wife was diagnosed with severe osteoporosis a few years ago and was prescribed a two year course of daily injections that cost $24,000 dollars and barely improved her condition.

    • 3 months ago
  • FreeSpiritMuse
    • +1
      FreeSpiritMuse  
    • charliesommers:

      Sorry to hear that the treatment is not helping your wife. From another article "Farra said that it costs about $1,000 per month for the injection pen now used to administer the drug. Though it is still years away from being available, he projected that the implanted device with a year’s supply of drug would be comparable in price, about $10,000 to $12,000." It didn't say anything about the cost of the implant surgery.

      http://www.boston.com/Boston/whitecoatnotes/2012/02/futuristic-implanted-chip-de...

      Charlie, I don't know anything about this particular drug.

      "The need to take a once-a-day or even once-a-month osteoporosis medication may soon be eliminated. Recent studies indicate that a once-a-year osteoporosis injection of zoledronic acid like Reclast® can prevent spine fractures and hip fractures from osteoporosis. In a 3-year study conducted by the manufacturer of Reclast®, Novartis, it was determined that there was a 70% reduction of spine fractures and 40% reduction of hip fractures in a group of 7,736 postmenopausal women."

      http://www.spine-health.com/blog/back-pain/how-prevent-osteoporosis-a-once-a-yea...

    • 3 months ago
  • artemis6
  • Dagum
    • +5
      Dagum  

    • Nothing like a good microchip implant. The applications could be numerous. I wonder, could it be fitted to hold your digital money and shut off when you break a law, or fitted with poison in the case of violent criminals on parole?

    • 3 months ago
  • KB723
  • bailey78
  • KB723
  • FreeSpiritMuse
    • +2
      FreeSpiritMuse  
    • KB723:

      My response to this exactly. Maybe experimenting with it as a health related device would make it somehow seem helpful. I say no, to tracking devices disguised as medical drug dispensers, operated by a remote control pen. Too many things can go wrong.

    • 3 months ago
  • KB723
    • +2
      KB723  
    • FreeSpiritMuse:

      I agree FreeSpiritMuse, the way to move this forward is under the guise that it will be Helpful, just like they are doing with pets... If they want to test guinnea pigs, let them be our elected officials, being that they are the ones we should FEAR....

    • 3 months ago
  • bailey78
  • KB723
  • bailey78
    • +2
      bailey78  
    • KB723:

      No they started in 08 I believe. I believe they have the bump kill on yours. I think some of the high end cars had them in 02. I've been out of the shop for to many days to keep it all straight.

    • 3 months ago
  • KB723
  • nikonwilly
    • 0
      nikonwilly  
    • KB723:

      Convinced of the notion that we can, "live forever," imagine what they can pass as safe, normal or just a ,good Idea!
      Why can all of these ideas always fit under the tag of, "complete control by others" ?

    • 3 months ago
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