It is really possible to inject a microchip into a human body through an injection: why is it done

Although the stories about a microchip that can be injected into the human body seem to be crazy, but in fact it is possible. True, it can only be used for medical purposes. Why chipping a person can be useful, the publication said "Focus".

One of the strangest and most enduring myths of modern times is built on the idea that some behind-the-scenes forces seek to achieve world domination by implanting microchips that control behavior in all people. There was even a conspiracy theory about the installation of such devices during vaccination against COVID-19.

The irony is that a medical microchip that can be injected into the human body does exist. This experimental technology will not be widely used yet, if only because the cost of such a micro-device ranges from $ 35 thousand to $ 50 thousand - depending on the country of manufacture. In addition, the functionality of injection chips is still very limited. They reached the stage of clinical trials only as a remedy for chronic pain, including phantom pain.

The researchers hope that such chips can recognize and block pain impulses entering the human brain. In the future, this technology, according to scientists, will finally replace morphine preparations and other "heavy" drugs that are resorted to when the usual pain reliever does not help. In particular, they want to use them to make life easier for people with bone damage. After all, when it is impossible to eliminate the source of pain, but it is impossible to endure it, the patient is forced to take narcotic drugs for a long time.

Several laboratories are working on the creation of such a product at once: two in the USA, one in the UK, and one more in Germany. There were rumors that China is also developing such microchips, but there is no data on these studies.

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It is believed that a point impulse effect on the brain is much safer than a complex chemical one. At least the supporters of impulse therapy insist on this. But they are not supported by anesthesiologists. A particular concern among adherents of traditional methods of pain relief is that the injection chip is easy to install, but very difficult to remove if the need arises. Due to the specifics of the technology, this is more difficult than getting rid of the implant chip, which is installed surgically.

However, the negative side effects of morphine supplementation remain a strong argument in favor of an alternative drug. So, subject to the successful completion of the tests, the chances of obtaining approval from international health organizations are quite high.

Depression chips: responsive neurostimulation

This approval has already been received by an implantable electronic system that relieves epileptic seizures. Seizures occur due to the paroxysmal collective electrical activity of neurons. The chip recognizes foci of activity and blocks them pointwise. The system, the carrier of which is the antiepileptic chip, is abbreviated as RNS (Responsive neurostimulation) - response neurostimulation. It is sold by the Californian company Neuro Pace.

By the same principle, but with significant complications, the chip stimulator will work, relieving severe forms of depressive mental disorder. It has not been launched into mass production, but there are already the first positive experiences of using antidepressant chips in experimental laboratories.

Some forms of depression were still considered almost incurable, and there was little hope even for stimulants implanted in the brain. Depression, unlike epilepsy, does not have a single zone of activity. It involves several interconnected areas of the brain, and lesions can occur in different places in different people. In some medical journals, depression is called "the unpredictable gambler who serves when and where he wants." This sadly ironic definition quite accurately describes the reason why this type of disorder is so difficult to treat.

In the fall of 2021, in the UK, this problem was solved in two stages. First, a temporary chip was inserted into the brain of a patient who suffered from a severe form of genetically determined depression and was considered hopeless, which read and analyzed all neuronal activity. The woman kept a calendar of her emotional states, and when the states changed, neurophysiologists noted which processes in the brain corresponded to these moments. So they found out which area of ​​the brain needs to be stimulated specifically for this patient during bouts of depression and which impulses should signal that her impulse is approaching.

Today's popular "smart" insulin bracelets for diabetics are also likely to be replaced with chips in the foreseeable future. This system is simpler than those that directly affect the brain and nerve tissue. She constantly monitors the patient's blood sugar level and, if necessary, gives the command to inject the insulin stored in the microreservoir.

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The innovation is that wearing a bracelet will soon become unnecessary. There are already capsules less than 2 mm in size that can be swallowed and slightly larger capsules that are injected under the skin. One capsule can contain several dozen reservoirs up to 25 nanoliters of various substances. If the drugs are administered not in a liquid, but in a jelly-like state, this will be enough for a long time. Since drugs from separate reservoirs are not mixed, the system is suitable for patients suffering from several chronic diseases at the same time. If necessary, it can release different substances at different times and independently adjust the doses based on the current physical parameters.

Background: who invented electronic implants

It all started in the middle of the twentieth century. World War II crippled a great many people. Europe has never seen such a number of wounded, lost limbs. The aggravation of the social need for prosthetics has accelerated the development of this industry. Laboratories ready to take on the development of bioelectric prostheses that simulate nerve tissue have received generous government funding. The governments of Great Britain, the USA and the USSR were spent on this.

In the 1950s, the bioelectric arm, controlled by the biocurrents of the stump muscles, exhibited in the Soviet pavilion at the World Exhibition in Brussels, made a splash. In the 1960s, the Americans took the palm from Soviet scientists. The US National Institutes of Health launched several very ambitious grant programs for the development of electronic implants at the time. Perhaps the most successful projects were those that worked with an "artificial heart" and "artificial auricle". Their implants were widely used in the last century.

Now these devices are outdated. For example, today no one completely changes the auricle. A microscopic cochlear implant is inserted into it, capable of capturing sound and transmitting electrical impulses to the auditory nerve. Thus, even from birth, a deaf person has a chance to gain the ability to hear.

At the turn of the 2001th and 1st centuries, a real revolution was the idea that the implantation of a microimplant, which would again “turn on” the malfunctioning system of the human body, could be an alternative to transplantation. In terms of practical application of medical chipping technologies, the American company Applied Digital Solutions turned out to be the pioneer. In 39, she released a programmable implant with a size of less than XNUMX mm, which could contain up to six lines of information. Almost a year later, in the UK, a XNUMX-year-old patient, paralyzed from the waist down, was implanted with a set of electrodes, thanks to which he was able to move his legs and even walk.

This operation is considered a turning point in the history of electronic implants, although compared to modern neurochips, the system of the 2002 model was quite simple. Then, after implantation, the patient had something like a remote control to control his own legs. He got the opportunity to move around without a wheelchair, but still he was far from normal walking, like healthy people.

In 2018, a paralyzed man with a spinal injury was implanted with a chip, thanks to which he was able to fully use one hand. Doctors have established exactly which parts of the patient's motor cortex are activated at the moment when he would like to make a hand movement. Implants were installed there, capturing the signals of neurons, and then artificial stimulators of movement, installed on the arm, transmitting them to the system.

Why are people afraid of chips?

While artificial chips were relatively large, the practice of using them did not cause a negative reaction from society. There were sometimes comments in the media from some religious organizations, but even they were more wary than hostile. But the appearance of microscopic implants immediately provoked a surge in the media activity of conspiracy theorists.

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In the early 2000s, among filmmakers, creators of action and science fiction films, the topic of implanting chips into people in order to track their actions or suppress their will gained popularity. Now it is already difficult to say what was the cause and what was the consequence: the filmmakers used the already existing fear of the townsfolk about microchips or taught them to be afraid of them. One way or another, numerous Hollywood sci-fi thrillers about chipping for unseemly purposes, if not generated a fear of electronic implants, then certainly supported it.

Pharmaceutical companies selling drugs that could theoretically be abandoned by replacing chemical exposure with impulse stimulation were also not happy with this turn of events. They have appeared in the media with publications about the risks that may be associated with the use of medical chips.

Indeed, the implantation of artificial implants requires a serious preliminary check of the immune system. But this applies not only to microchips. With larger implants, the risk of rejection is higher. But for some reason this did not arouse media interest.