The chip would need replacing every 16
years.
A contraceptive computer chip that
can be controlled by remote control
has been developed in
Massachusetts.
The chip is implanted under a woman's
skin, releasing a small dose of
levonorgestrel, a hormone.
This will happen every day for 16 years,
but can be stopped at any time by using
a wireless remote control.
The project has been backed by Bill Gates,
and will be submitted for pre-clinical
testing in the US next year - and possibly
go on sale by 2018.
The device measures 20mm x 20mm x
7mm and will be "competitively priced", its
creators said.
Convenience factor
Tiny reservoirs of the hormone are stored
on a 1.5cm-wide microchip within the
device.
A small electric charge melts an ultra-thin
seal around the levonorgestrel, releasing
the 30 microgram dose into the body.
There are other types of contraceptive
implant available, the researchers noted,
but all require a trip to a clinic and an
outpatient procedure in order to be
deactivated.
"The ability to turn the device on and off
provides a certain convenience factor for
those who are planning their family," said
Dr Robert Farra from MIT.
The next challenge for the team is to
ensure the absolute security of the device
to prevent activation or deactivation by
another person without the woman's
knowledge.
"Communication with the implant has to
occur at skin contact level distance," said
Dr Farra.
"Someone across the room cannot re-
programme your implant.
"Then we have secure encryption. That
prevents someone from trying to interpret
or intervene between the communications."
Huge range
The same technology could be used to
administer other drugs.
Simon Karger, head of the surgical and
interventional business at Cambridge
Consultants, said that implanted technology
like this faces a range of challenges and
risks.
But he added that overall "the value to the
patient of these types of implant can be
huge and we foresee a future in which a
huge range of conditions are treated
through smart implanted systems".
Implanted devices could help people who
forget to take medication at the correct
time
The innovation comes at a time when
governments and organisations around the
world have agreed to try to bring family
planning to around 120 million more
women by 2020.
This challenge opens the door to this kind
of implant technology being used in areas
where access to traditional contraceptives
is limited - a bigger priority, argued Gavin
Corley, a biomedical engineer.
"That's a humanitarian application as
opposed to satisfying a first-world need,"
he told the BBC.

sumone was reacting to the development on facebook thus**now i can correctly predict the future headline;MY CHIP WAS HACKED N NOW I HAVE TRIPLET..LOL