When managing a chronic condition with medication, it's often important to make sure you time your doses correctly to keep everything under control and working as it should. For some people, taking pills or injecting medicine at the proper time can pose a challenge. Let's say you work long hours or have to take care of your kids for most of the day. It's easy enough to lose track of time or get caught up in an activity and miss a dosage, thereby endangering your health. The theoretical solution to the timed dosage problem would be to develop a kind of medicine that administers itself. That's exactly what scientists at MicroCHIPS Inc. have been working on developing. 

 

Medicinal microchip implants were first thought up by MIT scientists more than ten years ago, but they were only just demonstrated to be practically effective in a recent study. Eight women with osteoporosis received implants containing the drug teriparatide, a medicine which helps to increase bone mass. A wireless transmitter sent signals to the microchip at specific times, releasing a single dose of the drug into the bloodstream. The women, who would normally have to inject their medicine, received treatment without even having to think about it. 

 

Previous trials with microchip dispensers found difficulty with the body's natural reaction to foreign implants. A layer of collagen forms around the device over a period of two months, making it difficult for the doses to reach the bloodstream as they should. Scientists still need to develop a way to ensure the chips work consistently without interference from natural processes.

 

Although one of the implants in the original study failed to operate as it should, scientists observed increased levels of the P1NP molecule in the bloodstreams of the subjects with osteoporosis, indicating that bone building was occurring as intended. None of the women in the study reported any kinds of side effects. Most of them were actually able to forget about the device entirely, meaning it worked exactly as it should--quietly, requiring no additional effort on the part of its recipient. 

 

If these wirelessly-controlled microchips are developed to function with increased consistency, we could easily see an improvement in quality of life for many people living with chronic conditions that require precise medication. By allowing the administration of drugs to occur autonomously, much of the hassle, stress, and inconvenience associated with chronic illness could dissipate, making it possible for sick people to go about their lives normally.