Imagine not having to worry about your birth control for the next 16 years! Sounds almost too good to be true, right?
Out in Lexington Massachusetts, a company called MicroCHIPS is bringing science fiction to life. The company has developed a tiny microchip, that once implanted, delivers hormonal birth control on a scheduled basis. When needed, a tiny battery sends a small electrical current to the reservoir, releasing the exact dosage of levonorgestrel to the user.
The chip even comes with a remote, allowing the woman to temporarily turn off the device if she decides to conceive.
This huge leap in technology doesn’t end with just female contraceptives, it has the potential to be utilized to deliver the necessary doses for any number of ailments.
For example, the chip has already gone through a human clinical trial, delivering osteoporosis medication to post-menopausal women. And with such a small chip (20x20x7mm) only needing some local anesthetic to implant, this simple procedure could be used to manage a whole host of conditions for families everywhere!
So when can we hope to get our hands on this futuristic tech? Now backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Family Planning program and led by MIT’s Robert Langer, the team hopes to gain FDA approval for pre-clinical trials in 2015, with wide availability in 2018.
In the meantime, MicroCHIPS is working on encrypting the chips to keep the wireless data secure.
This article was written by Nathan Rousseau Smith. Nathan is a recent communication arts graduate and a lifelong technology enthusiast. He currently interns for millennial ad agency Adjective & Co. He may be addicted to the internet. Follow his journey at boyonadventure.wordpress.com
