Post by WitchBoy on Sept 12, 2002 8:31:32 GMT -5
<from business2.0.com>
Recently, a Florida family agreed to have tiny, scannable ID chips implanted under their skin. Containing a radio frequency identification tag, each implant stores a number that can be cross-referenced with a database containing a person's name and medical history.
The unveiling of the "first cyborg family" was staged as a publicity stunt by a struggling tech startup called Applied Digital Solutions (ADSXE), which touted the chips' ability to make monitoring patients as easy as tracking cans of soup.
The uproar that followed was predictable. Privacy advocates warned of invasive monitoring. Religious alarmists sermonized about the mark of the beast.
The Food and Drug Administration launched an investigation. But even if Applied Digital's implanted chips never catch on, the "chipping" of the population is simply inevitable.
Already there are millions of cyborgs walking among us. Anybody with a pacemaker qualifies, since a cyborg is merely someone whose body contains digital technology that's integrated with biological systems. But our cyborg destiny will be cemented when such devices are connected to the Internet.
Contemporary cardiac pacemakers and defibrillators already collect data about the heart that can be gathered by passing a wireless device over a patient's chest.
This procedure is typically performed at a doctor's office. But last January, medical device leader Medtronic (MDT) received FDA approval to allow some defibrillator patients to collect the data themselves and send it to doctors through a modem.
This will reduce the number of trips to the doctor's office, and it will also allow physicians to monitor patients more regularly.
Two million people have already received implants of Medtronic heart devices with this capability built in. And that's just the beginning.
Neurological implants, used to treat advanced cases of Parkinson's disease, may be next. The implants contain electrodes that stimulate neurons related to motor control.
Similarly, Ken Wise, an engineering professor at the University of Michigan, is fashioning implants that both stimulate brain cells and record their activity.
Designed to rest directly on the brain surface, the implants contain electrode probes that reach deep into the brain folds.
If linked to a microphone in the ear, an implant could theoretically restore the hearing of deaf people. Indeed, the use of such implants is limited only by our understanding of how the brain works. "You could presumably record the activity of neurons in any part of the brain," Wise says.
The notion of monitoring -- and remotely zapping -- the human brain has unsettling implications. If a doctor can keep watch over brain activity, what's to stop the government, employers, or anyone else who wants to access that data?
This isn't just the stuff of The Matrix or Minority Report, it's a serious risk: The laws that now protect medical data are a sieve, and they need to be strengthened.
Big Brother scenarios aside, however, new implant technologies will be adopted only if they provide clear patient benefits.
In the end, you may not own the data your body generates. But if it helps you lead a longer, happier life, you might not really care.
Recently, a Florida family agreed to have tiny, scannable ID chips implanted under their skin. Containing a radio frequency identification tag, each implant stores a number that can be cross-referenced with a database containing a person's name and medical history.
The unveiling of the "first cyborg family" was staged as a publicity stunt by a struggling tech startup called Applied Digital Solutions (ADSXE), which touted the chips' ability to make monitoring patients as easy as tracking cans of soup.
The uproar that followed was predictable. Privacy advocates warned of invasive monitoring. Religious alarmists sermonized about the mark of the beast.
The Food and Drug Administration launched an investigation. But even if Applied Digital's implanted chips never catch on, the "chipping" of the population is simply inevitable.
Already there are millions of cyborgs walking among us. Anybody with a pacemaker qualifies, since a cyborg is merely someone whose body contains digital technology that's integrated with biological systems. But our cyborg destiny will be cemented when such devices are connected to the Internet.
Contemporary cardiac pacemakers and defibrillators already collect data about the heart that can be gathered by passing a wireless device over a patient's chest.
This procedure is typically performed at a doctor's office. But last January, medical device leader Medtronic (MDT) received FDA approval to allow some defibrillator patients to collect the data themselves and send it to doctors through a modem.
This will reduce the number of trips to the doctor's office, and it will also allow physicians to monitor patients more regularly.
Two million people have already received implants of Medtronic heart devices with this capability built in. And that's just the beginning.
Neurological implants, used to treat advanced cases of Parkinson's disease, may be next. The implants contain electrodes that stimulate neurons related to motor control.
Similarly, Ken Wise, an engineering professor at the University of Michigan, is fashioning implants that both stimulate brain cells and record their activity.
Designed to rest directly on the brain surface, the implants contain electrode probes that reach deep into the brain folds.
If linked to a microphone in the ear, an implant could theoretically restore the hearing of deaf people. Indeed, the use of such implants is limited only by our understanding of how the brain works. "You could presumably record the activity of neurons in any part of the brain," Wise says.
The notion of monitoring -- and remotely zapping -- the human brain has unsettling implications. If a doctor can keep watch over brain activity, what's to stop the government, employers, or anyone else who wants to access that data?
This isn't just the stuff of The Matrix or Minority Report, it's a serious risk: The laws that now protect medical data are a sieve, and they need to be strengthened.
Big Brother scenarios aside, however, new implant technologies will be adopted only if they provide clear patient benefits.
In the end, you may not own the data your body generates. But if it helps you lead a longer, happier life, you might not really care.
;D
;D