Implant

An implant is a medical device manufactured to replace a missing biological structure, support a damaged biological structure, or enhance an existing biological structure. For example, an implant may be a rod, used to strengthen weak bones.^[1][2] Medical implants are human-made devices, in contrast to a transplant, which is a transplanted biomedical tissue. The surface of implants that contact the body might be made of a biomedical material such as titanium, silicone, or apatite depending on what is the most functional.^[3] In some cases implants contain electronics, e.g. artificial pacemaker and cochlear implants. Some implants are bioactive, such as subcutaneous drug delivery devices in the form of implantable pills or drug-eluting stents.^[4]

Applications

Implants can roughly be categorized into groups by application:

Sensory and neurological

Sensory and neurological implants are used for disorders affecting the major senses and the brain, as well as other neurological disorders. They are predominately used in the treatment of conditions such as cataract, glaucoma, keratoconus, and other visual impairments; otosclerosis and other hearing loss issues, as well as middle ear diseases such as otitis media; and neurological diseases such as epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, and treatment-resistant depression. Examples include the intraocular lens, intrastromal corneal ring segment, cochlear implant, tympanostomy tube, and neurostimulator.^[3][4][5]

Cardiovascular

Cardiovascular medical devices are implanted in cases where the heart, its valves, and the rest of the circulatory system is in disorder. They are used to treat conditions such as heart failure, cardiac arrhythmia, ventricular tachycardia, valvular heart disease, angina pectoris, and atherosclerosis. Examples include the artificial heart, artificial heart valve, implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, artificial cardiac pacemaker, and coronary stent.^[3][4][5]

Orthopedic

Orthopaedic implants help alleviate issues with the bones and joints of the body.^[6] They are used to treat bone fractures, osteoarthritis, scoliosis, spinal stenosis, and chronic pain. Examples include a wide variety of pins, rods, screws, and plates used to anchor fractured bones while they heal

History

1998: The first experiments with a radio-frequency identification (RFID) implant were carried out in 1998 by the British scientist Kevin Warwick.^{[1][2][3][4][5}] His implant was used to open doors, switch on lights, and cause verbal output within a building. After nine days the implant was removed and has since been held in the Science Museum in London.^[6]
March 18, 2004: Nokia, Philips (now under NXP Semiconductors) and Sony established the NFC Forum, a non-profit industry formed to advance the use of NFC wireless interaction in consumer electronics, mobile devices and PCs. Standards include the four distinct tag types that provide different communication speeds and capabilities covering flexibility, memory, security, data retention and write endurance. NFC Forum promotes implementation and standardization of NFC technology to ensure interoperability between devices and services.^[7]
2018: VivoKey Technologies^[8] developed the first cryptographically secure human implantable NFC transponders in 2018. The Spark is an AES128 bit capable ISO/IEC 15693 2mm by 12mm bioglass encased injectable device. The Flex One is an implantable contactless secure element, capable of running Java Card applets (software programs) including Bitcoin wallets, PGP, OATH OTP, U2F, WebAuthn, etc. It is encapsulated in a flat, flexible 7mm x 34mm x 0.4mm flat biopolymer shell. Applets can be deployed to the Flex One before or after implantation.
2019: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation funded MIT to develop an invisible microneedle patch to store medical information under the skin with a dye.^[9]
28 August 2020: Neuralink CEO Elon Musk, held a broadcast showcasing a pig with a coin-sized computer chip in her brain to demonstrate the company's plans to create a working brain-to-machine interface for humans.^[10]
2021: Dsruptive Subdermals tested a COVID-19 vaccine passport in their bioglass-coated NFC microchip designed to be implanted in the subcutaneous tissue.^[11][12] It has been demonstrated by its managing director Hannes Sjöblad who wears the chip in his arm, but it is not yet for sale.^[13]

Chipped individuals

A surgeon implants British scientist Dr Mark Gasson in his left hand with an RFID microchip (March 16, 2009).

Several hobbyists, through to scientists and business personalities have placed RFID microchip implants into their hands or had them inserted by others.

2005, Amal Graafstra: In early March 2005 hobbyist Amal Graafstra^[14] implanted a 125 kHz EM4102 bioglass-encased RFID transponder into his left hand. It was used with an access control system to gain entry to his office. Soon after in June 2005 he implanted a more advanced HITAG S 2048 low frequency transponder. In 2006 he authored the book RFID Toys,^[15] Graafstra uses his implants to access his home, open car doors, and to log on to his computer. With public interest growing, in 2013 he launched biohacking company Dangerous Things^[16] and crowdfunded the world's first implantable NFC transponder in 2014.^[17] He has also spoken at various events and promotional gigs^[18] including TEDx,^[19] and built a smartgun that only fires after reading his implant.^[20]
2006, Mikey Sklar: Mikey Sklar had a chip implanted into his left hand and filmed the procedure.^[21]
2009, Mark Gasson: On 16 March 2009 British scientist Mark Gasson had a glass capsule RFID device surgically implanted into his left hand. In April 2010 Gasson's team demonstrated how a computer virus could wirelessly infect his implant and then be transmitted on to other systems.^[22]
2013, Tim Cannon: In October 2013, Cannon became the first person to be implanted with the Grindhouse-designed biometric sensor known as Circadia, a procedure which was performed by body modification artist Steve Haworth in Essen, Germany.^[23][24][25]
2014, Martijn Wismeijer: Dutch marketing manager for Bitcoin ATM manufacturer General Bytes, placed RFID chips in both of his hands to store his Bitcoin private keys and business card.^[26]
2014, Nikolas Badminton: In June 2014, during the From Now Conference^[27] in Vancouver, Canada, event organizer and futurist Nikolas Badminton had an xNT chip implanted into his left hand on stage by noted biohacker Amal Graafstra.^[28]
2015, Jonathan Oxer: Self-implanted an RFID chip in his arm using a veterinary implantation tool.^[29]
2015, Patric Lanhed: sent a “bio-payment” of one euro worth of Bitcoin using a chip embedded in his hand.^[30]
2016, Hannes Sjöblad: Biohacker Hannes Sjöblad has been experimenting with near field communication (NFC) chip implants since 2015. During his talk at Echappée Voléé 2016 in Paris, Sjöblad disclosed that he has also implanted himself with a chip between his forefinger and thumb and uses it to unlock doors, make payments, unlock his phone, and essentially replacing anything that is put in one's pockets.^[31] Additionally, Sjöblad has hosted several "implant parties," where interested individuals can also be implanted with the chip.^[32] In October 2021, Sjöblad appeared in a video interview with Aftonbladet where he demonstrated how he receives a QR code when he scans a microchip implant in his arm that contains his EU Digital COVID Certificate (EUDCC).^[33][34]
Marcel Varallo had an NXP chip coated in Bioglass 8625 inserted into his hand between his forefinger and thumb allowing him to open secure elevators and doors at work, print from secure printers, unlock his mobile phone and home, and store his digital business card for transfer to mobile phones enabled for NFC.^[35]
2021, Shain Lakin: In late September 2021 during the Security BSides Perth 2021 Conference, Hacker Shain Lakin demonstrated using an NXP Semiconductors chip inserted into his hand to remotely trigger ignition of a thermite charge in order to destroy a Solid-state drive (SSD) inside a personal computer.^[36][37]

Types of implants

Brain implant^[10]
Skin
- Dermal implant (on the skin): Invisible transdermal patch^[9]
- Sub-dermal implants (under the skin): Bioglass coated NFC chip injected under the skin.
Dental implant^[38]

Usage

For Microchip implants that are encapsulated in silicate glass there exists multiple methods to embed the device subcutaneously ranging from placing the microchip implant in a syringe or trocar^[39] and piercing under the flesh (subdermal) then releasing the syringe to using a cutting tool such as a surgical scalpel to cut open subdermal and positioning the implant in the open wound.

A list of popular uses for microchip implants are as follows;

Other uses either cosmetic or medical may also include;

Digital identity

RFID implants using NFC technologies have been used as access cards ranging for car door entry to building access.^[41] Secure identity has also been used to encapsulate or impersonate a users identity via secure element or related technologies.

Medical records

Researchers have examined microchip implants in humans in the medical field and they indicate that there are potential benefits and risks to incorporating the device in the medical field. For example, it could be beneficial for noncompliant patients but still poses great risks for potential misuse of the device.^[45]

Destron Fearing, a subsidiary of Digital Angel, initially developed the technology for the VeriChip.^[46]

In 2004, the VeriChip implanted device and reader were classified as Class II: General controls with special controls by the FDA;^[47] that year the FDA also published a draft guidance describing the special controls required to market such devices.^[48]

About the size of a grain of rice, the device was typically implanted between the shoulder and elbow area of an individual's right arm. Once scanned at the proper frequency, the chip responded with a unique 16-digit number which could be then linked with information about the user held on a database for identity verification, medical records access and other uses. The insertion procedure was performed under local anesthetic in a physician's office.^[49][50]

Privacy advocates raised concerns regarding potential abuse of the chip, with some warning that adoption by governments as a compulsory identification program could lead to erosion of civil liberties, as well as identity theft if the device should be hacked.^[50][51][52] Another ethical dilemma posed by the technology, is that people with dementia could possibly benefit the most from an implanted device that contained their medical records, but issues of informed consent are the most difficult in precisely such people.^[53][54]

In June 2007, the American Medical Association declared that "implantable radio frequency identification (RFID) devices may help to identify patients, thereby improving the safety and efficiency of patient care, and may be used to enable secure access to patient clinical information",^[55] but in the same year, news reports linking similar devices to cancer caused in laboratory animals.^[56]

In 2010, the company, by then called PositiveID, withdrew the product from the market due to poor sales.^[57]...

Microchip implant (human) - Wikipedia

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