A man has now implanted a massive sized computer chip into his arm without doctors or anesthetic.
Mobile gadgets are taking a whole new direction as a small alternative movement of people are starting to insert them into their bodies through surgeries that are not performed by doctors and that are performed without any anesthetic.
These individuals have labeled themselves to be “biohackers” and are implanting devices into their bodies.
Biohackers are the first steps toward being cyborgs and often implant gadgets into themselves for the purpose of living longer – with the dream of living forever. This DIY cyborg activity is not necessarily an attractive one to the majority of people. These devices are not yet small sized. Although they are implanted under the skin, their presence is highly visible due to their considerable size.
German biohacker, Tim Cannon, has become the most famous to implant a device into his arm.
Cannon has implanted a massive computer device into his forearm, which is based on open source software. It provides him with complete control over the biometric data that has been collected. Using Android based gadgets such as tablets or smartphones, he was capable of reviewing all of the data that the device in his arm was generating. It focused primarily on information such as his body temperature.
Though more than just the body temperature was being collected and provided to be viewed on the gadgets, this monitoring was Cannon’s primary focus. When interviewed, he explained that not only was he able to monitor what was going on at the time, but he was also capable of looking for directions and trends in the way that his body’s data was being produced.
If his temperature was rising over time, for example, then he would be able to graph that and take action more promptly and proactively than if he waited for it to rise and to suddenly discover that they have a fever. In that second case, the problem has already developed to the point that the body temperature has risen in a way that it is noticeable. With Cannon’s implanted gadgets, he will be alerted to this data before symptoms develop.
That said, these gadgets are not considered to be approved medical devices and they are being implanted without anesthetic by individuals who are not doctors. While some feel that this is the future of mobile health technology, others feel that this is an extreme but small group of people and that it will never become mainstream.