Preventing hormone chip can replace the pill

In the future, a microchip could be enough to prevent it

08/21/2014

A small chip could replace the contraceptive pill and other contraceptives in the future. A remote control activates the microchip planted under the skin. He gives the same amount of hormones every month, so that the woman is reliably protected from pregnancy. Another key advantage over other contraceptives: Women who use the chip can not forget to take anything like the pill.

Hormone chip prevents for 16 years
The idea for the chip is to come from Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, whose foundation supports the project with about 3.4 million euros. The new contraceptive method is especially designed for women in developing countries, as contraceptives are often difficult to find there. But women in Western countries can also benefit from the hormone chip.
The contraceptive chip is manufactured by MicroChips, which was founded by scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The two-by-two-centimeter microchip is planted under the skin during a half-hour operation with local anesthesia. There he spends the same amount of hormones month after month over 16 years. It can be activated or deactivated by remote control if the woman wants to become pregnant. When activated, current causes the titanium and platinum to melt, allowing the chamber and progestin (synthetically produced progestogen) to flow into the surrounding tissue. The microchip contains a tiny battery with a clock. Progestins have been used for some time in birth control pills, hormonal spirals and contraceptive sticks. They inhibit ovulation and thus prevent pregnancy.

Criticism of the data security of the chip
But the chip also has disadvantages. Above all, critics complain about the data security of the radio transmission between the hormone chip and the remote control. Because wireless signals are not encrypted, they could be hacked. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not want to approve tests on the patient unless the data transfer is safe.

Another problem concerns the amount of hormones. Since each body reacts differently, it is not the amount of hormone released that counts, but rather how it is absorbed. The exact dose is therefore incomprehensible. In addition, indurations could form around the implant that could result in decreased hormone uptake.

So far, it is not known how high the cost of the hormone chip will be. (Ag)