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posted by janrinok on Thursday November 17 2016, @08:54AM   Printer-friendly
from the wired-for-health dept.

A man with metal horns protruding from his forehead and a split tongue poking out between his teeth advanced toward me with a scalpel. "I've never done this before," he joked, inching closer.

A full-sleeve tattoo snaked out from beneath his black T-shirt, extending from a demon on his bicep to a skull on his fist. My eyes darted between skull and scalpel, then instinctively shut as I cringed, bracing for contact. Zack Watson, the inked-up body modification artist I'd hired — and drove seven hours from New York City to see — was about to sew a magnet under my skin.
...
Biohacking enthusiasts have tinkered with electronic tattoos and subdermal — underneath-the-skin — implants for two decades, sharing their efforts in videos on YouTube and internet forums to spread and encourage innovation. Proponents believe smart implants represent the future of wearable technology, potentially making humans healthier and more efficient while providing new opportunity to consumer-technology companies such as Apple Inc. AAPL, -0.34% and Alphabet Inc. GOOGL, -0.71% GOOG, -0.57% that are investing heavily in technology that could revolutionize health care.

All of these predictions [quoted in the article] come as global adoption of wearables is forecast to boom. Juniper Research, which tracks consumer technology trends, expects world-wide wearable shipments to reach 420 million by 2020, more than four times the 80 million shipped in 2015. A similar surge is predicted for medical devices, with shipments projected to triple to 70 million over the next four years.

Trans-humanism has been around for a while, but the article focuses on the investment capital that is now flowing into the area.


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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Magneto on Thursday November 17 2016, @11:43AM

    by Magneto (6410) on Thursday November 17 2016, @11:43AM (#428072)

    I got a magnetic finger implant about 4 years ago. I've yet to find a practical use for it but it has made me aware of things I would otherwise never notice. For example I've been at pubs and have noticed the stray EM fields from the beer pumps under the bar, or I've suddenly noticed when my laptop has started writing a lot to disk as the hard drive spins up.

    If anyone has any questions about it I'd be happy to answer them.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 17 2016, @11:54AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 17 2016, @11:54AM (#428074)

    Beer pumps? You mean co2?

    • (Score: 1) by Magneto on Thursday November 17 2016, @12:02PM

      by Magneto (6410) on Thursday November 17 2016, @12:02PM (#428075)

      In the UK you get different types of pumps. Most ale pumps are manually powered and I think use some sort of gas pressure to pump the beer, but a lot of lager pumps are electrically powered (I think).

      Now granted I don't know actually know if what I've felt is the beer pumps or something else but it seems reasonable given the placement.

      • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Webweasel on Thursday November 17 2016, @01:15PM

        by Webweasel (567) on Thursday November 17 2016, @01:15PM (#428087) Homepage Journal

        Your both half right actually!

        Ales are hand pumped (AS THEY SHOULD BE!)

        But lagers, etc use an electric and CO2 system. Modern ones have several micro-switch's in the lever to indicate the pressure that should be applied (By varying the CO2 pressure).

        Traditionally it was CO2 Pressure only, the electrics came in about 10 years ago.

        --
        Priyom.org Number stations, Russian Military radio. "You are a bad, bad man. Do you have any other virtues?"-Runaway1956
        • (Score: 1) by Magneto on Thursday November 17 2016, @01:41PM

          by Magneto (6410) on Thursday November 17 2016, @01:41PM (#428094)

          That makes sense. I've never felt anything near an ale tap but some lager taps have something giving off a surprisingly large field next to them. In general the only things I've found that give off a comparable field are microwaves (presumably the magnetron), transformers, motors, and some electrical heaters.

  • (Score: 2) by t-3 on Thursday November 17 2016, @01:17PM

    by t-3 (4907) on Thursday November 17 2016, @01:17PM (#428088)

    Does it ever interfere with electronics or credit cards?

    • (Score: 1) by Magneto on Thursday November 17 2016, @01:35PM

      by Magneto (6410) on Thursday November 17 2016, @01:35PM (#428093)

      In general no. I've had an external HDD fail since I got it done but as I deal with a fair number of them for work I expect that was just bad luck. I've not had any problems with cards of any sort.

      There are 2 cases I can think of where it's effected electronics. The first case is airport security where I've set off the metal detectors despite not having any other metal on me. It confused the staff when they waved me down with a hand held wand and didn't pick up anything. Of course they didn't run it over my hand as I was wearing a short sleeved shirt and it was obvious there was nothing in my hands.

      The second is a day to day example. I have a nexus tablet which has some sort of magnetic sensor in it which is meant to detect whether it's in a case and put it to sleep if it is. When I hold the tablet in the wrong way my finger rests next to the sensor and the screen turns off. It's a not a major issue as I can just hold the tablet in a different way but it took a bit of getting used to.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 17 2016, @01:44PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 17 2016, @01:44PM (#428095)

    I got a magnetic finger implant about 4 years ago. I've yet to find a practical use for it but it has made me aware of things I would otherwise never notice. For example I've been at pubs and have noticed the stray EM fields from the beer pumps under the bar, or I've suddenly noticed when my laptop has started writing a lot to disk as the hard drive spins up.

    I've simply been able to hear the hard drive spin up.

  • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday November 17 2016, @01:59PM

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Thursday November 17 2016, @01:59PM (#428101) Journal

    How/where did you have it implanted? Did your doctor do it, or was it a tattoo parlor-like place, like it was in the article?

    I've been intrigued by body modification and transhumanism since I first read about it 30 years ago, but the perceived expense and trouble of it kept me from exploring it further. For a while in the 90's it seemed like wearable computing would become a viable compromise, but that never really took off. So I'm curious how you came to get the implant.

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 17 2016, @02:43PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 17 2016, @02:43PM (#428117)

      I'd be surprised if you could find a physician to do it and would expect a piercing shop with body mod experience to be much better suited. Probably much better informed of magnet section, too.

      I was associated with research study not long ago that involved body piercing. The Institutional Review Board insisted that these procedures be performed by a plastic surgeon, so the investigators recruited one and had to send him down to the body art shop to learn how to do the piercings. I'd be willing to bet that the artist, with years of experience, would do a better and less painful job.

    • (Score: 1) by Magneto on Thursday November 17 2016, @03:22PM

      by Magneto (6410) on Thursday November 17 2016, @03:22PM (#428139)

      I had to go to a tattoo parlour. In the UK at the time there were only a few places doing it but from what I've heard there are now a number of places that will do it. It's actually in a legal grey area where it's somewhere between tattooing and surgery. Theoretically you need to be a surgeon to do it but as far as I know no one has ever been prosecuted for implanting them, and even if it was enforced it's only the person doing the implanting that would be liable not the person getting it done. At the time it was about £200 to get done and I expect that hasn't changed much.

      If you do want to get it done I'd definitely recommend doing some background research about the process and the place before going ahead with it. Some of the early implants had a high rejection rate so you need to make sure you're getting one of the newer versions and the person doing it knows what they're doing.

    • (Score: 2) by mcgrew on Friday November 18 2016, @12:47AM

      by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Friday November 18 2016, @12:47AM (#428529) Homepage Journal

      I had my eye implant done at St. Johns Hospital here in Springfield by Dr. Yea of the Prairie Eye Center. It's a variable-focus replacement for the eye's natural lens. Took my eyesight in the eye she did surgery on from 20/400 to 20/16 back in 2006, the FDA just approved the device in 2003. I'm having the other eye done not too long from now. It cures nearsightedness, farsightedness (including age-related; I no longer need reading glasses and I'm 64), astigmatism, and cataracts.

      THAT'S a cyborg, buddy, as are the folks with artificial joints, and pacemakers with built-in automatic defibrillators, and other folks who need to be cyborgs for medical reasons. Not this childish bullshit.

      --
      mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
      • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday November 18 2016, @03:35AM

        by Phoenix666 (552) on Friday November 18 2016, @03:35AM (#428619) Journal

        I'm also a cyborg by that more stringent definition, but it would be nice to have augmentation rather than mere maintenance. Also, something you can DIY is attractive.

        --
        Washington DC delenda est.
        • (Score: 2) by mcgrew on Saturday November 19 2016, @11:47PM

          by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Saturday November 19 2016, @11:47PM (#429696) Homepage Journal

          Augmentation is exactly what I have. My "normal" vision was terrible without corrective lenses, and now I have vision far better than a normal person. It will be better still when I get the other eye done.

          Think of a different power, the incredible Hulk. Skinny little guy gets super strength. My weak eye is now incredible hulk strong. I don't know how many times I've been reading my phone in a bar and someone says "you can READ that tiny type?!"

          --
          mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
  • (Score: 1) by Stardaemon on Thursday November 17 2016, @02:54PM

    by Stardaemon (4294) on Thursday November 17 2016, @02:54PM (#428122)

    Any idea how this would interact with an MR-scanner?
    Would you be nervous about having an MR-scan?

    • (Score: 2) by jcross on Thursday November 17 2016, @04:18PM

      by jcross (4009) on Thursday November 17 2016, @04:18PM (#428177)

      Yeah, I believe it would be ripped out of your finger in an instant, hopefully travelling away from the rest of your body. Even tiny pieces of non-magnetic ferric metal are dangerous in an MRI machine. They normally won't even let you do it if you're a metalworker for fear of tiny chips of steel that might be embedded in your skin or eyes. I know a metal sculptor who lied about his occupation because he really needed the scan. Nothing went wrong for him but it probably was a bit of a gamble.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 17 2016, @11:39PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 17 2016, @11:39PM (#428494)

        Metalworkers who don't have embedded chunks or big slivers sealed in scar tissue can sometimes wait six months and then get an MRI. This is long enough for residual dust in the lungs and eyes to be bioprocessed.

        One doesn't always have 6mo.

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by number6x on Thursday November 17 2016, @03:00PM

    by number6x (903) on Thursday November 17 2016, @03:00PM (#428127)

    I have a Bone Anchored Hearing Aid (BAHA) [earassociates.com], to compensate for deafness in one ear due to Meniere's Disease. I would not consider it 'cybernetic' in any way.

    It involves a metal stud drilled into my skull bone to help transmit sound around my head. I would also not consider your magnet cybernetic. A person should be able to detect anything you think you can detect with a magnet attached to the outside of the skin that you can seem to perceive with your implanted magnet.

    The same holds true for implanted RFID tags, replacement eyeball lenses (Intraocular lenses), or limb replacements that do not interface with the wearer's nerves or muscles. None of them are really cybernetic.

    While my hearing device, an IOL or a limb replacement actually serve a useful purpose and replace lost or damaged functionality of some organ or body part, as opposed to just being some fad, I still would not consider them 'cybernetic'.

    Insulin pumps, pacemakers, limbs that move in response to nerve signals or muscle contractions should be considered cybernetic. I think there would have to be a certain 'active' interaction with the body's systems for it to be considered cybernetic. Having a passive connection, like my BAHA device, an intraocular lens or your magnet should not really be considered cybernetic.

    Obligatory xkcd [xkcd.com].

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 17 2016, @03:21PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 17 2016, @03:21PM (#428138)

      I thought the obligatory XKCD for this discussion would have been 644: Surgery [xkcd.com]

      • (Score: 2) by requerdanos on Thursday November 17 2016, @06:30PM

        by requerdanos (5997) Subscriber Badge on Thursday November 17 2016, @06:30PM (#428248) Journal

        I thought the obligatory XKCD for this discussion would have been 644: Surgery [xkcd.com]

        Agree. Came for this.

      • (Score: 2) by number6x on Thursday November 17 2016, @08:51PM

        by number6x (903) on Thursday November 17 2016, @08:51PM (#428349)

        For me, comparing my Bone Anchored Hearing Aid to "Dude, I got a magnet under my skin 'cus piercings and tattoos are so 20th century" makes me think of the tattoo xkcd.

        But your xkcd is pretty hardcore too!

    • (Score: 1) by Magneto on Thursday November 17 2016, @03:27PM

      by Magneto (6410) on Thursday November 17 2016, @03:27PM (#428140)

      I can see your point. For me whether it is "cybernetic" or not isn't really the point. I can now feel things I couldn't before and to me that's what matters.

      You're partially right about sticking a magnet to the outside of your skin. That would work in a similar way and you would get similar sensations, though I expect it would be a lot less sensitive. However having it permanently inside you for a long period of time changes the way you perceive the sensation. To me it doesn't feel like there's something attached to me that's moving, it actually feels like a part of myself. I don't know whether the same effect would occur with an externally attached device.

      • (Score: 2) by number6x on Thursday November 17 2016, @04:29PM

        by number6x (903) on Thursday November 17 2016, @04:29PM (#428185)

        Yes, and the super glue would wear off now and then :)

        People with Meniere's disease in both ears often completely lose their sense of balance.

        Recently a device that is based on a set of accelerometers and two 'patches' attached to your skin has been tested for these people. The patches are about as long and wide as a stick of Wrigley's chewing gum. They are oriented at 90 degrees to each other.. As the accelerometers tip one way or the other, the wearer 'feels' little electric shocks moving along the strips one way or another. They say the shocks feel like bubbles against the skin. The further the accelerometer is tipped, the stronger the flow of the 'bubbles'.

        Amazingly, even though these people have lost the nerve impulses from their inner ears, the wearer's brains quickly learn to interpret the signals on their skin, from the accelerometers, and associate the 'bubbles' with the data coming from the wearer’s eyes. They develop a new sense of balance based on nerve input from the skin, and not from the inner ear. They can often begin to walk and orient them selves while wearing the devices and their constant 'falling' vertigo is diminished.

        The brain learns to compensate and make due with other input signals. It is all done at a subconscious level, the brain interprets the input naturally. The user doesn't spend time thinking 'oh, the bubbles are doing this, so I know which way is up'. The brain just takes care of the input and interprets it.

        Your brain, interpreting input from your implant, is probably similar.

        I would suggest two long thin magnets, maybe as long as a centimeter in length, oriented at 90 degrees to each other. see if the brain could use the stimulation to determine direction.

        Part of the device for a vestibular prostheses: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwik9p2VmbDQAhWs7YMKHaeeBWQQFggwMAM&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mdpi.com%2F1424-8220%2F14%2F7%2F13173%2Fpdf&usg=AFQjCNHfXIT4bf89mYCw5D3r9LbqooKPmw&sig2=GQo5K_QjFdp0dQa3ieYGgg&bvm=bv.139138859,d.amc [google.com]

    • (Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday November 17 2016, @04:08PM

      by Grishnakh (2831) on Thursday November 17 2016, @04:08PM (#428166)

      I'm hoping they'll develop some IOLs soon which will really be cybernetic, or at the very least will totally replace a normal lens and provide proper vision, both near and far-sighted and everything in-between. But even better would be if it overlaid your vision and provided additional data, like those scenes in the Terminator movies.

      • (Score: 2) by number6x on Thursday November 17 2016, @09:29PM

        by number6x (903) on Thursday November 17 2016, @09:29PM (#428383)

        Future biotech!

        We need a good way to power those things.

        • (Score: 2) by mcgrew on Friday November 18 2016, @01:34AM

          by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Friday November 18 2016, @01:34AM (#428548) Homepage Journal

          Present, not future. They're powered by the same muscles that focus a young person's eyes (see earlier comments). I have one implanted. We live in the future!

          --
          mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
      • (Score: 2) by mcgrew on Friday November 18 2016, @12:59AM

        by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Friday November 18 2016, @12:59AM (#428538) Homepage Journal

        It was approved by the FDA in 2003, I had one implanted in 2006. My vision is now better than 20/20 at all distances in that eye, it was 20/400 before. I'm 64 and don't need reading glasses or any other vision aids.

        I'm getting the other eye done soon. Look up CrystaLens. If you can wait until 2023, all IOLs will be variable focus, since the patent will expire.

        --
        mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
        • (Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Friday November 18 2016, @04:10PM

          by Grishnakh (2831) on Friday November 18 2016, @04:10PM (#428897)

          Wow, that looks really interesting. I wonder how it achieves variable focus? Does it tie into the existing lens muscles? Their website is pretty scant on details, and Wikipedia's article on IOLs basically says that these lenses don't exist yet and that IOLs are fixed-focus.

          Can these things also correct for a little nearsightedness? If so, one of these would be perfect for me. I'm starting to have problems with changing focus, and one of my eyes is a little nearsighted anyway.

          Was yours implanted because of cataracts, or just poor vision? Their website only seems to tout them as a solution for cataracts.

          • (Score: 2) by mcgrew on Saturday November 19 2016, @11:41PM

            by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Saturday November 19 2016, @11:41PM (#429692) Homepage Journal

            My surgeon explained it to me. It sits on struts and is situated inside the lens capsule after the lens is removed. The eye's focus muscles stretch or relax the lens capsule and in a young person, the lens inside it. In middle age the lens gets too hard to stretch.

            The way it's situated, the stretching or loosening of the muscles on the lens capsule moves the IOL lens back and forth. You have to exercise those muscles after surgery for a few weeks, because they've likely atrophied.

            As to Wikipedia, the other lens manufacturers keep editing it out. I tried to add something right after surgery, and it was gone in a week. This is what makes Wikipedia itself a little iffy; gasoline companies can alter, for example, articles about global warming. FDA approval in 2003 and nobody can get this technology included.

            I had a cataract in that eye from some steroid eye drops a different medical center had prescribed. Insurance will pay for a standard fixed-focus lens, and these are $1,000 more each, but it was the best money I ever spent. They will do the surgery for nearsightedness and farsightedness (farsightedness is normal in middle age, and you can be both nearsighted and farsighted at the same time) but the manufacturer pushes them for cataracts.

            I'd recommend asking your eye doctor about them the next time you see him or her, they know a hell of a lot more than I do about that subject (or should). If you're not that old I'd wait until 2023 when the patent expires, all IOLs will be variable focus after then.

            --
            mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
            • (Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Monday November 21 2016, @03:48PM

              by Grishnakh (2831) on Monday November 21 2016, @03:48PM (#430571)

              If it works that great, I'm not sure I want to wait 6 more years. Roughly how much was this per eye? Personally I'm nearsighted, slightly. If this corrects a little nearsightedness too, and lets me focus properly, it sounds great to me. I'm young enough that my focus muscles haven't atrophied: I'm able to focus, it's just taking longer than before, and I've noticed that if I do close-up work too long my eyes get "stuck" and it takes a bit for them to reset so I can see distant things again.

              • (Score: 2) by mcgrew on Monday November 21 2016, @04:51PM

                by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Monday November 21 2016, @04:51PM (#430637) Homepage Journal

                It probably varies by surgeon, but the Prairie Eye Center charged me and my insurance company about $14,000 for the eye I had done. Getting the other one done soon (if I get off my lazy ass and do it).

                --
                mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
                • (Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Monday November 21 2016, @05:50PM

                  by Grishnakh (2831) on Monday November 21 2016, @05:50PM (#430697)

                  Hmm.. I wonder if it'd be a lot cheaper to have it done somewhere else, like Belgium.

    • (Score: 2) by mcgrew on Friday November 18 2016, @12:50AM

      by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Friday November 18 2016, @12:50AM (#428534) Homepage Journal

      You're a cyborg if it was an implanted device and improved your hearing; that's the definition. I have a variable focus eye implant, so I'm a cyborg, too.

      --
      mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
  • (Score: 2) by mhajicek on Thursday November 17 2016, @04:00PM

    by mhajicek (51) on Thursday November 17 2016, @04:00PM (#428160)

    I think that would drive me crazy; I'm a CNC machinist.

    --
    The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek