Superhuman Power to 'Heal Yourself' Developed in Tiny Implant by Pentagon

ibTimes

A tiny implant similar to a pacemaker but the size of a needle point is being developed by the Pentagon to give humans the ability to heal themselves.

The military-sponsored programme, Electrical Prescriptions (ElectRx) sends electrical impulses to monitor the body's organs and heal these parts when they are injured or infected.

The technology is being described as a little pacemaker, to keep the body in check - similarly to the way Wolverine can heal himself. It is small enough to be implanted using a needle, counting out the need for invasive surgery.

I have no clue to how this thing is supposed to work. Even after I read the explanation I just blinked and said okay...

The idea is founded on a physiological process called neuromodulation, when a given neutron uses one or more neurotransmitters to regulate diverse populations of neurons. Essentially, the peripheral nervous system regulates the status of internal organs, organising the responses to disease and infection

Maybe it'll make more sense to you than it does me? Still I like the idea of fewer drugs.
In the story they talk about how it could be used to treat systemic inflammatory response syndrome and rheumatoid arthritis. Maybe even brain and mental health disorders too? Sounds promising but it does bring up a big question.

Why is DARP and the Pentagon founding this new tech?
The only thing I can come with is they see it as a way to treat battlefield injuries.
Only time will tell I guess.

as a companion piece check this one out
DARPA working on portable and ruggedized artificial "biospleen" to fight sepsis

a reply to: HardCorps

I think we need to find the source of the problem. This is more symptom masking.

We already have the power to heal ourselves, nothing new there.

We are what we eat, autoimmune responses will decrease as GMO and artificial sweeteners decrease. That is my theory, I stand by it.

Well at least they are developing something that isn't a weapon, for a change.

Let's see if this hits the streets, big medical won't be happy.

a reply to: HardCorps

So...

It sounds like what they have done here, is developed a technology which tracks, and modulates physiological response to injury.

The body has innate response mechanisms built into it, to perform certain curative tasks in the event of cells dying, foreign material entering the body, or the bonds between cells being broken. These responses are triggered by nerves, which register the attack on the body, and activate certain responses, depending on the situation perceived. There are, however, some circumstances which prevent those normal responses to threat as read by the body, for instance, extreme trauma severing the nerves which would ordinarily send those warning signals, or certain diseases of the blood, infections, things like that.

This system, or device, must have a method of registering damage to the body, how so ever caused, and modulating the response so that the curative effects of the bodies own internal responses, are much more profound than is normally the case. Stunning feat, if they really have pulled it off, and speaking of pulling things off, I would yank of my left testicle for a chance at looking at one of those devices or systems under an electron microscope! I bet their architecture must be astounding!

I believe it to be a step in the right direction in a sense but the opposite in another. I say this because I believe humans already have the ability to heal themselves and each other through energy alone. This combined with certain herbs can have an even great effect. This just seems like another way to have people dependent on something external to keep their focus away from developing their healing abilities within. If it saves lives though I cannot complain

Even if this does work , it will never hit the mainstream. This would be a gamechanger for humanity, and would alter so much of the status quo, I would love to see this open to everyone.

originally posted by: HardCorps
I have no clue to how this thing is supposed to work. Even after I read the explanation I just blinked and said okay...

Basically, to stimulate your own immune system ...

It's not really realistic, in this sense ...

originally posted by: Watchfull
Well at least they are developing something that isn't a weapon, for a change.

Let's see if this hits the streets, big medical won't be happy.

if it can heal it can kill. if you have one in every person you could select who lives and who dies.

a reply to: TrueBrit

So how complex would these signals need to be?
I mean surely the body deals with say, a burn differently than it would a cut or a poison...

I don't know, but logic would say it'd take more than just a zap from a battery to get the right kind of healing process going.

So this thing would basically send electronic signals to certain organs such as the brain to stimulate the release of certain neurotransmitters or say to the lymph system to produce more white blood cells to fight off an infection? Basically it would just be tapping into the bodies natural processes..One would think the way our bodies are designed are already quite adapt at doing this in the first place..and as far as monitoring goes I do not think we need an internal device to do this. If we already have external devices such as blood pressure calculators and thermometers it should not be that complicated to do with something you do not have to put in the body.

a reply to: HardCorps

I do not know if the individual signals would need to be complex, but the receiver and transmitter (or analogous components) would need to be able to tell precisely between these signals, which is a slightly different thing. The signals could be extremely simple, but the differences between the signals could be very small. Which would mean that the focus would be on precision rather than complexity.

I would love to know more. As you are probably aware, I have no specific scientific background, but things of this nature have always fascinated me, and drawn me toward research and discovery. This new technique seems the stuff of science fiction and modern fantasy, so I cannot wait to see how it turns out!

What happens when the script kiddies learn to hack into them!!!

a reply to: VoidHawk

I would have thought, that one of the first things to happen, will be a marked increase in soiled undergarments, such is the level of humour one can expect from that particular demographic of techno-mages.

Don't we already have the ability to heal ourselves? How is a diagnostics tool going to give me 'Wolverine-like superpowers'? I'm suspicious of everything DARPA does. Even more so when they start marketing their 'miracles' comic-book stylee.

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: VoidHawk

I would have thought, that one of the first things to happen, will be a marked increase in soiled undergarments, such is the level of humour one can expect from that particular demographic of techno-mages.

Or, hacking themselves for the purpose of creating a high?

a reply to: VoidHawk

Hmmm...

That is actually feasible, if highly inadvisable, more so than introducing certain chemical compounds to ones bloodstream from external sources. The reason I say this, is because the glands which produce neurotransmitters and the like, can become fatigued as readily as any other part of the body, if over active for long periods.

The problem with that is, that if one were to become hopelessly addicted to activation of certain neurochemical reactions, it would be harder to treat the addiction, due to the hard implantation of the tiny machinery in the body, and the constant nature of the access to the high, that the addict would have. That would be a nightmare I think.

a reply to: TrueBrit

I know a lot of Marines and Athletes who are already addicted to that natural high of adrenalin and endorphins.
if you look at just that aspect--- if you could trigger just those... you really would have a superhuman solder capable of most anything... until he burns out that is

a reply to: HardCorps

Yes but burnout rate would grow several percent, if not tens of percent. The training received by warriors to prepare them for combat, trains the mind as well as the body, and prepares both for optimum action in concert between the two. However, if pushed past the natural limit of even a trained warriors capabilities, the parts of the brain responsible for dishing out these chemicals will become strained to a greater degree than they often are under "normal" battle conditions, which are already dangerous for a mind to encounter, even with all the best training available.

That would be bad in general, but the parts of the brain that they act upon, as well as the glands which create the substances themselves would be overworked. When you stress certain parts of the mind you invite unforeseen consequences, like an increased probability of psychosis, temperature regulation problems, and even an increased risk of cancer, aneurism, blood clotting on the brain, random fluctuations in intracranial pressure....

Some chemicals issued to the brain, may, in large enough doses, interfere with normal central nervous system response and operation, so hacking this new technology for the sake of a high would be very risky.

However, assuming that the DARPA folks accept that a solider tripping balls mid battle is bad for tactical awareness, I would have thought that the technology is configured to be relatively limited in terms of the number of functions it can control.

a reply to: HardCorps

Can't humans already heal themselves?
I got a good second degree burn on my calf two weeks ago, was nasty looking for a good week, now there isn't even a scar!

originally posted by: strongfp
a reply to: HardCorps

Can't humans already heal themselves?
I got a good second degree burn on my calf two weeks ago, was nasty looking for a good week, now there isn't even a scar!

your really asking the wrong guy when it comes to medical stuff... the only part of the expiation I understood was

The technology is being described as a little pacemaker, to keep the body in check - similarly to the way Wolverine can heal himself

Heal like Wolverine'...bullet holes closing up and fixing themselves as you watch...cool, that I get... how it does that?
Not a clue man...