Don't let the name fool you -- the so-called “microworm” devices created by researchers at MIT and Northeastern for implant under the skin are not living creatures. Instead they are small tubes filled with particular chemicals that emit light in response to certain chemicals present in the blood. The light could warn diabetics or other people with blood conditions of a potential danger, such as low blood sugar, early on and prevent devastating side effects, like kidney failure or blindness.
Microworm tubes are so tiny -- less than one hundredth the width of a typical human hair -- that the body doesn't even react to their implanted presence beneath the skin (though the FDA might still have issues approving these novel devices without proof of their long-term safety). Once inside, they are visible to the human eye as a fluorescent “tattoo.” I wonder whether the patient has any say in it's design, although I bet one doesn't need a Mom-filled-heart's worth of nanotubes for the implant to be medically useful.
The tubes are manufactured in a process similar to shrink wrapping. A vaporized material is deposited onto the tubes, leaving a surface coating that makes pores on the surface smaller and able to react to other chemicals in the environment. Additionally, more reactive chemicals, or even drugs for delivery, can be inserted into the pores before they are capped at either end. The whole process is relatively cheap and easy to do, since this method of manufacture is already standard in the semiconductor industry.
So far, the team has only tested this technology as a device for monitoring salt levels in mice. But scientists are enthusiastic that this could be applied to other diseases like diabetes, and could one day be done right in the doctor's office. Is this getting trendy? I'm keeping a lookout for the first medical tattoo parlor.
Tags: Biotechnology, Health, Materials Science, Modern Medicine, Nanomedicine
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