Electronic tags have just been sanctioned in the US to rely patient details but move raises questions, writes Lou Dolinar
The US Food and Drug Administration has given permission for humankind to get a digital upgrade - receiving implantable electronic tags for computerised medical information.
Human patients can now join million of pets, many cattle herds and assorted wildlife that already carry these implantable chips, but there are questions about how useful such a system would be or whether the security precautions are stringent enough.
A comparative handful of people have received chips on an experimental basis, but the FDA decision paves the way for widespread medical use, according to Applied Digital Solutions, the company that makes VeriChips and received approval for its device. The company based in Delray Beach, Florida, uses radio frequency identification technology similar to external devices like the MTA's E-ZPass, part of an electronic tolls system deploy on many US roads systems, and Mobil's Speedpass used in petrol station forecourts for quick access to services.
Under the implant procedure, the doctor administers a local anaesthetic to a patient, then uses a special injector to place the rice-sized ID capsule under the collarbone or into the triceps muscle on the arm. The injector can also remove the device.
The chip contains no patient information, just 256 characters of memory, a radio transceiver, and a tiny antenna. A scanner checks the code and then pulls up patient data through the Internet, displaying it on a computer screen.
Records could be anything from simple warnings about drug allergies - analogous to a medical ID bracelet - to complete medical histories. The records could be updated like any other computer record on central networks, without touching the patient.
The FDA approval was needed because the device accesses medical records - versions of it are already in use in people to provide ID codes that unlock doors at secure facilities, among other uses.
FDA spokeswoman Kathleen Quinn said the FDA looked primarily at medical safety issues, such as the potential for infection and irritation at the site of the injection.
Critics say there are both economic and privacy concerns. "I don't see how it can be effective until all emergency vehicles and centres have the readers," said Richard M. Smith, a privacy and Internet security consultant based in Boston.
In addition, the medical profession would have to agree to standards for the storage and access of computerised records, something doctors have resisted. "There's a lot of infrastructure that needs to be put into place," he said.
Applied Digital cracked the pet market by donating scanners to hundreds of animal shelters and veterinary clinics. In the 15 years since, it has sold 50,000 such scanners. Initially it plans to donate 200 scanners, which cost $650, to US trauma centres.
The chip costs about $50 for pets, and costs for humans should be $150 to $200, a company spokesman said. Costs and plans for the database and network were unclear.
The second concern is that the existing chip the company plans to use, because it is both small and limited in memory, has relatively little security, and is adapted from products the company sells to ID lost pets, track cattle herds, and monitor fish and other wildlife.
"We did take into account privacy issues when we took this action," Quinn said.
Currently, the two biggest deployments of the internal devices are outside the US. In Mexico, at least 160 top federal prosecutors and investigators began receiving chips in their arms last November in order to get access to restricted areas inside the attorney general's headquarters, at a cost of about $150 per chip.