Special Section: Technology and the body Linking Life and Technology Wired Patients: Implantable microch and biosensors in patient care KEITH A. BAUER After decades of specialization within the sciences, the development and application of implantable microchips and biosensors are now being made possible by a growing convergence among seemingly disparate scientific dis ciplines including, among others, biology, informatics, chemistry, and engineer ing. This convergence of diverse scientific disciplines is the basis for the creation of new technologies that will have significant medical potential. As of today, implantable microchips and biosensors are being used as mental pros- theses to compensate for a loss of normal function, to remotely monitor patients' vital signs, to control the delivery of medications, and to communicate with geographically distant healthcare professionals and the outside environment. But, to fully appreciate the significance of implantable microchips and bio- sensors,it is important to understand that their development and use are situated within larger demographic, economic, and technologic developments, which are also converging to intensify creation of new automated and self-care technologies. These demographic, economic, and technologic developments are the growth of an aging population, society's need to control skyrocketing healthcare costs, and the formation of a comprehensive, global telecommuni- cations network When understood in light of this broader context, what are some of the most ikely and desirable healthcare consequences of implantable microchips and biosensors? First, microchips and biosensors are likely to support independent living and facilitate continuum of care. In doing so, these devices are likely to help move healthcare delivery from institutional settings to noninstitutional settings such as the home, giving patients more autonomy and a greater role in managing their own healthcare. Second, increased use of microchips and biosensors is likely to make healthcare more proactive and preventative rather than reactive and episodic. What the above likely outcomes have in common is that, as information and communication technologies are integrated into the human body the human body itself is more fully integrated into a vast, external information and telecommunications environment that includes for example, the Internet, elec tronic databases, and global positioning satellites. Therefore, we should not lose sight of the fact that, as we transform the human body internally with microchips and biosensors, we also transform externally how individuals interact and live in the world. As I hope to show in the remainder of this paper, able microchips and biosensors for patients and healthcare professionals. 2 A this transformation is the most immediate and likely consequence of impl 10.1017/50963180107070314Special Section: Technology and the Body: Linking Life and Technology Wired Patients: Implantable Microchips and Biosensors in Patient Care KEITH A. BAUER After decades of specialization within the sciences, the development and application of implantable microchips and biosensors are now being made possible by a growing convergence among seemingly disparate scientific dis￾ciplines including, among others, biology, informatics, chemistry, and engineer￾ing.1 This convergence of diverse scientific disciplines is the basis for the creation of new technologies that will have significant medical potential. As of today, implantable microchips and biosensors are being used as mental pros￾theses to compensate for a loss of normal function, to remotely monitor patients’ vital signs, to control the delivery of medications, and to communicate with geographically distant healthcare professionals and the outside environment. But, to fully appreciate the significance of implantable microchips and bio￾sensors, it is important to understand that their development and use are situated within larger demographic, economic, and technologic developments, which are also converging to intensify creation of new automated and self-care technologies. These demographic, economic, and technologic developments are the growth of an aging population, society’s need to control skyrocketing healthcare costs, and the formation of a comprehensive, global telecommuni￾cations network. When understood in light of this broader context, what are some of the most likely and desirable healthcare consequences of implantable microchips and biosensors? First, microchips and biosensors are likely to support independent living and facilitate continuum of care. In doing so, these devices are likely to help move healthcare delivery from institutional settings to noninstitutional settings such as the home, giving patients more autonomy and a greater role in managing their own healthcare. Second, increased use of microchips and biosensors is likely to make healthcare more proactive and preventative rather than reactive and episodic. What the above likely outcomes have in common is that, as information and communication technologies are integrated into the human body, the human body itself is more fully integrated into a vast, external information and telecommunications environment that includes, for example, the Internet, elec￾tronic databases, and global positioning satellites. Therefore, we should not lose sight of the fact that, as we transform the human body internally with microchips and biosensors, we also transform externally how individuals interact and live in the world. As I hope to show in the remainder of this paper, this transformation is the most immediate and likely consequence of implant￾able microchips and biosensors for patients and healthcare professionals.2


Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics (2007), 16, 281–290. Printed in the USA. Copyright © 2007 Cambridge University Press 0963-1801/07 $20.00 DOI: 10.1017/S0963180107070314 281