Implants Ready To Replace Pills And Prescriptions

Tiny computers can take control of our nervous system with remarkable results, finds Alex Reis.

- Alex Reis

Imagine visiting your doctor and, instead of leaving with a prescription, you come out with a small device implanted in your body and a new app on your phone. No more worrying about what time you must take a pill – all you need do is let technology take its course.

As implausible as it sounds, this day may not be too far away.

This is the promise of bioelectronic medicine – a field where our nervous system is treated like a hackable, electrical infrastructure. It’s an area of study that asks: what if, instead of using drugs to treat a condition, implants could control and tweak our bodies? What if, somewhere down the line, you could combat a tumour by harnessing your own neural signals?

HACKING THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

For Kevin Tracey, based at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in New York and one of the pioneers in this field, it all started with a desire to understand inflammation. For years, his team studied why the body reacts so dramatically to inflammatory conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, and why these diseases are so difficult to treat.

In patients with rheumatoid arthritis, for example, current treatments typically involve prescription drugs to block the production of a protein called tumour necrosis factor (TNF), which the body generates excessive amounts of in cases of inflammation. However, there are many problems with blocking TNF – not least the high price of treatment and potentially life-threatening side effects.