The Intestinal Superhighway

Abstract

Discusses the use of wearable technologies and assesses the implications for the medical industry that is using implantable smart devices to make a diagnosis of what could be a multitude of ailments or medical conditions. Asks the question - will we need to coordinate our implanted electronics? Perhaps microstimulation on one part of us should be done at a different time than another. Perhaps all data collected by sensors in our bodies could be transmitted to the outside by a single output device. Perhaps the best course of treatment is to collect data and then take actions based on that data in a certain order. And that implies that we might want to embed some smarts in us also. By the time these devices get FDA approval, there should be powerful processors plenty small and power efficient enough for the job. We could perhaps do coordination at an external base station, but we might need embedded intelligence when we are not near one, or even when we are asleep. Now, all this implies that these components need to be connected in some way, forming a network on a body (NOB). Explores how this could be accomplished.