Programmable pharmacy on a tiny chip

Chronicle of Higher Education : An implanted chip that can deliver precise, regular doses of medication over a period of several months has just passed its first human trial. About the size of a pacemaker, the device is implanted just under the skin in a procedure that takes about 30 minutes and requires only a local anesthetic. The test involved seven women age 65 to 70 who were given an osteoporosis drug that’s normally given by daily injection. The chip holds pinhead-sized wells of medication, each sealed with a thin metal skin. When the chip sends out a tiny electric current, the skin is pierced, releasing the drug inside. Should a doctor need to alter the dose, the chip can be reprogrammed with a radio transmitter to open different wells at different times. A next step toward making the device widely available is testing the stability of medication contained in the wells over longer periods of time.