GPS Micro-Chip implant makes debut
Pastor Dale Morgan
GPS Micro-Chip implant makes debut*
Company field-tests prototype used to track movements of human host
Posted: May 14, 2007
2:00 p.m. Eastern
Applied Digital Solutions, a technology development company, yesterday
said it has created and successfully field-tested a prototype of a GPS
implant for humans.
The dimensions of this initial "personal location device," or PLD,
prototype are said to be 2.5 inches in diameter by 0.5 inches in depth,
roughly the size of a pacemaker. Once inserted into a human, the device
can be tracked by Global Positioning Satellite technology and the
information relayed wirelessly to the Internet, where an individual's
location, movements and vital signs can be stored in a database for
future reference.
Dr. Peter Zhou, vice president and chief scientist of Applied Digital
Solutions, said: "We're very encouraged by the successful field testing
and follow-up laboratory testing of this working PLD prototype. The
specially designed antenna is working as planned. While reaching the
working prototype stage represents a significant advancement in the
development of PLD, we continue to pursue further enhancements,
especially with regard to miniaturization and the power supply. We
should be able to reduce the size of the device dramatically before the
end of this year."
The induction-based power-recharging method is similar to that used to
recharge implantable pacemakers, the company said. This recharging
technique functions without requiring any physical connection between
the power source and the implant.
As the process of miniaturization proceeds in the coming months, the
company said it expects to be able to shrink the size of the device to
at least one-half and perhaps to as little as one-tenth the current size.
Applied said the technology it used for the device builds on U.S. Patent
No. 5,629,678 for a "personal tracking and recovery system," which
Applied Digital acquired in 1999.
At the time Applied obtained the patent, it named the technology
"Digital Angel" and announced that a prototype would be unveiled in
October of 2000.
Closer to a cashless society?
The company proceeded to issue the technology in the form of a
wristwatch and pager, and following privacy concerns and verbal protests
over marketing the technology for government use, Applied backed away
from public discussion about such implants and the possibility of using
them to usher in a "cashless society."
In addition, to quell privacy concerns, the company issued numerous
denials, stating it had no plans to release such an implant.
In April of 2002 that the company planned such implant technology,
Applied Digital spokesman Matthew Cossolotto accused reporters of
intentionally printing falsehoods.
Less than three weeks later, the company issued a press release
announcing that it was accelerating development on a GPS implant.
Nathan Cochrane, deputy technology editor for The Sydney Morning Herald
and The Age, who has followed the development of the chip closely, was
highly critical of the company's denials and wrote the following in a
message to readers of Declan McCullagh's moderated "Politech" mailing
list: "I think ADS's bald-faced lies to you and the members of your list
about its plans in the past should send off warning flares about its
intentions and the ethical foundation of its culture. Given concerns
recently over corporate governance among businesses, ADS needs to answer
its critics."
Citing the concerns voiced by privacy advocates that government use of
such devices could lead to "function creep," Cochrane added, "How much
longer before implants are mandatory by law for all American citizens,
and those in the rest of the world?"
Last week, the St. Paul/Minneapolis Business Journal reported that
spokesman Cossolotto stated, "There has been a lot of interest in the
devices, but that Digital Angel still needs to do more to get the public
used to what they can accomplish."
The exact timing of commercial availability of PLD is unclear pending
further technological "refinements" and achieving any required
regulatory clearances.
Despite financial struggles, Applied appears determined to recover and
reach it's long-term goals of bringing its revolutionary tracking and
identification concepts and implants to market.
Last week, Applied announced it had signed securities purchase
agreements to sell 25 million previously registered shares, the proceeds
of which will go toward paying off its debt to IBM Credit LLC.
Under a forbearance agreement reached with IBM Credit, the company had
been given the opportunity to clear its approximate $95 million in debt
with a $30 million payment. The payment needs to be made by June 30. If
the payment is made on or before the given date, Applied Digital will be
considered to have satisfied its obligations to IBM in full, according
to the company.
Applied also markets the implantable VeriChip, a radio frequency
identification chip that can carry an individual's unique identification
number as well as store personal data. In addition, the company recently
unveiled in London it's new Bio-Thermo chip implant, which can read and
transmit a person's temperature and has numerous health-care applications.
In the works are other chips that can carry technology that identifies
blood pressure, disease and hormonal levels.