The Department of Defense has awarded a $1.6 million grant to the Center for Bioelectronics, Biosensors and Biochips at Clemson University for research aimed at developing an implantable biochip that could transmit medical information, Health Data Management reports.
The grant will fund a joint study on such a device with the University of Alabama at Birmingham's department of molecular pathology and Telesensors, a Tennessee company that develops sensor technology.
The biochip would be about the size of a grain of rice and would be able to relay patient data instantly. The biochip could be injected into a wounded patient or used for long-term applications, such as monitoring astronauts' vital signs during space flights or monitoring blood-sugar levels of patients with diabetes.
The biochip is about five years away from human trials, according to researchers (Health Data Management, 8/6).