Implantable USB Drive

[Tex]

Alright, just hear me out:

I was about to head home from school today when I had this pretty amazing idea. Basically, you could (possibly 50 years in the future) go to a doctor and have implanted somewhere near your heart a USB drive. Of course, unless you had a memory stick implanted as well (in a place other than the heart, I'd hope) you could only do one thing with it: Charge your mobile device of choice!

My theory is that it would work due to the fact that the heart is made of self-stimulating muscle that uses very small amounts of electricity to cause a spasm which beats the heart. Pacemakers are pretty much the opposite of my idea; instead of taking power from the heart, pacemakers actually help "shock" the muscle to stimulate it.

My other half of the idea: if you had this implant and charge a mobile device, and if your heart couldn't produce the required amount of energy, it would be a simple matter for the heart to produce extra energy to regain the balance. In this sense, charging a device would actually make your heart stronger as it beats faster and makes up the energy lost through charging!

Of course, this is just an idea, a theory. I do not pretend to be an expert of human anatomy or bio-engineering or cyber-implants. What do you guys think? is this possible? Carry benefits (or disadvantages)?

[Chrisd857]

Necessary link http://xkcd.com/644/

Anyway, I think kinetic energy from walking motions provides a fair bit more power.

[Tex]

Absolutely true.

[softweir]

The main problem is that the heart is extremely efficient and generates hardly any excess electricity. Almost all of the electricity has to stay in the heart or it stops! What does leak out (which is what is measured by ECG monitors in medical dramas) is of the microwatt level, and has to be amplified by ECG monitors before they can measure it.

The second idea fails because the heart doesn't have a feedback mechanism that says "oh, I'm leaking electricity, I'd better beat faster to make up". It has all sorts of mechanisms to make it beat harder when blood oxygen is low, there is a lot of adrenalin around, input from the vagus nerve stimulates it etc etc, but none that measure stolen electricity.

An idea which is being seriously researched is building fuel cells that absorb glucose from the blood and react it with oxygen to generate electricity. People wouldn't starve, because there are feedback mechanisms in the body that measure blood glucose and top it up if it goes too low. (Though this doesn't work for diabetics and people with other metabolic problems.)

[lajoswinkler]

There will be no USBs 50 years into the future, just like we don't use vacuum tubes in our radios anymore.

Leeching energy from SA node is an incredibly dangerous idea. That's one of the basic units that keeps us alive. Even if it would be enough energy for devices (it wouldn't), there are more suitable sources in and outside our body.

It will happen. I'm sure we'll have some form of memory storage implants in our bodies in the next 50 years, but they will not be near our hearts. No way.

Edited October 11, 2013 by lajoswinkler
good point, softweir

[Scotius]

You really want it?

[WestAir]

I feel like transhumanism will take a different turn from usb-implantations.

I feel like we'll be working on inventing new organs that do stuff better, faster, with fewer glitches. Carbon nano-tube bones so falls won't hurt you. Nanites to help identify and/or repair diseases, infections, and improve stuff like mylin coverings and your CNS. Blah blah blah. Hooking up to the internet or your pc, or charging a usb with your heart? I feel like such ideas be put on the backburner when compared to what else can be done with a human body.

[BostLabs]

50 years in the future? Whelp, that leaves me out. I don't think at 103 I'll be interested in mobile devices. That is unless I'm fully bionic or my brain is in a android body. (Most likely my brain will be in a jar. (Marked abnormal ))

Abby Someone

[WestAir]

50 years in the future? Whelp, that leaves me out. I don't think at 103 I'll be interested in mobile devices. That is unless I'm fully bionic or my brain is in a android body. (Most likely my brain will be in a jar. (Marked abnormal ))

I don't think I'll live to be 74, so we'll both be in jar's next to each other.

[Tarrow]

I don't think I'll live to be 74, so we'll both be in jar's next to each other.

Y'know there's no technological reason they can't do that already. Feed oxygenated blood containing nutrients into the carotid artery, return from the jugular vein & seal the stump of the neck (as they do for any amputation) to prevent you crudding up the jar with leaked blood. Basically a cardiopulmonary bypass without the hassle of having to keep a full body alive. I suspect there may be ethical issues stopping them actually doing it

Of all people Sony are the ones that've been showing off glucose / oxygen biobatteries. '07 they could run an MP3 player and in '10 they used a more advanced version to power a small remote controlled car. Running something like an microprocessor is well within that kind of power output.

[lajoswinkler]

Y'know there's no technological reason they can't do that already. Feed oxygenated blood containing nutrients into the carotid artery, return from the jugular vein & seal the stump of the neck (as they do for any amputation) to prevent you crudding up the jar with leaked blood. Basically a cardiopulmonary bypass without the hassle of having to keep a full body alive. I suspect there may be ethical issues stopping them actually doing it

Of all people Sony are the ones that've been showing off glucose / oxygen biobatteries. '07 they could run an MP3 player and in '10 they used a more advanced version to power a small remote controlled car. Running something like an microprocessor is well within that kind of power output.

It can't be successfully done because the body produces stuff the brain needs that we can't artificially produce. Hormons and a great deal of other special proteins. Brain communicates with the body not only by nerve impulses. It would be bad enough to sever that (brain expects a neurochemical feedback), but completely severing the chemical communication would mean the brain is doomed.

You don't have to worry about the ethical issues. There are always monsters that would be ok with doing that to people. I'm pretty sure such experiments are done in countries like China. With all those hundreds of people murdered each year in prisons and the current state policy on human rights that has remained the same since the Tianmen massacre, no doubt there are attrocities done as we speak. When you've got poor public understanding of universal ethical values, low information connectivity to the outside world (massive internet censorship), propaganda and a huge number of citizens that lowers down the value of an anonymous individual, terrible stuff happens.

[Kryten]

I think you'll find the actual reason people haven't tried that is heart-lung machines aren't actual functional replacements for, well, a heart and set of lungs. The record time for survival on one is about a month. Having a number of hormonal systems missing may well be unpleasant, but there's not really a plausible mechanism by which it could 'doom' the brain.

[Nuke]

ive seen a thing about a glucose powered fuel cell that runs on blood sugar. you probibly wouldn't want it anywhere in the chest cavity for safety reasons. there are better places for it anyway. you just need to have a blood vessel to connect it to. so it could go in your arms or legs where there are no vital organs and ample bloodflow. it could potentially be used as a power supply for implantable medical devices (or bio-enhancement products).

thing about implanting technology is the same thing with the rest of technology. obsolescence. only difference is its not so easy to upgrade implanted technology. just putting it in requires a surgical team, and would be expensive as well as unnecessarily risky. when a new one comes out, or if there is a problem with the device, if you want to get rid of it for medical or any other reasons, you have to do another procedure. you do it enough you will end up with a buildup of scar tissue which wont look too pretty. obviously only the rich will be able to afford such devices. but it still has potential for medical applications, for example automatic insulin dosers for diabetics, and occipital lobe implants (camera interface) for the blind, and the many other implants already in use.

Edited October 12, 2013 by Nuke

[3_bit]

I recall seeing a prosthetic thumb with a USB drive built in. Makes you *just* that much more want to cut off your thumb.

[WestAir]

I recall seeing a prosthetic thumb with a USB drive built in. Makes you *just* that much more want to cut off your thumb.

A thumb drive that's really a thumb.

Hahaha. Puns...

[Awaras]

And then there's this guy:

http://www.physicscentral.com/explore/action/project-cyborg.cfm

[Tex]

I recall seeing a prosthetic thumb with a USB drive built in. Makes you *just* that much more want to cut off your thumb.

I do actaully recall seeing that man's story in Ripley's B.I.O.N., apparently his thumb was severed in a motorcycle accident or some such a thing.

Interesting theories, everybody!

[Daman453]

What i am thinking: The power output would maybe charge your phone in the hour, In that hour, what would happen is that the heart would just beat faster and faster, maybe over frying your heart, you would have to do it in small doses, still people are dummies and will 'Over dose'.

[lajoswinkler]

I think you'll find the actual reason people haven't tried that is heart-lung machines aren't actual functional replacements for, well, a heart and set of lungs. The record time for survival on one is about a month. Having a number of hormonal systems missing may well be unpleasant, but there's not really a plausible mechanism by which it could 'doom' the brain.

So you think that this fact would keep criminals from experimenting on live people like this? You're too naive. Just look at the things that were conducted during the World War II. Plenty of crap, even non-scientific stuff.

If the oxygenation was solved permanently, the lack of hormonal systems would surely drive the brain into a huge problem that would reflect as losing a sense of reality, just to mention the weak side effect, as our personalities and consciousness are the pinacle of the brain's total work.

I'm positive that series of epi-seizures would start eventually, quickly destroying what's left of the whole neuron pathway infrastructure.

What i am thinking: The power output would maybe charge your phone in the hour, In that hour, what would happen is that the heart would just beat faster and faster, maybe over frying your heart, you would have to do it in small doses, still people are dummies and will 'Over dose'.

Read again - the power output of the SA node is pathetic. We're talking about microwatts here. You can't power anything with that.

I'm not sure how would the autonomic nervous system react to leeching of SA node energy but I'm sure it would be a very stupid idea. If SA node stops working, that's cardiac arrest. It usually flutters without rythm, so ER uses defibrillator to reset the sinus rythm. If the node stops working completely, nothing helps.

Just to think of the idea to mess with a piece of special tissue inside heart to power up a USB port... makes my head hurt.

Edited October 12, 2013 by lajoswinkler

[Nuke]

according to usb spec, a usb 1.x/2.0 port needs to be able to put out 500ma@5v, or 2.5w. usb 3.0 allows a maximum draw of 900ma@5v for 4.5w power. there are also dedicated charging ports that can do 1.5a/7.5w per port, and up to 5a per bus. you need a power source that can handle that much power. most devices dont use that much power, but some do and so the power supply needs to accommodate those to conform to spec. i think the only way to do that is to use biochemical energy (rather than tapping into the signal line of a vital organ).

[jwenting]

I recall seeing a prosthetic thumb with a USB drive built in. Makes you *just* that much more want to cut off your thumb.

for when you want to play R2D2 and plug yourself in?

[Daman453]

Ok then, a week, you would go into cardiac arrest and die.

[SunJumper]

I'm sure a wireless transmitter would be more practical...

[lajoswinkler]

Not a week. The second your SA node is fixed with a pair of electrodes, anomalous rythm will be generated. Without a help from a pacemaker, you'd die on the operating table.

[Psycix]

The closest thing I'd imagine would be some sort of fuel cell that runs on glucose and sugars in your blood.

Since it'd burn your energy, it would be great for people who need to lose weight!

But I do not think that the hassle of implanting foreign objects in your tissue is worth this application.