MIT's 'GPS' locates hidden implants in body

MIT CSAIL

Moneycontrol News

Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) is developing a system, called ReMix, which works like a GPS but for implants in the body. The locator does not require any physical contact for the process and deploys math and wireless signals.

Implants are viewed as the future of medicine, as they can deliver medicine and track illnesses which can not be possible with conventional pills and scans.

According to a report in Engadget, this particular technology bounces radio signals off the patient and uses an algorithm to track the implant. The main challenge is to simply determine the difference between reflections from the skin and the implant.

For this purpose, the CSAIL team used a diode (a semiconductor device with two terminals) to create various combinations of signals that assist in filtering out the skin reflections. It provides "centimetre-level accuracy," and the implant does not require transmitting its own signal.

While it is still in the developmental phase, MIT wants to increase the accuracy through a combination of ReMix and MRI scans, whereby the algorithm may go for some changes depending on the various types of human bodies.

Doctors would be able to use less intrusive implant methods alongside the confirmation that they're on target. This would allow for implants in several situations.