With obesity rates rising, doctors have been scratching their heads over the best – and safest way – to combat the disorder that seems to claim so many. Around the corner however, a new and mercifully-inexpensive augmentation may be key to curbing misbehaving appetites.
You may be used to science fiction telling you the wonders (or the dilemmas) of microchips, but a small (“smaller-than-the-tip-of-your-finger” small!) one attached to your nerve may be key to quelling your need to over-eat.
“This is a really small microchip and on this chip we’ve got the intelligence which can actually model the neural signals responsible for appetite control,” Chris Toumazou, professor at Imperial College London and one of the inventors of the chip, told the BBC.
The microchip would be attached to your vagus nerve – this is the nerve that controls your desire to eat, digest, heart rate and more. It’s a very extensive range. In hindsight, Toumazou explained that the project was originally designed for children suffering from disorders such as cerebral palsy and epileptic seizures. The microchip in this case, used a piece of technology called MIMATE, which reads chemical signatures in the brain.
Taking that very same technology, the microchip was then developed into something that could be beneficial for weight loss. What changed about the weight-loss microchip was that the chip didn’t send stimulating impulses, but rather submits readings and signals to suppress the urge to eat.
“As a result of monitoring these signals we can stimulate the brain to counter whatever we monitor,” Toumazou said. “It will be control of appetite rather than saying don’t eat completely. So maybe instead of eating fast you’ll eat a lot slower.”
That’s right – whether you know it or not, your body would be telling your brain off for eating more than you should!
Creepy or creative? Inspiring or frightening?
The microchip is still in development, but for many suffering from obesity, it may be the next best thing.
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