Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Dentist's breakthrough puts tell-all chip in tooth

Don't be silly...this isn't like a Big Brother type of thing, it's for our children.

This imbecile obviously hasn't read 1984 (or Brave New World), or if he did, he didn't get it. And he obviously has no concept of history either, but that's by design. Government never has your best interest at heart. The State killed 250 million people the last century alone. And if you think America doesn't do that sort of thing, again, you have no sense of history. Tell that to the American Indian. Tell that to the Japanese at Hiroshima, and Nagasaki. Tell that to the 58,000 Americans who died in Vietnam over the Gulf of Tonkin lie. Tell that to the nearly 3,000 Americans killed on 9-11, and the tens of thousands of Americans - more than Vietnam (you believe the official numbers?) - who have given their lives over that lie.

No good can ever come from giving government more control over your life, and there are few ways to exert more control than to be able to track you at all times, and access - and manipulate - your medical records, your travel status, and your bank account. Whether you believe this is the mark of the beast or not, don't ever let them microchip you.

    Post Tribune -

    Dr. Kevin Brunski wants to chip your tooth.

    More specifically, the Crown Point dentist, who has a patent pending on his invention, I-Denti-Fied, hopes to one day see every person in the United States wearing the device -- a chip about the size of a grain of rice that stores a person's unique identification number linked to his or her entire medical history.

    The chip is implanted in a tooth where it can neither be felt nor rejected by the body.

    Brunski gave up his nearly 20-year dental practice a couple of years ago to devote all his time to market the I-Denti-Fied.

    He got the idea four years ago after an Amber Alert had just appeared on television, notifying the viewing audience to keep an eye out for a missing child.

    "I was disgusted with that. I went to pet my dog and felt this lump."

    It was his Australian shepherd Chesney's microchip that Brunski felt.

    "I said, 'Wait a minute, why can't we do this for our children, not like a Big Brother type of thing, but if they are lost or stolen?' " Brunski said. His first thought was to implant a chip into a tooth to help in identifying missing children, but he realized it could also hold critical health information in case of an emergency.

    Brunski turned to the Internet to see if any such device was already on the market, but the ID chips at that time were larger and wouldn't fit inside a tooth.

    Brunski tabled the idea, but kept researching to see if anyone had a smaller chip.

    Finally, in fall of 2007 Brunski found a company in Luxemburg that manufactured a transponder 1 mm by 5 mm, the size of an uncooked grain of rice. He began benchtop studies with a denture and extracted human teeth in his office.

    The chip, transponder, or "tag" holds a 16-digit code that unlocks a person's personal health record. Brunski partnered with a company that stores such records online.

    "They are fully HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) compliant," Brunski emphasized, to protect client's health information privacy. The information can't be stolen because it isn't in the chip, and the code can only be read by a special "reader," a gun, produced by the same company, aimed at the client's mouth.

    "No other reader can read it," Brunski said.

    Because the product is so new and not yet universal, clients are also given a USB device that can be carried on a keychain. They also receive a wallet card and a sticker to be placed on their driver's license.

    "It allows first responders and caregivers to have critical access to their information, especially for those with a chronic disease like Alzheimer's disease and dementia or special needs like autism and Down syndrome," said Brunski.

    Even X-rays, allergies, family member contact information, insurance information and Do Not Resuscitate orders can be included.

    A 24-hour call center can pull up the information and fax a patient's profile to any emergency department, Brunski said.

    "... peace of mind"

    Brunski also sees potential for the chip's use in such diverse applications as football players' mouth guards and disasters like the recent earthquake in Haiti.

    Rocio Alcantar, who moved to Michigan from Whiting, had her East Chicago dentist Dr. Lawrence Adams install the device in her tooth in November.

    "I always lived blocks from my family," said Alcantar, a diabetic who has had two kidney transplants. "It gives me and my family peace of mind."

    "I've had handfuls of surgeries and I'm on so many medications, when my husband is at work and my son is in school, I'm completely alone with zero acquaintances," Alcantar said.

    Alcantar likes the fact that she can control the information that goes into her personal health record, which can change weekly.

    "They provide you with a Web site and USB port. You put in your password and you have access to edit your info. When I go to a doctor for the first time I can take the USB with me."

    The implant process was painless, Alcantar said.

    "It was less invasive than having a cavity filled," she said.

    Currently those like Alcantar who have the device implanted into live teeth do so knowing it has not yet received FDA approval.

    The cost is $150, including one year of membership on the Web site, Brunski said.

    Currently, only three dentists in Northwest Indiana implant the devices. Dr. Annette Williamson, who practices in Crown Point, implanted one in her assistant Kristy Green's son's tooth.

    "He's a senior at Valparaiso High School this year and he'll be going away to college," Green said.

    "They don't have the readers yet, but his information is on the thumb drive and he has a wallet card. When I heard about it I immediately said, 'It's cool. I want my son to have that. It gives me peace of mind because if he's by himself and something happens, number one, they'll be able to get in touch with me."

    Williamson, who attended dental school with Brunski, said she thinks the device is "a great idea.

    "I used to service nursing homes for 15 years. Sometimes the residents leave and just wander," she said. "If they're injured and paramedics try to administer medication, their allergies and other information would be at their fingertips. Often, it's a matter of saving a life when time is of the essence."

    Even if a patient is not sick Williamson said she sees the I-Denti-Fied as a time saver.

    "In the dental field patients need to update their history every six months and people hate filling out paperwork," she said. "If they have all this information on a thumb drive they can just hand over. I can put it in my USB port, call it up and print it out."

    "It's a safety issue as well," Williamson said. "We have so many health-care providers and specialists. Not one person has your complete record. It's a great way to cross reference."

1 comment:

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