DARPA implants keep stress levels in check

We live in an extremely stressful society these days, as everything needs to be instant, and to deliver less than expected is deemed by some to be a major failure. Well, the Department of Defense’s research agency is looking out for a new kind of body sensors, that when implanted into their soldiers, such sensors are capable of checking out the stress level of that particular person at all times. I can just imagine how the future would be like if this goes through – all soldiers might end up having a longer lifespan if these sensors are smart enough to catch different diseases at their earliest (and hence, most treatable) stage.

Such sensors are inserted under a soldier’s skin, and DARPA wants them to be efficient enough to deliver real-time, accurate measurements of “DoD-relevant biomarkers” such as stress hormones, like cortisol, and compounds that signal inflammation – histamine, for example. At least military doctors will have a better idea on how each individual soldier’s health is like, and the top brass in the military can better modify their training sessions to maximize performance. Hopefully such sensors will remain in the military – what if it ends up commercialized, and our bosses keep track of our stress levels only to have sadistic ones fire us because he/she thinks that we are too stressed to handle that big case well?

Edwin Kee
Categories: Medical, Military
Tags: darpa, implant