Biohacking may not be mainstream, but neither is it entirely hidden from view. Pittsburgh-based Grindhouse Wetware provides various implants such as magnets that light up and RFID chips triggered by ultrasonics to sense heat or distances remotely.
Biohacking, like alternative therapies, can be highly sensory and experiential; yet, it can sometimes be misunderstood as solely technocratic practice with no regard for cultural ramifications.
Finger Magnets
Magnetic finger implants are one example of biohacking, an evolving field in which people use technology to optimize human function by implanting it into their bodies. Biohackers employ anything from simple magnets in fingers to RFID chips in their quest for improved sense of the world around them. Some experiments may have serious ramifications for privacy while other uses are more playful; artists like Neil Harbisson and Moon Ribas use biohacking techniques as ways of connecting more deeply with life itself.
Many users who wear finger magnets report that it acts like a sixth sense, helping them interact more seamlessly with their environments. For instance, they claim they can feel power lines overhead buzzing overhead; hear motors running in appliances; and feel security gates that some stores require you to pass through.
Implants consist of 52n neodymium magnets coated in 24-carat gold, silicon or Teflon that are ecological. Once implanted into your finger – most often the non-dominant ring finger as this one tends to be less used for physical tasks – insertion is completed via gigantic syringe insertion and takes several days before healing takes place and you are aware of anything different.
Implants carry risks, particularly if their coating becomes damaged or the magnet shatters beneath your skin. An infected implant may become infected over time, and you could develop scar tissue called keloids which scar or deform the area where you had it placed. Furthermore, it should not be placed if you undergo regular MRI scans as it can interfere with these machines and make them ineffective.
People with magnetic implants must also take extra caution not to swallow metal objects that could damage them, since small magnets will have minimal effects nearby; however, the field could still be strong enough to damage a hard drive or credit card. There have also been reports of people needing their magnets removed due to being swallowed accidentally by food containers or other objects containing metal particles.
Ear Magnets
Biohacking is known for pushing the limits of what technology and our bodies can accomplish together. Cyborg artists Neil Harbisson and Moon Ribas have had chips implanted to open doors or turn lights on and perform other tasks; other implants allow a person to hear music without using headphones and detect directions of objects in their environment.
An example of a DIY implant would be an ear magnetic disc used to prevent cauliflower ear after an auricular haematoma has occurred. Aspirating and placing discs along both sides of the pinna is intended to prevent dead space accumulation, which could potentially lead to perichondritis, an inflammation of skin at the base of the pinna. A man in his 20s sustained a left pinnal auricular haematoma while wrestling, and presented to accident and emergency with symptoms including pain and swelling of his ear. Aspirating his auricular haematoma and applying commercially available ear magnetic discs on either side of his pinna to prevent further accumulation of dead tissue was done; five days later he presented to accident and emergency with pain and inflammation, his earlobes having necrotic areas which had become disfigured and necrotic upon examination; his skin also becoming blackened from pressure necrosis caused by implanting magnetic discs into either ear.
Ear magnets are unregulated by medical authorities and many doctors refuse to implant them due to violating the Hippocratic Oath by performing unnecessary surgery. Grinders (biohackers) who perform implant surgeries for profit risk being sued by medical professionals; therefore they use pseudonyms when posting profiles online.
Biohackers implant magnetic beads into their bodies to increase sensory capabilities, such as hearing music without headphones or sensing objects in their environments. Furthermore, these implants can act as acupuncture points on the body. Rich Lee has implanted his ears with invisible headphones containing magnets which vibrate near his eardrum when pressing “Play” on a music player – creating sound. Furthermore, these implants can even be linked up to GPS systems for directions or echolocation purposes.
RFID Chips
Like their film counterparts Robocop and Iron Man, biohackers utilize technology to enrich their lives and transform themselves. By treating our bodies like machines, biohackers believe we can become greater than we could have been without their assistance. Wearable devices with sensors for tracking exercise and sleep patterns to more radical modifications can range from adding sensors to wearables to track exercise and sleep patterns, all the way through to augmenting our bodies with technology. One popular addition is radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips – tiny pieces of silicon the size of grains of rice which store information about an individual such as medical records or access controls for buildings or devices – used frequently in public places like airports and stores.
An RFID implant can be defined as a magnet that can be excited by small coils of wire connected to external sensors such as ultrasonics or infrared, which then trigger external sensors such as ultrasonics or infrared and allow its wearer to “feel” distance from objects or even remote heat, buzzing power lines or microwaves, pick up small metal objects such as bottle caps or paper clips or detect live wires vs dead ones – potentially saving their life in case of electrical shocks. This biohacker working in electronics can potentially save their life from electrical shocks by sensing live wires vs dead ones – potentially saving their lives in case they encounter one!
Implantable devices include heart pacemakers that help balance abnormal heartbeats, hearing aids that directly interact with the brain and electronic prostheses that allow people to walk again after spinal cord injuries. Furthermore, experiments have been done using ingestible sensors that monitor and modify bodily functions such as blood sugar levels or blood pressure.
As DIY biohacking enters uncharted territory, regulators have struggled to keep up with this growing trend. In the US, regulators such as FDA have warned that using gene-editing products for self-administration constitutes illegal biohacking; while in the UK such procedures do not fall within medical device category so are unregulated; yet many DIY biohackers operate outside medical facilities and without training in surgery or sterilisation procedures.
Other Implants
DIY has enabled more individuals to conduct experiments outside of a laboratory setting and experiment with their biology outside of traditional settings, commonly referred to as garage biologists or DIY biohackers. These individuals employ various techniques such as electronic tattoos known as biostamps, password pills, memory chips embedded within human bodies for navigation purposes, or magnetic implants in order to manage their health and body.
Magnet implants are one of the most beloved biohacking augmentations. When exposed to magnetic fields, this implant causes nerve endings to react slightly allowing users to sense magnetic fields as well as detect oscillating electromagnetic fields. Magnet implants may be placed either on fingertip or ear; fingertip placement tends to be preferred due to its higher concentration of nerve endings and its proximity to nearby magnets allowing users to feel its force as well as listen for its vibrations using devices which convert magnetic waves into soundwaves for audio/aural feedback loops allowing users to both feel magnetic waves into soundwaves/soundwaves/sound waves/waves/soundwaves from nearby magnets/magnets nearby; such devices allow users to hear these waves.
Biohacking encompasses more than just these devices; implant technologies being created can monitor blood sugar levels in real time, target drug delivery to specific individuals and enhance accessibility for people with disabilities. All these new technologies raise ethical and safety issues that must be considered.
Biohackers rely on implants and various other methods to enhance their performance and cognitive abilities, including taking nootropics – substances designed to boost focus, decision making, memory retention and processing speeds – in the form of supplements or pills.
Other less invasive strategies involve making changes to diet or physical enhancement. Some biohackers are even exploring nutrigenomics – the study of how food influences genes – for medical uses like decreasing Alzheimer’s risk or improving athletic performance.
On BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire program, biohacker Rich was featured. He sports various forms of magnetic implants including near-field communication (NFC) chips implanted into his fingers that connect him with websites and open car doors; headphones that transmit sound through magnetic impulses; as well as magnets in his ears intended to enable echolocation if his eyesight continues deterioration.
