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Coronavirus pandemic
TechTech Trends

Pentagon team reveals Covid-19-detecting chip that can be implanted in the body

  • DARPA, a US military research lab, has developed a chip that can continuously test people’s blood for the new coronavirus
  • The invention is in late-stage testing and could be administered to sailors, researchers say

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Members of the US Navy salute the ensign for colours during a decommissioning ceremony of the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard at Naval Base San Diego on April 14, 2021. Photo: Handout via AP
Masha Borak

A team of US scientists working under the US Department of Defense has unveiled a chip that it said can detect signs of the new coronavirus in human bodies within minutes when it is implanted under the skin.

Retired Colonel Matt Hepburn said that the implant invented by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), a Pentagon unit that develops emerging technologies for military use, can continuously test blood.

The Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group transits in formation with the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group in the South China Sea on April 9, 2021. Photo: Handout
The Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group transits in formation with the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group in the South China Sea on April 9, 2021. Photo: Handout

Carried in a tissue-like gel, the microchip shows chemical reactions in the body – a signal to wearers that they will develop symptoms the next day. This allows them to get tested early for the virus, he said.

“We can have that information in three to five minutes,” Hepburn told CBS News show 60 Minutes last Sunday.

“As you truncate that time, as you diagnose and treat, what you do is you stop the infection in its tracks.”

Hepburn suggested that the chip could be used to monitor the health of sailors.

The chip implant does not trace movement and is now in late-stage testing, researchers said. 

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