The contraceptive method of the future is controlled via wi-fi and lasts 16 years

The future of birth control methods is upon us.

It is a microchip that is implanted under the skin and can release precise doses of hormone controlled remotely for up to 16 years. It can also be turned on and off as desired. For example, when a woman wants to get pregnant, or when it is necessary to suspend hormone therapy, it is deactivated with a click.

If this device passes safety and efficacy tests it would become the most practical hormonal device available. There would be no problems of forgetfulness , it can be deactivated and reactivated autonomously without going to the gynecologist, and its duration would cover almost half of the woman’s reproductive life.

The idea for the device arose two years ago from a visit by Bill Gates and his colleagues to Robert Langer’s MIT laboratory . Gates and his colleagues asked Langer if it was feasible to make a birth control device that could be turned off and on by a woman and would be usable for many years. In 1990 Langer with Michael Cima and John Santini had invented a  technology  to controlled release microchip and the association was immediately made. 

The device was then developed by Lexington and will begin pre-clinical tests next year in the United States. The goal is to have it on the market by 2018.

It is a 20 x 20 x 7 millimeter microchip designed to be implanted under the skin of the buttocks, arms or abdomen. It delivers 30 micrograms per day of levonorgestrel, a hormone already used in several types of contraceptives. The microchip contains microdoses to cover 16 years of daily hormone release. Activation and deactivation takes place via a specific remote control.

Currently, no hormonal birth control method lasts longer than 5 years (which is how long an IUD lasts).

Few private companies step up to the challenge of creating new contraceptives. Microchip times «could be good. An international coalition of governments, businesses, philanthropic, and nonprofit organizations recently pledged to provide family planning to 120 million women worldwide by 2020.

Much work remains before submitting the device for FDA approval.   For example, the team is working on fixing the security issue, to prevent anyone other than the user from monitoring the microchip data. A specific control app will certainly also be useful so that the doctor can vary the doses of the hormone as needed.

This is a very important novelty. Surely it will arrive on the market in a short time and we will hear a lot about it.