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2mm x 5mm PTFE Stir Bar Implant
Hey guys, after finding very little about stir bar webbing implants on this site and for that matter, anywhere else, I decided to go ahead and try it.
I opted to put the magnet in the webbing of my right hand, as my fingers are super skinny, making a regular implant hard for me to do. Not only that but the pain factor just complicates it even more. Before this came my two failed attempts at putting a gold plated 3x1mm N52 in my fingertip, one try with a scalpel and the other with a needle, I decided to try something else and see if it works. It took no time at all to do the actual implant, as all it took was marking the implant site, inserting the needle (leftover from tag injection), taking the needle out, and pushing the magnet in. A few minutes tops. To make sure I didn't get a nasty infection everything was soaked in hydrogen peroxide, I washed my hands with warm soapy water, and the site was sterilized with iodine after gloving up my needle hand. After the implant I cleaned up with alcohol pads, applied some triple antibiotic ointment to the site and put on the band-aid.
My biggest worry is sensitivity, since after all my fingertip is way more sensitive than my webbing, but I figured it was worth a shot and if it doesn't work I can just take it out. I'll give some updates on sensitivity as the healing process goes on. If I were to do this again I'd definitely opt for a bigger PTFE. Links to where I got the mag in case anyone's interested (looks to be out of stock): http://amzn.to/2pDFECl
Also have some pictures, a little bit of blood but if you're on this forum you should be fine with that :p
Edit: This thread will give a little more detail about PTFE implants: http://forum.biohack.me/discussion/219/group-buy-high-grade-ptfe-coated-cylindrical-magnets
Comments
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How long ago did you do this?
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Id like to see more about this. Im planning some stuff this summer. Been a rough year lol,anywhoo i wanna see more of where you take this.
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The magnet is alnico. It won't be very powerful but ptfe is a nice safe coating. Hydrogen peroxide is not an adequate sterilant though. A better disinfectant would have been bleach.
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@cassox I did this last sunday, and yeah while I was prepping I had second thoughts about the hydrogen peroxide yet I did it anyway, but hey it looks like I got lucky.@cyrus Yeah we'll see where it goes, if the webbing turns out to be a viable implant spot it could definitely mean a lot less hassle and pain for people who want to get a magnet.
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@grouse well im one of the find north kinda guys. I live in the sticks, killdeer north dakota, so here finding north would be a safety net. Plus im an outdoors man survivalist type.... i have a couple threads marked. Im also looking into possible sonar abilities. Hence the magnet obsession lol. But id like to know in depth what all you notice, like massive data feedback is ok. Maybe ill be able to stop loosing 10mm sockets one day if i configure right
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Yeah, I'll keep you updated. Being able to sense the earth's field was something that got me interested in a magnetic implant originally lol. The stir bar is rather weak so a fingertip N52 definitely sounds like the way to go for sensing north. But in defense of the stir bar, it's smaller size does mean better sensitivity to fields. We'll see.
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The m31 is an N52 disc 3mm in diameter, 1mm tall. ^^ Great ideal shape and composition...Edit: this is why I don't like to post when I'm tired. I make myself look really stupid. ~3~ shoot me.I know almost nothing about magnetic stir rods or what they are made of, but in the interest and effort of being given as good of a chance as possible, n52 is going to be a strong focus point imo. Even with ideal magnets n42 grade neodymium tangibly suffers. ;_:This is great for proof of concept :D but if you also said you have no practical sensation coming from this implant, I wouldn't be surprised. >~<Keep us updated, interested :D
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One of the things i thought of doing was 2 finger tips and a thumb. Left hand. I would probably also do 1 of these stir bars in the webbing between my pointer and middle fingers, those are where i want the 2 fingertip implants.ive also been looking at some of the bottle nose ideas. I think sonar would be a magnificent help since im a night time person. With the physical augmentations and brain training you could probably figure out the difference in fields of certain objects, ie people from non people lol. Most my friends just thing im crazy when i talk about this kinda stuff though
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@Zerbula lol, I can definitely feel something, at least when I stick one of my N52s on the stir bar >.<, only time will tell if the stir bar does anything. If that doesn't do anything for me then I can always take it out and replace it with a neodymium at least ¯\_(ツ)_/¯@Cyrus Now that I think about it the pointer-middle webbing might be an even better spot for sensitivity, even better you could get a needle in there too. And also about your crazy comment, almost everyone here seems crazy to your average joe lol, at least that's what I gather from most of the reactions I've got anyway.
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Well in terms of strength, the alnico is really really a poor choice. It's somewhere around an order of magnitude weaker then something like an n52. In addition, field strength of a magnets falls off really rapidly. This is why we've made so much effort to produce a titanium nitride coated unit.. the coatings are rediculously thin.Overall, I don't think this is going to be successful in terms of any meaningful sensation. But, ptfe is a nice safe coating and I'm sure you learned a lot about performing procedures. And.. I could be wrong. Maybe it'll work out.
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@Cassox Yeah if I get any sensation it'll more than likely not be enough to be any real use. If nothing else this gives my finger time to heal and gives me some experience, no harm no foul imo.
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I just tried gluing my test magnet on the webbing between my thumb and index finger and couldn't feel it even when waving my hand past a strong magnet and I could see the little magnet moving. Obviously, it would be different if implanted but there doesn't seem to be much feeling (nerves) in that spot.
I am interested in your results with this magnet and the implant position. If you can get any sensation at all it should work for the bottle nose device.
As far as the hydrogen peroxide, one of my hobbies is plant tissue culture. I recently attempted to clean a couple raspberry explants using hydrogen peroxide for 10 minutes and then I put it into the agar media. One still looks clean but the second one got contaminated. My explants were from outdoor grown bushes so your magnet should be easier to clean but bleach would have been a better choice.
I don't think any magnet is going to let you sense North by itself. I don't have an implant but @McSTUFF had a thread about his attempt at building a non powered device.
http://forum.biohack.me/discussion/496/low-tech-approach/p1
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@Birdhandz Looks like you're right, according to this model there's really not much of anything there besides muscle, definitely explains why it's such a common spot for RFID tags, and yeah not using hydrogen peroxide anymore, my finger got infected (big surprise /s).Also just looked up bottlenose, super cool stuff. Maybe someday lol.
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Ive read several places here about the find north. Have a couple ideas for @McStuff in his haptic compass post. I understand that finding north wouldnt be achieved by a minimal amount of implants. And im open to installing multiple upgrades. Im going to check out the southpaw idea for sure too. Im super new as far as this even existing. Grinding and biohacking
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@grouse Could you tell if there was any sensation at all with that magnet before it got infected?
Does the magnet still look OK (assuming you removed it)?
Do you intend to try implanting it again?
Seeing how this was originally supposed to be a stir bar, I wonder if it could be autoclaved (pressure cooked) to sterilize it without weakening the magnetism?
I'm not sure what your needle is like but I have sterilized syringes and needles (not for actual human or animal injections) in a pressure cooker before and they survived and were completely sterilized. Everything still needs to be clean to start with but I'd trust the pressure cooker (15-30 minutes at full pressure) more than any chemical method.
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Not sure about AlNiCo magnets, but autoclaiving causes thermal stress. That can be magnetic degradation, failed bonding between coating to base materials, heat or pressure damage on pockets or voids.... It's all possible... How likely... idk! ;0; I know for a fact autoclaiving an TiN NdFeB m31 compromises it. #_#
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I'm not sure what size the OP got but here is a link to that brand of magnetic stir bar that specifically states that it is autoclavable.
https://www.belart.com/bel-art-f37119-0007-micro-flea-spinbar-magnetic-alnico-stirring-bar-teflon-coated-7-x-2mm.html
I know the stronger NdFeB magnets are not autoclavable but it looks like this particular one is.
Still don't know if this type of magnet would give any sensation if implanted though.
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Yeah, I made sure to remove the infected magnet right when I started to notice something was up. It was a gold plated N52 I put in my epidermis by accident. I could definitely feel fields before I removed it though, I'm planning on another try with my finger, maybe paying a professional to do it but more than likely going the DIY route again. This time with a TiN coating, the magnets I've had to remove look fine but I don't trust my ebay magnets.The stir bar I have is autoclavable but I don't own an autoclave so lol. 2mmx5mm to be exact.
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Magnet status update:(Week 1)The mark the needle left is almost unnoticeable and there are no signs of infection. I can touch the magnet and there's 0 pain. Sensitivity is also starting to grow. I could definitely feel the field from my microwave oven transformer with it. The mot was completely removed from a microwave and my magnet was only an inch or two away. I tried feeling the fan but the air along with the placebo effect was too distracting.
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Grouse, you know there are a few good resources regarding procedures right?
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Yeah, I just went off codyslab when I did my first attempts. Wasn't really aware of this forum lol
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Speaking of good resources @Cassox, just found your guide. Nice writeup
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Ah. Where? I have an ancient one somewhere.. I also have the over sized one on my auglim site that I'm still working on
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It was on your blog iirc
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Alright, just dropping by real quick with an update in case anyone comes along this thread. The injection has healed up perfectly and there has been no infection or signs of rejection. At this time there is no noticeable feeling. The closest I can get with this stir bar is by sticking a neodymium to it through the skin, and with that I can feel fields. But at that point you might as well inject a neodymium, which is the conclusion I came to from this project. While PTFE is safe, it's useless, especially in the spot I injected it in. It may be better in your fingers, but as I said just inject an N52. I'll probably end up removing this magnet and replacing it with another RFID sometime down the line.
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