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The craziest and coolest thing I've ever done
Hi everyone! I'm a student, electronics engineer and huge DIY enthusiast from Slovakia. Lasts night, as the title points out, I've done something that me and a handful of my friends who know consider the craziest and simultaneously coolest thing I've ever done.
It's been about a month since I decided I want to get a magnet implant. Since I live where I live, I don't have many options in having one installed by an artist or a doctor. But even if I did, I wanted to do it myself. Anyway, this is my "story" explaining my preparations, procedure, and finally results.
Magnet
I didn't want to put a huge chunk of metal into my finger, so at first, I ordered a buch of 1x1mm N42 cylinders, but then, I scrapped the idea and bought some N52 2x1mm ones. If I'm going to do this, I wanted it to be worth it you know, and the size didn't look crazy or uncomfortable.
For plating, I used a 24k gold solution with cobalt additive (for improved hardness and longevity). After cleaning the magnet in concentrated sodium hydroxide solution and hydrochloric acid, I took some tweezers, stuck the magnet sideways (radially) and plated it for 2 minutes at 2.8 volts. Then I spun the magnet by 180 degrees to plate the back side as well and waited for another 2 minutes. I then stuck the magnet axially, so the circular face faced the anode. I plated it for 4 minutes, and then repeated the process with the opposites side. In the end, I repeated the side plating to get an even and smooth finish.
In the end I submerged the magnet in pure isopropanol and moved to the next step.
Pre-op
I bought a set of sterile disposable 11P scalpels from Swann-Morton for an amazingly generous price in a local shop. However, I had problems in getting a proper local anesthetic. After talking with a friend whose father is a doctor, I decided not to search for lidocaione, because it would most likely only result in weird looks from behind the counter and then hearing a several-minute-long lecture about why I can't buy that. I considered using menthol, but quickly labeled that idea really stupid. Guess I'll stick to ice and bite on something.
Procedure
To compensate my not exactly sterile environment, I used very generous amounts of betadine on everything throughout the whole operation. I marked the cut with a permanenit marker, applied a rubber band tourniquet and started cutting.
I made a 1mm deep starting incision parallel with my finger, and then continued by cutting a pocket in a slight angle sideways, until the magnet would fully fit in with the starting incisions closed.
I still feel uneasy from just thinking about it now. Without any anesthetic, the procedure was very painful. So much, that I had to make pauses, lie down and lift my legs up, so I wouldn't faint. It was probably mostly psychological, but still a textbook example of circulatory shock. After some time, I noticed that the blood in the incision was really dark, and to prevent tissue damages, I had to remove the tourniquet and let some fresh blood in. I then switched to a bag of ice wrapped around my finger. The cold constricted my blood vessels enough to prevent excessive bleeding, but not enough to cut the blood flow off entirely. It also helped with the pain quite nicely. But still, at one point, I really thought I was done, that I can't do this, and was prepared the close the incision and go to sleep. But somehow, I found the courage and willpower to finish it, and in the end, I wasn't even in shock anymore and finished the rest without any pauses.
I closed the wound with a generous amount of superglue, making sure that none would get inside the wound. I wrapped it all with band aid and went to sleep.
The entire procedure took almost exactly two hours.
Results
I'll post updates with my status throughout the next few weeks.
Day 1:
No infection, no inflammation, or signs of rejection. Pain is minimal and I can already sense large metallic objects or other magnets. It sure is a weird feeling.
Comments
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Day 2:
No infection, experienced small inflammation in the evening but it has already went away. The site is not painful or uncomfortable unless moderate stress is applied. No change in field sensitivity. The wound is healing
I peeled off the old glue, applied antiseptic and adjusted the incision to be completely closed and applied a new layer of glue.
Pictures Day 0-2
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You actually got the cobalt infused gold! How much did it cost you boss? Did you do any extras to test coatings? And what we're your magnets originally plated with? Does the gold/cobolt care what the underlying metals are or will it stick to just about anything?
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I bought 50 magnets for about 4€ and the gold solution cost around 50€ and the chemical supplies (NaOH, HCL, Distilled water) cost me around 10€.
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The magnets were originally Ni-Cu-Ni, I applied a very generous thickness of the gold plating (the magnet got covered in gold completely in 2 minutes but I let it plate for about 20 minutes in total). I'm confident that the plating is uniform and doesn't have any holes, so the only thing I did was a mechanical stress test (rubbed it against a steel needle and try to destroy the coating). Besides the scratches, the coating held really solidly and I even think that the scratches didn't penetrate the full depth, so I went on with the implantation (of course, with a new, different magnet).
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[deleted: moved to previous comment]
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That's awesome. I couldn't find any cobalt gold that was less then 100usd and that's just for the fluid. I don't have anything to apply voltage so I'd have to get power supply off amazon or something. I have to buy a kayak right now for me and my lady's anniversary commin up so I won't have the extra cash. Thinking maybe you'd want to sell me a few if your down?
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> @SimplyTom said:
> That's awesome. I couldn't find any cobalt gold that was less then 100usd and that's just for the fluid. I don't have anything to apply voltage so I'd have to get power supply off amazon or something. I have to buy a kayak right now for me and my lady's anniversary commin up so I won't have the extra cash. Thinking maybe you'd want to sell me a few if your down?I could! I have abou 40 more of them with no use. I could plate a few and send them over.
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# Day 4:
I have a suspicion that the magnet is implanted too shallow. On day 3 I tried to remove it and make the pocket go deeper, but couldn't move the magnet since after reinsertion, it snapped back to its original place where the tissue had already copied its shape.
I inspected the magnet with a magnifier while it was out, and found no faults in coating or other problems.
After reinsertion and resealing of the incision ( no glue was needed since it closed by itself naturally), there are still no signs of infection or rejection
I can only wait now and hope it it won't push out as the healing continues. Wish me luck!
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That would be super cool. I'd like to see how they hold up. Plate me a few and pm me and we'll work something out boss! These SMM TiN ones are not looking too hot. I like this idea. For some reason gold makes me feel safe haha.
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That looks pretty painful. I hope it heals and you don't have to pull it out and redo it.
I noticed, though, most of the things I find on implanting magnets say to go into the side of the finger, like you done, but not too deep or else you'll sever the nerve and lose feeling in the finger. But, when I got my magnet implanted the feller came in through the top of the finger, parallel with the nerve and bone and all that. Is there a reason, I wonder, that we recommend a perpendicular approach despite the risk of nerve damage? It's a much deeper cut, for sure, but I'll take extra pain and longer healing over permanent damage any day.
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Luckily, it's not painful at all unless I put a lot of strain or pressure on it. It's hard for me to picture what you described, but I chose this technique because it seemed the least invasive to me, and I was confident that I wouldn't cause any nerve damage (done a lot of research prior).
i'm not saying that it's the best, but even such a little 'prick' almost put me onto the ground since I didn't have any anesthetics, especially since I done the thing myself.
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Day 8:
I decided to remove the magnet. I was sure it would pop out in a week or two and I wanted to let it heal properly. I've finally got some lidocaine, so I'll attempt to repeat the procedure sometime soon. -
I'll try and doodle up a picture when I get a chance. It's hard to explain better than I did without pictures. But, yeah. Basically, he put the scalpel on my finger tip and pushed it down, parallel with the finger. Then he stuck the magnet in. Then, he used another magnet to move my magnet deeper into the pocket in my finger.
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I've repeated the procedure after my first attempt failed, and I've made the incision perpendicular to the figer's axis, same as you described, but I've done it in the opposite way (towards the tip, instead of away from tip) It was a lot harder, but i thought that this way, less stress would be applied on the tissue while it heals, and it sure did heal nicely in about 2 weeks
