NFC powered lights

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  • aviin I read the thread awhile ago about your 3d printed injectors. It was cool, at the time I thought you basically recreated one of the standard RFID injector needles, so I didn't really see a use for it since we already have an easy supply of those. But it would be very useful if we start needing non-standard shaped implantation tools.
  • @AlexSmith, yeah, that's basically what I did.  It was just to see if I could manage it.  That, and the 3D printer was a new toy that I wanted to play with ;)

    A quick update on healing with a picture later.  I no longer have any pain when twisting the arm.  The swelling is reducing.  The bruising is in some ways more noticable, I think, but all the coloration is moving toward the "I'm healing" color that bruises get.  Nice :).  The light itself, while not really terribly brighter, seems to be illuminating a larger area of tissue.  It's kind of neat because things must be starting to clear out in there with one diagonal streak running away from the location of the bulb obviously being more clear of subsurface blood than other areas, so I get this line of light that runs away from the round lit area.  I had some small concern that this could be due to some kind of pocket of fluid there that's mostly clear, but I don't think that's the case.  Everything seems to be healing more quickly than I'd anticipated, honestly.

    As an aside, I had the day off work today at my "day" job (but I did spend some hours programming for my personal business).  My boss at the "day" job called me to tell me that the district manager called him today to ask about what I'd implanted in my arm.  I can't help but wonder who told him about it.  I've never mentioned any of this stuff to him.  It should make for an interesting day tomorrow.  I know I'll get a phone call about it.  Hahaha!  Can't wait.

    @Zerbula (and everyone else), thanks for the support!  Finding this place in so many ways redefined who I am as a person.  Honestly, implants led to me having quite alot more faith in my own abilities, or rather restored them to some extent after some pretty brutal knockdowns in life in recent years.  If I'd not gotten involved with implants (and if I'd not gotten connected with the people here, I likely would not have gotten involved with implants), I seriously doubt I'd be part owner of a software development company today.  While we're still struggling to get our first product into a state that I would call complete, we're very close.  And once we get there, my income will skyrocket.  All because I saw a tweet that led to a Google search that landed me here.  How cool is that?  It's funny how my initial incredulity at magnet implants turned quickly to excitement.  And from there, well, you see where I am now :)

    Remember to thank @AlexSmith, too.  All I did was implant the thing.  He's the one making these types of things a reality.

    Anyway, another picture, as I said, will be posted tonight of the healing process.

    And, please, someone else implant the other one @AlexSmith made.  I would love to see another video of someone else putting one in!  Besides that, the community needs data on how well these rough silicone implants will be tolerated in the body and how durable they are to the rigors of everyday life.  My one lone dataset, while useful, is not enough.
  • send me the other one and ill install it :)
  • Here is the promised pic tonight.  I need to get a bright light to shine on it for the pics, I guess.

    http://s20.postimg.org/wuehlh4l9/Img_0014.jpg
  • edited May 2016
    aviin thanks for the kind words, but don't praise me yet. Lets give it a few months and see how it goes longer term. While I'm hopeful there won't be any problems, this is a pretty new and unknown implant.

    ightden you got it, but before send it to you, I'm going to figure out if I can autoclave it. The silicone coating will be fine, but I'm not sure if the electronics will stand the heat. But if they can, it will make it safer for you to implant.

    Btw, I tweeted it, but I don't think I mentioned it on the forum, check out the autoclave I recently got:
    image

    aviin the brighter streak running away from LED, is it along the path of the wires? because the transparent silicone could be acting like a fiber optic strand and carrying light through the tissue.


  • You boss is a secret biohacker obv haha
  • In response to the question about the brighter streak, no, it was not along the wire.  I say was because I'm not really seeing that line anymore.

    No pic tonight but visibly, there's not too much difference anyway.  The bruising is looking a little better and the swelling is a little less.  The shape of the implant is now visible on my arm, which I did not expect.  Not super obvious, but it can be seen.  I rather like that.  I'd show you guys a pic of that, but it is so subtle that I don't think it would photograph well.  Once the swelling is entirely gone, it should be a bit more pronounced and perhaps I can get a picture that shows it.  I will certainly try.

    The exit wound(s) are now staying totally uncovered.  The adhesive of the band-aids was really irritating my skin in that area and the last time I tried to remove a band-aid from the area, it took some skin with it.  That was about 8 hours ago and everywhere the adhesive was, the skin is red.  The redness has nothing at all to do with the implant.  It is in the exact shape of the band-aid.

    I would love to leave the entry wound uncovered permanently, too, but it is not entirely closed yet.  By that, I mean I still have red meat exposed.  The entryway to where the implant is appears closed, but I suspect that closure is still quite fragile.  I'm going to use gauze again while I sleep tonight so that I can have the adhesive in a different place that where it always is with the band-aid.  My skin just does not do will with adhesives.

    That's all for tonight.
  • @AlexSmith  cool, just pm me whenever you send it out.  you should still have my address in your inbox :)
  • I am not too sure how hot an autoclave can get, but most electronics can withstand a few hundred degrees of heat in a reflow oven, so they should probably do okay.
  • My autoclave runs at 135C (275F), some things (NFC chips) have already tested out ok.
  • Another day, another healing progress update...

    First, I just want to say that my skin HATES the adhesive used in medical tape and band-aids.  Any area that consistently has a band-aid or tape on it is very irritated.  Even the exit wound, which hasn't had anything covering it other than the small scab that formed there, has nice angry red rectangles on both sides where the adhesive was consistently touching skin.  The exit wound is still not fully closed, but it is very close, so I'm going to keep covering it while I sleep and while at work.  This evening, though, when I got home and removed the band-aid, the band-aid took skin with it (skin about a centimeter from the wound itself) and actually caused bleeding.  I'm going to start applying the band-aid at a different angle each time I put one on it to minimize the length of time any one area of skin has adhesive on it.

    Overall, again, the swelling has reduced even more, the bruise is looking even better, the exit wound has a small scab but seems very sturdy.  The exit wound is still open but looking very healthy and will be fully closed over with skin in short order (a few days, I suspect).  And by "open", I mean that deeper tissue is still exposed, but I do NOT mean that the pocket the implant is in is in anyway exposed; the implant itself is fully sealed inside tissue now, but I do think that the wrong sort of stress on the area could still tear it open, so I'm being very careful with it.  It takes a decent amount of pressure to evoke any serious amount of pain in the affected areas (well, I've not done much poking at that entry wound for obvious reasons).  On a couple occasions, I thought I was getting a pinching feeling when I bent my elbow, which would cause some concern until, each time, I've realized that it's just being caused by the band-aid and not the implant.  I find that I'm fascinated when I lightly run a finger over the implant and can feel it there.  I especially like the rectangular antenna area.  Silly, I know, but I enjoy it, so, eh, whatever.

    I want to note something here that's hard to explain properly, though it is a simple idea.  No matter how I move my arm, I can never actually feel the implant residing within the arm.  By that, I mean that the arm itself cannot feel the implant within it.  I had wondered if I might because of the large size.  Because it is so flexible, though, I never feel it like that.  By contrast, the chips in my left hand can be felt if I make the correct sort of fist. 

    The light, while still not very much brighter, looks far larger when illuminated.  And I think I'm seeing the first hint of fiber-optic-like effects along the wire.  On day 7 (Saturday), I'll record a second demo video to show how the lighting has progressed.

    Any picture wouldn't really reveal anything new right now, so I'm not going to do one tonight.  Tomorrow, though, I will just because it should be documented visually.

    Looking forward to my Firefly when it arrives.  I'm still not sold 100% on where to put it.  I'd like to get it into my left hand, honestly, despite having already said it would go in my right.  Back of the hand sounds so nice until I start poking at it with my fingers and realize how little cushion there is there if some kind of impact happens.  :(
  • edited May 2016
    Got busy yesterday so never got around to posting what I intended to.  But, as promised, I made another demo video.  This one shows the implant in light and darkness.



    The iPad isn't really capturing the difference in how it looks, but believe me when I say that while it hasn't gotten hugely brighter, the diameter of the illuminated area has increased greatly.

    On the subject of all the flashes looking the same, well, it turns out that they don't.  The iPad doesn't pick them up, but those fainter flashes are still happening and are still fainter, but before tonight, I wasn't able to see the fainter ones.  I now can, especially in the dark.  But, as I said, the iPad doesn't pick them up at all.

    Healing is going well.  There is still bruising and soreness if I press on the area with any large amount of pressure, but it is less and less everyday.  The exit wounds are 99% healed.  You'll see a new scab off to the side of the exit wounds that was caused by a band-aid tearing off skin several days ago.  I have a similar spot near to the entry wound, though it isn't visible in the pic I'll link to in a moment.  I'm still keeping triple antibiotic ointment and a band-aid on the entry wound, but I'm imagining by Monday or Tuesday I won't feel the need to.  I do let it get air for a few hours a day and clean it with sterile saline a couple times a day.

    Here's the pic from tonight:

    http://s20.postimg.org/ji07ek2yl/Img_0017.jpg

    That's all for now!
  • so is there a way to modulate the light?  ie steady lit, or pulsing at a set rate, or wm?
  • @ightden - @AlexSmith menthioned that there are phone apps that can do it and obviously a custom solution could be made, either as an application for an existing platform or a custom hardware device.
  • I have "NFC TagInfo" which gives me the same pattern you're seeing, periodic bright flashes with longer periods of dim flashes.

    But I also have "Mifare Desfire EV1 Tool" which gives a constant stream of bright flashes and no dim ones.

    I haven't looked at creating anything custom yet, but given what those two apps do, it should be possible to create a simple app which pulses the NFC based on arbitrary data.
  • A quick update on healing with a pic later tonight.

    Everything is healing quite well.  I'm no longer covering the wounds with anything at all.  I stopped covering the entry wound yesterday afternoon and, to be honest, it seems like it's healing quite alot faster.  I definitely am glad I left it covered and with triple antibiotic ointment on it for as long as I did, though.  The idea of anything nasty getting into the wound was not one I liked to think about.  I wanted to be very sure that it was tightly healed shut before I let the rigors of everyday life get to it.  There is some small bit of tenderness to the area, but it is VERY minor now.  The bruising is completely gone now.

    The light itself doesn't seem to be brightening any further, though with more time it might get a tiny bit brighter.  Functionally, there are no issues with the device and it is working as intended.  The device ultimately rests essentially squarely atop the flexor carpi radialis muscle.  At least, that's what it seems like to me based on diagrams of the arm versus tracing the internal structures of my own arm with my fingers.

    I'll have the pic later.
  • Actually, 3 pics.

    The entire implant site:

    http://s20.postimg.org/7s1w7wa2l/Img_0033.jpg

    Close-up of the exit wound(s):

    http://s20.postimg.org/wmpzfpkal/Img_0030.jpg

    Close-up of the entry wound:

    http://s20.postimg.org/ov99h5g59/Img_0029.jpg
  • ightden hey, so good news, the implant is fine in the autoclave, so I just sent it to you sterilized, but if you want to do your own sterilization after it's traveled through the post, I won't be offended.

    aviin that looks to be healing fine. Over all the implant so far has been as successful as could be hoped. I guess at this point there won't be any news unless something goes wrong, so just update us in a couple of months to see how it's going.
  • edited July 2016
    image

    Went with a slightly different implant method for mine. Scar is about 1.5cm-wide but fading fast.
  • Goodness, this is amazing. Looks like I missed out on this one.
  • Thank you mustard for bumping this. I agree this is really really cool. id love to do something like this in the future.
  • Any updates on these devices?  Are the 2 or 3 sample devices still implanted?

    I just ordered one of the NFC powered light stickers to mess around with. 

    I have no intention of implanting it but it sounds like an interesting device to play around with.

    I don't have a phone with NFC but wonder if a simple transmitter/oscillator could be made to power this little sticker since no actual data would need to be transferred. 
  • Birdhandzkjwx's implant ended up 'rolling up', i.e. it was too flexible and rather than staying flat under the skin it bunched up so she removed it. She asked me to make a new one that was less flexible, and I've made 3 attempts and failed to get a good coating every time. For the time being I'm not working on because I have too many other projects, but if there is enough interest I can try again.
  • AlexSmith  I think your other projects like the Firefly are more important (would sell better) than this one but I look forward to experimenting with the cheap NFC powered light.  I've never tried modifying any circuits with tiny SMT components and will very likely ruin the one I ordered but a device like that MIGHT be a way to power or charge other tiny devices without wires. 

    One thing I would like to try (not going to implant mine) is to add a small capacitor to hopefully keep the light on for a short time after the NFC signal is removed.

    aviinightden I'd still like to know how the other  test devices worked out and if they are still implanted.
  • ooo I really want one attached to an ECG sensor, so I (or someone) could hold up any nfc reader to measure my pulse. That'd look so cool. Are ECG electronics small enough to do this?
  • No idea about the ECG sensor but, since I don't have NFC in my phone, I'm considering building a small crystal controlled transmitter to power this device.

    13.56 MHZ crystals are available and cheap.  Not sure if it will work or not and the little NFC light I ordered just left Malaysia a couple days ago headed for the US so I don't have it to play with yet.

    If that idea works, it might not be real hard to include the ECG sensor into a wearable device to flash the light with every pulse.

    I'm not intending to implant mine but it sounds like a cool toy to play with.  If the transmitter and sensor could be incorporated into a watch band, it would be really cool to have an implanted light that flashed to the beat of your heart.  Just having an implanted light would be cool enough but the heart rate monitor could make it useful.
  • edited July 2017
    Sent these peoples a message, maybe I'll hear back. Tiny ECG chip!
    http://neurosky.com/biosensors/ecg-sensor/
    It might work? Thoughts?

    Should I make a new thread for this?
  • Also I found these: https://www.biopac.com/product/epoch-wireless-ecg-transmitter/
    They claim to need some sort of propietary system to activate them, and I don't get why they have wires sticking out of the casing, but maybe these could work?
  • @Helyx Arent the wires sticking out the electrodes?
  • I know this is an old thread, do we have a final "this is how it went"?
    I'm trying to source some USP Vi clear tube, and epoxy... But if the silicone worked that would be amazing! The idea of getting it in with a 6gauge instead of scalple is also awesome.

    Of course @AlexSmith, if you come across a prototype under under your couch cushion, I'd totally grab it!
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