Brave new world: implantables, the future of healthcare and the risk to privacy

Implantable medical technology and the data it collects will revolutionise the healthcare industry - but will we get round the privacy and the 'ick' factors?

Every day tens of thousands of Australians have to take a syringe, prick their skin with a needle and then inject themselves with insulin. Imagine if every one of those diabetes sufferers had a device fitted inside their body that measured their sugar levels and automatically released insulin as and when required.

That's one of several projects on the go in a research partnership between the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science and Dublin City University in Ireland. Other initiatives include a Sweatch watch that measures levels of sodium ion in your sweat and a "smart tattoo" that tracks the status of dermatological diseases.