Chip Implant Could Help Opioid Addictions

Scientists continue to look for ways to have a postive impact on the opioid crisis, and West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice describes recent work as a micro-implant treatment that is being developed at the West Virginia University Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute. There will be two kinds of microchips that can be implanted in patients – one for addicts that would be injected in a patient’s nerves, brain or spinal cord to block the signals that lead to the addictive behavior. The other type of chip would be for chronic pain sufferers who are not addicted to painkillers and it would be implanted at the site of the pain, delivering non-opioid medicine and eliminating the need for pills. Testing could begin within a year.