New Chip To Prevent Surgical Snafus

operationNext time you have surgery and no one leaves an errant scalpel somewhere in your body, you’ll have an Israeli company to thank.

As an answer to the estimated 1-in-1500 incidents where a surgical instrument is “forgotten” inside the patient, a new chip has been developed by Haldor that tracks tools via a huge screen in the operating room. The company plans to use the same technology to identify newborn babies and Alzheimer’s patients, which sounded scarily Gattaca until it was made clear that the chips would be implanted in wristbands rather than directly into people’s heads.

Our industrious Israelis have been busy developing so many other useful gadgets, including a dog-translation device that aims to replace expensive security systems, a lie detector to use with your Internet phone service (look for Skype to offer new “bullsh*t meter” feature soon!) and multi-faceted perimeter protection systems to foil anyone looking to dose a city’s water supply with, say, Rescue Remedy. (Darn, there goes my radical plan for widespread harmony calm…)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *