TAIPEI: A local research team has developed a special microchip that can be implanted in the human body to control or relieve low-back pain, academic sources said yesterday.

The new device, named implantable pain control SOC (system on chip), is equipped with two sophisticated electrodes to obtain energy from an external power source and then transmit electromagnetic waves to the spinal cord and thus help alleviate back pain, said National Taiwan University (NTU) professor Lu Shuei-shih. who is a member of the research team.

According to Lu, signals from the grain-sized chip will help block the transmission of pain from the nerves to the brain.

The SOC has been tested in mice, Lu said, adding that the results have been good so far.

While similar technology has been employed abroad, the products have to rely on batteries to activate the pain-killing function, Lu said.

"In comparison, ours does not need a battery. Moreover, our device is much smaller - about the size of a NT$10 coin," Lu said.

The price of Western pain-control devices, which have to be implanted along with a battery, ranges between NT$400,000 ($12,422) and NT$500,000 ($14,906), which is much higher than the SOC's tag of about NT$100,000 ($3,106), Lu said.

Statistics released by the health insurance division under the Department of Health (DOH) show that reimbursements for low back pain treatments ranked fourth in the bureau's payments for various diseases in 2005.

"The figure indicates that many local people suffer low back pain and we believe our new invention will bring relief to those who have bone spurs, trigeminal nerve pain and sciatic nerve pain," Lu said.

The research paper on the new pain-control system, prepared by the NTU-led research team, has been selected for discussion at the International Solid-State Circuit Conference (ISSCC) in San Francisco in February 2010, Lu said.

Describing the technology as modern radio-frequency acupuncture, Lu said that human trials will begin soon and he expressed confidence that the device will be ready for the market in two to three years.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 11/27/2009 page2)