Mobile phones go molar

Claire McKenna BMJ

An innovative design for a tooth implant that can receive digital signals from radios, computers, and mobile phones is on display at the London Science Museum this summer.

The creators envisage that a microvibration device and a wireless receiver would be implanted in the tooth during routine dental surgery. The sound is then transferred from the tooth into the inner ear by bone conduction, converting the digital signals into audio.

The device, which sounds more science fiction than science fact, was designed by James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau, postgraduate students at the Royal College of Art in London. In its current form, the tooth implant is designed more as a talking point, exploring the possible social and cultural impact of in-body technology. But its makers envisage that it could spark a wave of non-medical devices that could be implanted into the human body.

Although the implant is not yet a fully functioning phone, the possibility may not be far away. Designer James Auger said: "With the current size of microchips this is feasible. They are now small enough to implant in the tooth."

The design of the tooth phone means that sound reception is totally discreet. Potential uses could include spin doctors sending information to politicians as they are being interviewed, city traders receiving stockmarket information in the cinema, or football managers communicating with their players during key matches.

Bizarrely, the exhibition of the device comes as scientists in Finland complete a study that has found that radiation from mobile phones can cause changes in human cells that might affect the brain. A similar French study has indicated that headache, fatigue, and sleep disorders may result from change to human brain cells induced by radiation from mobile phones.

Molar phones may be consigned to the likes of "Q" and James Bond for the foreseeable future.

The tooth implant can be seen in the Wellcome centre at the London Science Museum from 21 June to November 2002.



studentBMJ 2002;10:259-302 August ISSN 0966-6494