Contraception: a necessity in most people’s lives at one point or another. But often, finding the right birth control for you can be a tricky and arduous task, and if you decide that you want to try for a baby, many of the contraceptives currently on offer require you to make an appointment with your doctor to have it removed, or you have to wait for the effects to wear off.
At the moment, the longest-lasting contraceptive comes in the form of IUDs (Intrauterine Devices, often called the coil) which is a copper and plastic device fitted into the uterus and prevents pregnancy. Some hormonal IUDs can last for up to five years, but the non-hormonal variant with more copper last between five and 10 years.
But what if there was a form of birth control that not only could last for more than 15 years, but you could also just switch off if you decided you wanted to start a family?
That’s the idea from US company MicroCHIPS , and such a popular concept it is, that it is being backed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation , who gave $4.6 million (£2.7 million) towards the project in January.
“The ability to turn the device on and off provides a certain convenience factor for those who are planning a family,” explained MicroCHIPS President Dr Robert Farra.
A device holding a tiny microchip, measuring 20 by 20 by 7mm, would be implanted under the skin and contain enough levonorgestrel - used in many hormone-based contraceptives - to last up to 16 years. This is held in airtight, sealed reservoirs, released when an electric current passes from an internal battery through the thin membrane, melting it temporarily to release the contents.
And if it comes to a time when a woman with the implanted device decides she would like to conceive a child, she could simply turn off the device with the hypothetical touch of a button on a remote control.
The technology was originally conceived at MIT in the 1990s, by Robert Langer, Michael Cima and John Santini, who then licensed it to MicroCHIPS. And when Bill Gates himself visited the MIT lab and asked whether it would be possible to create a long-lasting birth control method that could be turned on and off at will, he was pointed to MicroCHIPS, and a beautiful friendship was formed.
The device is still a long way off yet - it is hoped to be on the market by 2018 - and still needs to undergo pre-clinical testing and FDA approval. But it will definitely hold appeal for a lot of people, and provides another option for those searching for their perfect contraceptive.
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