By Independent News Roundup
Did you know that the only safe medical data is data that is stored inside your own body?
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I
didn’t know that either until Nic Hulscher recently discovered some
very interesting research papers about ‘On Patient Medical
Recordkeeping’ technology.
The quote below is from an article that was published in PubMed six years ago, in December 2019: “Accurate medical recordkeeping is a major challenge in many low-resource settings where well-maintained centralized databases do not exist, contributing to 1.5 million vaccine-preventable deaths annually.”
It took humans several hundred years to figure out that we are not able to maintain accurate medical records, but now we finally know.
And it’s a lucky thing that we only figured this out now, because we are finally reaching the stage where we are able to reliably record medical data: by encoding them into every living human body - in particular data about received vaccines.
There’s even a cute - no, more than cute: a heart warming acronym for this brilliant new record keeping method: OPMR.
The following quote is from an article in ‘Nature Materials’ from February 2025:
“We developed a robust on-patient medical record-keeping (OPMR) technology using a dissolvable microneedle patch (MNP) that delivers a quantum dot (QD)-based near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent dye encapsulated in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) microparticles into the skin to encode medical information. This dye, once deposited into the dermis, is invisible to the naked eye, offering patient data privacy and anonymity, but provides discrete NIR signals that can be detected using a NIR imaging system.”
Isn’t it wonderful that we have found a way to not only make it impossible to lose medical records but to keep our medical records truly private and anonymous - and especially the number of vaccine microneedle patches we got administered? Nobody will ever know - except all the folks who detect the oh so discrete Near Infrared signals with the help of the NIR imaging system. And maybe it won’t be folks much longer who detect them but some friendly AI agent. Which makes it even more sublime.
We can also stop stressing about our medical records being unavailable when China or some other country cuts the subsea cables to crash the internet:
“By depositing the dye in a predefined pattern that correlates to a specific set of information, the technology can be imaged by healthcare workers to support next-dose decisions without requiring internet connectivity or the use of centralized databases.”
See? Internet connectivity is not required. Marvelous. Life-saving ‘next-dose decisions’ won’t be blocked ever - internet or not.
And in case you were wondering whether our scientists remembered to cover the social justice angle, do not fear: “This technology could help healthcare workers make informed decisions in circumstances where reliable record-keeping is unavailable, thus contributing to global healthcare equity.”
A big thank you to the wonderful people at HHS, NIH, the Koch institute and of course the Gates Foundation whose grant monies made it possible for brave scientists to develop this magnificent new record keeping method. Honestly, where would we be without our dear federal health agencies and the fabulous Gates Foundation?
And they understand that only the best is good enough for us:
“To enable the OPMR [On Patient Medical Record] with excellent information capacity, security and reliability, we designed the MNP [Micro Needle Patch] architecture and administration for consistent and optimal data transfer and longevity; achieved an information capacity of billions of encoded patterns using an error correcting code; and developed a temporally and spatially reliable information retrieval system using machine learning.”
An information capacity of billions of encoded patterns - and with an error correcting code! The scientists deserve not just one, but at least two Freedom Medals, maybe more. And the LLMs can finally gorge themselves on data again, just when we thought we were running out.
But, wait, it gets more sumptuous: these superb microneedles are not only carrying the dye for imprinting a digital code into the body but they carry a second payload. Maybe you can guess what that payload might be?
EXACTLY! It’s an mRNA vaccine. Now that’s a dream come true. No more painful vaccine injections, the long needles replaced with eensy weensy ones. Infants and toddlers won’t even know they’re being vaccinated.
This is what the February 2025 article says:
“We optimize the microneedle design for both a reliable delivery of messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and the near-infrared fluorescent microparticles that encode the on-patient medical record-keeping… Long-term studies in a swine model demonstrate the safety, efficacy and reliability of this approach for the co-delivery of on-patient medical record-keeping and the mRNA vaccine encoding severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).”
Superb. We all know about the safety and efficacy of the amazing mRNA vaccines and to have them co-delivered straight into our bodies in tandem with our precious medical data is a stroke of genius.
This elegant new technology will not only turn us into walking bio-digital vaccine passports that will be biosensed by deep learning-based image processing agents, but - even more delicious - we will be loaded with the newest and best mRNA vaccines the science has to offer.
How exactly does this biosensing work you want to know? It’s simple and can be done from a smartphone:
“An Android smartphone application ‘IR Record’ was custom developed to capture the OPMR NIR dye signal and can save images. The software is designed to take 30 consecutive images with six different exposure settings and five different gain settings. This bracket scanning method allows the capture of NIR signals with varying intensities over time. Among the 30 images, one image with the best reading results gets automatically chosen and processed.”
Five different gain settings and six (!) different exposure settings! Now you can start scanning yourself first thing in the morning to get your day off to a good start. That’s what I call resilience.
The researchers also note: “In cases of emergency like in a pandemic or natural disaster, or at refugee or military camps, OPMR patches can be administered on-demand.” And not only administered, but possibly self-administered.
Since we know that the recent pandemic was just a rehearsal, it is most reassuring to know that we will not have to stand in line during the next pandemic. The dissolvable microneedle patch might come to you by old-fashioned snail mail so that you can administer it in the privacy of your own home. What’s more to be wished for?
Well, thinking about it, there are more dreams to come true. A bio-digital vaccine passport is a solid start for sure, but we should not let ourselves be limited to the vaccine aspect.
A bio-digital passport could be good for all sorts of things that society has to offer. It would make a tremendous ‘Open sesame!’ for daily life, from the doors to the supermarket to the doors of the restaurant, movie theatre, train and bus. Not to forget the door of one’s own apartment.
Maybe the relevant authorities need reminding that our own doors require scanning not just from outside to inside but also from inside to outside. To keep us all safe.
Because what if you forgot to administer the patch sent to you in the mail? No big deal: you’ll be reminded as soon as you try to get out of the door. Voilà!
Oh, the awesomeness.
CHAPTERS
0:00:08 Introduction to Micro Needle Patch and Quantum Dots
1:01:44 Vaccine Tracking, Societal Control, and Concerns Raised
0:03:50 Technical Foundations: Quantum Dots Longevity and Detection
0:04:10 Smartphone Scanning and Machine Learning Usage
0:08:09 Historical Context: AI, Data Centers, and Early Research
0:09:47 Vaccine Delivery, Co-delivery Methods, and Antibody Response
0:11:14 Envisioning Dystopian Control and Compliance
0:15:38 Decentralized Data Storage and Bio Sensing Discussion
0:16:59 Wearables, Biosensing, and Public Endorsements
0:19:06 Technical, Material, and Health Concerns
0:20:41 How the Patch Works: Schematics and Challenges
0:24:40 Societal Control: AI, Compliance, and Bypass Loopholes
0:28:51 Next-Generation Patch: mRNA, Self-Administration, and Trust Issues
0:35:00 Privacy, Data Storage in the Body, and Centralization
0:41:21 Expansion to mRNA Applications and Potential Harm
0:44:03 Digital Identities and Multipurpose Use Cases
1:01:45 Resistance, Public Compliance, and Civil Rights
1:12:32 Public Awareness, Accountability, and Call to Action
RESOURCES:
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