Body sensors
Japan's University of Tokyo professor Takao Someya displays the world's lightest and thinnest (2 micrometers) flexible integrated circuits and touch sensor system for stress-free wearable healthcare sensors at a press conference in Tokyo on July 24, 2013. The flexible electrical circuit, one-fifth the thickness of food wrap and weighing less than a feather, could give doctors the chance to implant sensors inside the body. The device can be used to monitor all sorts of physical data, such as body temperature and blood pressure as well as electronic pulses from muscles or the heart. Getty Images

After the latest frenzy over wearable technology like the Apple Watch dies down, techies forecast that technology will soon be moving from outside to inside our bodies.

Yahoo News has mapped out emerging signs of implantable technology.

Implantable smartphones

While some researchers are testing embedded sensors that can transform human bone into speakers, others are working on eye implants that would allow images seen by the human eye to be channeled onto local storage devices.

Researchers are also working on displaying images through artificial skin to complement an implantable smartphone.

Last year, artist Anthony Antonellis got a RFID chip implanted in his arm that could store and transfer art to his smartphone.

Healing Chips

Currently, several patients are using cyber-implants that monitor diseases by being directly connected with smartphone apps.

Scientists in London are in the process of developing swallowable, capsule-sized circuits to monitor fat levels in obese patients and generate a substance that gives them the feeling of being 'full'.

Researchers at the Boston University in the US have also tested a bionic pancreas that talks directly to an app to keep a tab on blood sugar levels in diabetics.

Bill Gates' implantable birth control

An MIT research project supported by the Gates Foundation is working on developing an implantable female contraceptive that can be controlled by an external remote control.

"The ability to turn the device on and off provides a certain convenience factor for those who are planning their family," said Dr Robert Farra of MIT.

Brain-computer interface

Imagine being able to browse the web using your thoughts, that's driving a research at Brown University titled BrainGate, which attempts to link human brains directly to computers.

"Using a baby aspirin-sized array of electrodes implanted into the brain, early research from the BrainGate team has shown that the neural signals can be 'decoded' by a computer in real-time and used to operate external devices," says the BranGate website.

Intel scientist Dean Pomerleau predicts that, "eventually people may be willing to be more committed to brain implants."

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