Implant in foot: practical problem

Yesterday I attempted to implant an xEM in the webbing between my big toe and second toe - topside, implanting from back to front so the chip ends up as far forward as possible in the webbing, above the fat pad.

But I ran into a problem: I can’t tent up the skin. It’s set deep between the phalanges, thin and quite taut. If I do manage to grab enough skin and pull up hard on it to create a tent of sorts, and leave enough space under my pinch to let the needle pass underneath it, it hurts like a bitch - probably more than the needle itself :slight_smile: - and I’m pretty sure it’ll slip out of my fingers the minute I attempt to punch the needle through it.

So I went see my piercer for a bit of help. He can’t grab onto the skin securely either. I could possibly hold onto the skin and pinch it with both hands while he punches the needle, but the pain is unbearable. And neither he nor I feld it was safe to attempt the implant without tenting up the skin.

Any advice?

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So sometimes I had to respond to people in the hospital that were coding. They would be actively doing chest compressions and I needed to draw an arterial blood gas. When they don’t have a pulse, you have to just know where to go and try your best.

What I am getting at is, you can feel the shit outta your foot. You can figure out how the skin lies and what “layer” it needs to be. By feeling it up, your can make your best educated guess, as to where it needs to be, just be ready to re-install if you have to take it out.

After I typed that out, I realized the needle is pretty long. Can you start further back, and then grab the skin as you go along? Maybe just aim it (to be honest, this isn’t the best ideA) and push it put as you guide it towards its final resting place?

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In this situation I would suggest bevel up. This puts the point down and “scoops” the skin up as you go in, and because of this getting in will be slightly more difficult, but once you’re in, you will have more control. You will also likely create a small flap of skin at the incision point and possibly an odd scar there for a while as a result, but the point down is the only way to go if you can’t manage to tent the skin. You can adjust the angle of the needle to control depth as you go. Just go slow and carefully if you can.

I would start if possible with a tenting of the skin, but once in, if you are bevel up / point down, as I said, you can usually just guide the needle without needing to tent the skin as you go.

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That sounds unsafe. If I miss the subdermal layer, I’ll punch right through the transverse ligament underneath. There ain’t no muscle there.

I could. The skin looks a bit less taut further back. But then I won’t be able to drop the chip where I want - which is all the way forward. I want it there so it’s as close to the ground as possible, but also so it’s well protected in the deep recess between the phalangeal bones. Also, I don’t want it to end up between the metatarsal heads for the same safety reason.

Well, I was about to go bevel up anyway - I always do bevel up :slight_smile: But I don’t feel confident punching through the skin at an angle, and neither does my piercer. Like I said, at that location, there’s no cushioning under the skin: if I mess up, I damage the ligament.

Maybe I’ll try one of the micro-clamps they use at the office to hold onto miniature eletronics: if I tighten it hard enough, it’ll pinch the skin and then I can lift it up, and the clamp won’t get in the way under the tent the way my fingers do. Maybe pop a couple ibuprofen pills half an hour before doing it: pinching the skin there is surprisingly painful.

I agree, but if I really wanted it there, I would try if I had to.

your needle would likely catch, i have hit a few tendons in my time. With 23 or 21 gage needles.

Arch of your foot on the bottom? Pretty soft there.

Also hemostats with a couple of rubber bands around it might work.

Ah, never tried it. I will have to.

No way I’ll implant anything there. I’m a barefooter, I like hiking, and I can’t count the number of times I’ve stepped on really rough stones and pebbles that don’t penetrate the skin, but deform it enough that anything underneath could certainly break. Even under the fat pads would be a significant risk I think - not to mention, good luck getting a needle to penetrate the hardened soles and thickened fat pads of someone who’s been walking barefoot for 20 years :slight_smile:

I’ve decided to inject it on top of the foot, but at the lowest point to the ground, which is the webbing between the big toe and the second toe. That places it roughly 20mm above ground, which is plenty close enough for my long-range readers. And if I read it from above (reader under the rear bumper of my van) it won’t even have to be long range. Also, it’ll sit under both bones there, so it’ll be protected even if I hit something with the top of my foot, and it won’t become uncomfortable for the odd times when I do have to wear shoes.

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It’s in:

Tenting up the skin was a real bitch. But my piercer had a technique I didn’t know, which is to roll up and massage the skin into loosening. That made things a bit easier, but not much. Pinching and pulling hard enough on it to create an entry point was way more painful than the implant job itself.

It’s quite a bleeder though: the piercer waited 15 minutes for hemostatis, but could never achieve it. In the end, he put a bandaid on it, and some special tattoo cling film to contain the mess. One hour on and it’s bleeding - or maybe it’s stopped already, I can’t really tell under the cling film:

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I wonder if an RFID chip in the foot :syringe: :foot: is a first :interrobang:

If not, I’m sure putting a slice of salami on a wound as a band-aid :adhesive_bandage: has got to be a first !!!

@anon3825968, you are welcome for the emojis :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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It ain’t no salami, it’s a small bandaid with an almost invisible clear film sticker around it, and blood trying to gush out underneath :slight_smile:

As for the emojis, well it’s like my neighbor’s toddler who keeps on crying and screaming for hours: as much as I want to bang her head on the wall until she finally shuts the fuck up, I can’t. So I just bite my lip and let it run its course…

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Sure thing @anon3825968 , You’re not fooling anybody :no_entry_sign:

When is the maiden voyage of implant meets reader?
What chip have you actually put in?

@NiamhAstra, another one for your implant sutra

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It’s just a xEM. It’s actually met my LF keyfob reader already, which I brought along with my cellphone and an OTG cable to check that it reads correctly - or more accurately, that it stayed behind in my foot after the needle was pulled out. I’ve had chips coming back out with the needle, even with the plunger fully depressed, sticking to the end of the needle by capillarity with the blood.

It reads from the top with the keyfob reader alright, but not from the bottom. That was to be expected. This evening I’ll see if it rings with my long-range reader from the bottom.

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It works dandy for login purposes. Absolutely no issues:

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haha amazing :wink:

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Put the antenna under one of those desk foot rest things and every time you sit down it unlocks

also, what is that antenna/reader?

That’s the plan. That and a reader as a door mat to unlock my front door. And a reader under the bumper of my car, to unlock it when I’m carrying the groceries, and (if it works, I haven’t tried yet) an xAC antenna under the gas pedal to start it up. Look Ma, no hands!

Those

Very cool concept come to life. :foot: :signal_strength:
Nice work @anon3825968
:+1:

I made a little inclined stand for one of my long-range readers in the company’s workshop this morning, so I can present my foot comfortably to the reader when it’s under my desk at work:

And now I can do magic tricks at the office:

:slight_smile:

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