Family gets computer chips implanted for medical information

(Boca Raton, Florida-AP) -- Three members of a Florida family have been implanted with computer chips that researchers hope will be a medical breakthrough. <br><br>Jeff and Leslie Jacobs and their 14-year-old

Friday, May 10th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

(Boca Raton, Florida-AP) -- Three members of a Florida family have been implanted with computer chips that researchers hope will be a medical breakthrough.

Jeff and Leslie Jacobs and their 14-year-old son Derek had the tiny chips implanted in their arms this morning in Boca Raton. Each chip is about the size of a grain of rice. Insertion takes about a minute under local anesthesia.

The so-called VeriChip is made by Applied Digital Solutions. For now, those implanted in the Jacobs family contain only some telephone numbers and information about previous medications. The data can be read by a hand-held computer and printed out.

Eventually, VeriChip hopes more extensive information can be included. The company says it would be particularly valuable for Alzheimer's sufferers or others who can't readily provide medical information on their own.