DC EXAMINER — Pentagon researchers developed a microchip that can be inserted under the skin to detect COVID-19 infection before a person begins showing symptoms.

"It’s a sensor," said Dr. Matt Hepburn, an infectious disease physician and retired Army colonel. "That tiny green thing in there, you put it underneath your skin, and what that tells you is that there are chemical reactions going on inside the body, and that signal means you are going to have symptoms tomorrow."

The technology was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, a top-secret unit launched during the Cold War era that studies emerging technologies and how they can be applied for use in the military.

epburn said that the microchip has only been used inside the Defense Department and can detect a COVID-19 infection before an individual has the potential to spread the disease to other service members.

"We challenge the research community to come up with solutions that may sound like science fiction," Hepburn said.

Hepburn likened the microchip to a "check engine" light on a car, alerting the user of a positive COVID-19 infection and directing him or her to take a test to confirm the result.

"We can have that information in three to five minutes," Hepburn said. "As you truncate that time, as you diagnose and treat, what you do is you stop the infection in its tracks."