Subdermal implant

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Spherical implants beneath the eye-brows
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Spherical implants beneath the eye-brows

A subdermal implant is form of body modification in which a foreign object surgically implanted beneath the skin. The term subdermal comes from the Latin sub (beneath) and the Greek δερμις (skin). The implant may be medical in nature, or it may be for technological purposes (see cyborg) or as a form of decoration (see body art).

In science fiction (e.g., in the Otherland series by Tad Williams), subdermal implants are sometimes used as a form of cultural expression, similar to tattoos or other body modifications. These implants are most often balls or rods made of surgical grade stainless steel, but pearls and some types of plastics can also be used. Implants are usually placed in the arms, hands or forehead to create a raised or textured appearance. Pearling, or insertion of pearls into the skin or foreskin of the penis is also common amongst world cultures, and is practiced amongst Yakuza gangsters sentenced to prison.

New surgical techniques in the Netherlands have allowed ophthalmologists to implant microthin metal shapes (or extraocular implants), such as stars and hearts, underneath the sclera of the eye, and thus visible in the white of the eye.

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