DARPA called the implants "a truly disruptive innovation,"

DARPA called the implants "a truly disruptive innovation," highlighting how healthier soldiers would change the state of modern warfare because most medical evacuations occur due to ordinary illnesses and disease, not injuries. If the U.S. can lead the way in this kind of high-tech monitoring, it could give the military another leg up on adversaries still beset by everyday illness.

LiveScience - Disease has stalked battlefields since the dawn of war and continues to plague even the ranks of the modern U.S. military. That's why the Pengaton's scientists want to implant tiny particles inside the bodies of soldiers that could diagnose or even treat illness from within.

The military's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced its vision for implantable "nanosensors" on March 15. Such tiny sensors would be based on nanoparticles thousands of times smaller than the width of a human hair — a watchful swarm of molecules inside soldiers' bodies that could monitor their health around the clock and keep them healthy on the most remote battlefields.

Solving the problem of sickness could have a huge impact on the number of soldiers ready to fight, because far more have historically died due to illness rather than combat. Even in modern times, battle injuries have accounted for only 20 percent of medical evacuations from Iraq — the U.S. military had to evacuate four times as many troops because of disease and nonbattle injuries.

The futuristic idea might prove especially helpful for U.S. Special Forces who must operate far from any immediate medical help. Nanosensors could alert Special Forces operators if they become exposed to an infectious disease or simply push their bodies beyond their physical limits.