A new microchip promises to help families keep track of and keep safe loved ones suffering from Alzheimer's disease, but is already stirring up controversy.

Up to 200 Alzheimer's patients living near Palm Beach, Fla., will be implanted with the VeriChip for free in the next week, ABC News reports.

The chip was developed by a Florida-based company and has been FDA-approved for implantation in an Alzheimer's patient's arm, allowing medical details to be accessed instantly.

Click here to read the ABC News story

The company says the chip will offer peace of mind to the families of the nearly five million Americans currently living with Alzheimer's disease. About the size of a grain of rice, the chip contains a 16-digit identification number which is scanned at a hospital and placed in a database.

The chip has some privacy groups worried that the technology, which is the same technology used to identify wayward dogs, will strip patients of their right to confidentiality.