Scientists have developed a biodegradable battery that can be absorbed by the body after it runs out of power.
The battery can help scientists who have been working on implantable devices for the convenience of doctors and patients, according to Medical Daily.
"This is really a major advance," said Jeffrey Borenstein, a biomedical engineer at Draper Laboratory, a research and development center in Massachusetts. "Until recently, there has not been a lot of progress in this area."
A similar device was created in 2012 by John Rogers, a materials scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Scientific American reported. Rogers introduced biodegradable silicon chips that could monitor temperature and mechanical strain, radio the results to devices outside the body, and heat up tissue to prevent infection. To absorb wireless power from an outside source, some of the chips needed induction coils.
Borenstein said that transferring wireless power can be an issue for devices that have to go under bone or deep inside tissue. He added that the parts of the device are very complicated.
"Anything you put in there is going to take up space," Borenstein said.
Roger and his team of researchers created a new version of the device, a rechargeable nanoribbon in January, which would rely on the electromechanical interaction, piezoelectrcitiy, to power devices. The battery converted organs' movements into electricity that devices could use, Medical Daily reported.
The researchers looked for smaller devices to use for the battery. They used biodegradable metals such as magnesium foil, iron, tungsten, and molybdenum, which were aided by a phosphate-buffered saline solution to conduct electricity. The materials were then held in a biodegradable polymer called polyanhydride, and metal was used to determine the amount of electricity produced. When the materials finished working, they dissolved and left nothing harmful in the body, Medical Daily reported.
Borenstein said the battery can also be used for environmental purposes, such as dropping hundreds of small wireless chemical sensors across an oil slick to help efforts in a spill, according to Scientific American. The sensors would later dissolve in the ocean.
Borenstein said he hoped for further research to be done on the battery so it can be used in other forms, including a drug-delivery device that is controlled by radio signals, or one that delivers pharmaceuticals for specific issues.
