Wireless system can power devices inside body

Boston: Scientists have developed a new way to power the devices implanted deep within the human body and wirelessly communicate with them, paving the way for new ways to deliver drugs, monitor internal conditions, and treat diseases. The implants are powered by radio frequency waves, which can safely pass through human tissues. In animal tests, researchers showed that the waves can power devices located 10 centimeters deep in tissue, from a distance of one metre. “Even though these tiny implantable devices have no batteries, we can now communicate with them from a distance outside the body. This opens up entirely new types of medical applications,” said Fadel Adib, an assistant professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US. Since they do not require a battery, the devices can be tiny. In this study, the researchers tested a prototype about the size of a grain of rice, but they anticipate that it could be made even smaller. “Having the capacity to communicate with these systems without the need for a battery would be a significant advance. These devices could be compatible with sensing conditions as well as aiding in the delivery of a drug,” said Giovanni Traverso, an assistant professor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital ( BWH) in the US. Medical devices that can be ingested or implanted in the body could offer doctors new ways to diagnose, monitor, and treat many diseases. Researchers are now working on a variety of ingestible systems that can be used to deliver drugs, monitor vital signs, and detect movement of the GI tract.