Implantable medical devices such as hearing aids or pacemakers have enormous value, but keeping them fully charged can involve awkward external power sources or repeated invasive surgeries to replace depleted batteries, according to the foreign news outlet New Atlas. Saudi scientists are coming up with a potential solution to this problem by developing a tiny implantable device that can be recharged by ultrasound.
For years, the question of how to make medical implants work inside the body has remained a problem, and we've seen some exciting potential solutions. They may include the MIT system, which uses radio waves to power it, the Stanford system, which uses other types of electromagnetic waves, and pacemakers, which are recharged using body fluids.
The latest breakthrough in the field comes from scientists at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. Their system is based on a new type of biocompatible hydrogel that contains a large amount of water, making it safe to stretch and bend in the body and conduct electricity. The latest property is the result of a new formulation in which the team mixed polyvinyl alcohol with tiny sheets of MXene, which is a two-dimensional sheet of transition metal carbide, nitride, or carbon-nitride. We've already seen MXene used in the development of other promising technologies, including paintable antennas, artificial muscles for robots and next-generation battery components.
The team found that mixing MXene into its hydrogel to form what's known as an "M-gel" leads to a material that generates an electric current when pressurized, forcing electric ions to flow through the water inside.
Kanghyuck Lee, lead author of the study, said, "Just like dissolving salt in water to make it electrically conductive, we used MXene nanoflakes to make hydrogels. We were surprised to find that the resulting material could generate electricity under the influence of ultrasound."
When that pressure is generated by ultrasound, an effect known as a flow vibrational potential, the team observed its effectiveness through a series of experiments. This involved implanting the device into a piece of beef up to several centimeters deep and using various ultrasound devices to rapidly charge the device.
Husam Alshareef, a materials scientist at KAUST, said, "This is another example of the great potential of the MXene hydrogel that we have been developing in our Sensing and Energy Applications Lab."
The study is published in the journal ACS Nano. For more information on "Scientists Develop Biocompatible Battery for Medical Implants Charged by Ultrasound", please stay tuned to Deep Space's Science & Technology section, which will continue to update you with more information on science and technology. Heart of the King 2 click to try