It created a wireless pacemaker the size of a grain of rice

US scientists have created a new generation of wireless pacemaker, the size of which is comparable to the size of a grain of rice and does without the battery. Pacemaker gets the necessary energy "over the air" using a specially designed charging device, which emits electromagnetic waves of a certain length, which overcome the captured body tissue and the implant antenna. The study is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Typically, the body tissue absorb or reflect electromagnetic waves, which could transmit electricity small electronic devices inside the body. Nevertheless, a group of scientists from Stanford University managed to find a wavelength which easily overcomes the body's tissues and captured implanted stimulator.

According to the researchers, this radiation is harmless in the quantities that are required to maintain the operation of the device. This approach allows you to completely get rid of the battery or batteries and significantly reduce the size of the electrical stimulator. In the future, such a device can be a complete substitute for expensive medical treatment or bulky implants.

The main author of the development, Professor Poon Ada (Ada Poon), noted that some medical devices, including hearing aids, using the wireless transmission of energy "near field", which may be carried out within a very short distance in the human body. In other devices, which are charged wirelessly, using wave "far-field", are not suitable for charging chips implanted in the human body, such as the wave or reflected or absorbed by the body tissues.

Battery charger developed by scientists at Stanford, generates waves "mean-field", which is transmitted "over the air", changing its characteristics in the human body and successfully reach the implanted device. Studies in rabbits and pigs, experimentally confirmed the effectiveness of such a wireless transmission of the "middle of the field."

How to find the authors of development, their findings will make a significant contribution to the field of implantable medical pacemakers and chips, as analogues of existing today require periodic battery replacement or charging from the mains.