Tiny implants monitor brain injuries, then melt away
Scientists develop a small electronic implant that can monitor brain after injuries and then melt away when no longer needed. Since the implants melt, there’s no need for surgery to remove them.
The implant monitors temperature and pressure in the skull—crucial health parameters after sustaining head injuries.
Current methods of monitoring stress and pressure in the brain are bulky and invasive. The current implants also put patients at risk of allergic reactions, hemorrhage, or infection.
The new implants, in contrast, are tiny and unobtrusive. The sensors are smaller than a grain of rice and are built into silicones that naturally dissolve in the body after a few weeks.
“The ultimate strategy is to have a device that you can place in the brain – or in other organs in the body – that is entirely implanted, intimately connected with the organ you want to monitor and can transmit signals wirelessly to provide information on the health of that organ, allowing doctors to intervene if necessary to prevent bigger problems,” said Rory Murphy, a neurosurgeon at Washington University and co-author of the paper. “After the critical period that you actually want to monitor, it will dissolve away and disappear.”
The research was led by John A. Rogers, a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Wilson Ray, a professor of neurological surgery at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the researchers publish their work in the journal Nature on January 18.
Category: Features, Technology & Devices
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