Today, a tiny electronic device the size of a grain of rice can be implanted deep into the body to treat diseases and relieve pain, according to Pannochka, an online publication for girls and women aged 14 to 35.. net Thanks to the efforts of Stanford University engineers, a way has now been found to power this device wirelessly.

Ada Poon, professor of electrical engineering at Stanford, has worked for years to get rid of bulky batteries and recharging systems, the biggest drawback holding back the development of implantable medical devices..

In the new issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, she and her colleagues reported on the development and testing of a new, safe way to wirelessly transmit electricity to miniature medical devices inside the human body..

They hope that this technology will lead to a real revolution in the treatment of most diseases - patients will be able to use implantable devices instead of the usual drug therapy.. They could be miniature pacemakers, nerve stimulators to fight pain, or devices scientists can't yet imagine..

Prof Poon says: "

To test their wireless charging system, the team developed a seed-sized pacemaker that can be wirelessly powered by an external charger that looks like a regular credit card..

This achievement is especially important because all the early methods were only suitable for charging devices close to the surface of the skin.. New technology allows powering devices implanted at any depth.

“Existing methods of storing, receiving and transferring energy require large devices that are not measured in millimeters at all,” the inventors write..

The new invention is based on an engineering breakthrough that allows the use of a new type of power transmission, similar to that used in mobile phones. The radiation penetrates deep into the body, and tests show that the system behaves well at a level of radiation that is absolutely harmless to humans..

The idea came when Professor Poon found a way to mix two existing methods - short and long electromagnetic waves, to get what the researcher calls "

Short waves are already safely used in wireless systems such as hearing implants.. But, as their name implies, they can only transmit energy over short distances, so they are not suitable for medical devices implanted deep into tissues..

Long waves can travel long distances, but when they encounter living tissues, they are either reflected from them or absorbed and generate heat..

Professor Poon mixed the safety of short waves with the range of long waves, resulting in a signal that has the advantages of the former and the latter.. She created a source that generates a special type of waves that easily travel through the air and through human tissues..

Lead study author John Ho, a research fellow in Prof. Poon's lab, wrote: "

Professor Poon and her colleagues have successfully tested the new charger on a pig and a rabbit implanted with a specially designed pacemaker..

Now the inventors are planning to conduct research on humans. But they do not hide the fact that even if human trials are successful, the technology will become available on the market only in a few years, because it needs to be done a lot of improvements and prove the effectiveness and safety of the new product..

Be that as it may, a new discovery could spawn a whole generation of programmable microimplants.. These can be various sensors that monitor vital functions deep in the body.. These may be nerve stimulants that change the signals going to the brain.. It can even be microscopic dispensers that dispense drugs directly into diseased tissues.. Scientists have already dubbed such alternatives "

Recently, a lot of new implantable medical devices have appeared.. For example, this year Ohio scientists reported on an implantable device that could be used to treat obstructive sleep apnea in patients with heart failure.. The novelty was presented by the author of the pilot study, Professor William Abraham (William Abraham) from Ohio State University at the annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology.

medbe. en.