SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
In a new study published in Scientific Reports, investigators from Brigham and Women's Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory report that an ingestible electronic capsule, complete with a capsule-sized antenna capable of receiving a radio signal wirelessly, can safely power a device in the gastrointestinal tract in preclinical models. The new work makes wireless medical electronics for treating the gastrointestinal tract one step closer to reality.
[...] This work describes the first example of remote, wireless transfer of power to a system in the stomach in a large preclinical animal model -- a critical step toward bringing these devices into the clinic," said co-corresponding author Carlo "Gio" Traverso, MD, PhD, a gastroenterologist and biomedical engineer at BWH.
Other medical devices -- such as cochlear implants or neural probes - use a well-established technique known as near-field coupling to deliver power wirelessly. But ingestible devices must be small enough to be swallowed and, moreover, lie a significant distance from the surface of the body, making this technique unattainable for most gastrointestinal electronics. A new technique known as mid-field coupling provides an alternative way to deliver power to deeply implanted devices. Mid-field coupling operates at higher frequencies to deliver power two to three times more efficiently.
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday May 01 2017, @06:14PM (2 children)
If you can implant small devices under the skin instead of in the GI tract, there are many more useful applications than merely taking care of your health.
Suppose you can put it under the skin near a high part of the body like the neck or shoulder area. You could charge it at night.
You could charge it at other times -- such as at work -- where the charging would also have the dual purpose of proving that you are in your seat doing your job.
The RIAA would have applications for this. It could, for example, automatically charge your credit card any time you hear any copyrighted music.
I don't know what it would take for the MPAA to do the same for when you see copyrighted motion picture or TV content. Maybe a shoulder high camera.
It could be your national or global ID.
It could let the government helpfully keep track of some of your health and fitness parameters for your convenience.
I'm sure there are other uses. Uses in addition to the above. And uses that arise from the above items.
Who would pay? Would various parties (Google, Microsoft, government, etc) eagerly stumble over each other for the privilege of paying you to use their device?
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Tuesday May 02 2017, @05:05AM (1 child)
And I would like a chargeback for all the crap I had to hear that I did NOT want to hear!
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday May 02 2017, @02:08PM
Your request is being processed. Please hold while listening to this Justin Bieber "music". Press 0 to talk to an artificial insanity robot. Press 1 to be routed to a call center in some god forsaken third world hell hole. Your call is important to us. We understand that you don't want to pay for things you don't want to hear. Our customer service department is ranked number one in optimizing the truth.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.