Researchers from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States) are working on tiny implants that can be managed remotely. As they use wireless technology, the devices can medicate patients, treat illnesses, or monitor internal conditions less aggressively.
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The communication of the devices with the outside takes place through radio waves. The problem, until then, was that the vibrations spread as they entered the human body, making transmission difficult. Through a partnership with scientists at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (in the state capital, Boston), it was possible to develop a new type of antenna, which overcomes the limitation. With it, you can control the equipment from a considerable distance.
The results of tests on pigs indicate that when the device is 10 centimeters deep in the skin, it is possible to carry them from a distance of up to 1 meter. On the surface, however, the range exceeds 30 meters. According to an MIT professor, Fadel Adib, there is a balance between the two factors. For him, the discovery opens up new types of medical applications.
Implants do not need a battery to function, making a very small size viable. The prototype that the research team is working on, for example, is approximately the size of a grain of rice. This does not mean, however, that scholars are satisfied; they want to make them even smaller.
For scientists, the next step is to improve the efficiency of the tool they have developed and increase the distances from which they can communicate with it.
Source: Camila Pessoa para Tecmundo