MIT Creates Glucose Fuel Cell To Power Implanted Brain-Computer Interfaces

MrSeb writes "Neuroengineers at MIT have created an implantable fuel cell that generates electricity from the glucose present in the cerebrospinal fluid that flows around your brain and spinal cord. The glucose-powered fuel cell is crafted out of silicon and platinum, using standard semiconductor fabrication processes. The platinum acts as a catalyst, stripping electrons from glucose molecules, similar to how aerobic animal cells (such as our own) strip electrons from glucose with enzymes and oxygen. The glucose fuel cell produces hundreds of microwatts (i.e. tenths of a milliwatt), which is a surprisingly large amount — it comparable to the solar cell on a calculator, for example. This should be more than enough power to drive complex computers — or perhaps more interestingly, trigger clusters of neurons in the brain. In theory, this glucose fuel cell will actually deprive your brain of some energy, though in practice you probably won't notice (or you might find yourself growing hungry sooner)."

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Re:There should be a -1 SPAM mod

[Anonymous Coward]

There should be a -1 SPAM mod, which would take TWO points out of Karma.

Then it would simply become the next "-1, I disagree with this but can't refute it". And it wouldn't even slow down the spammers, as they don't give a damn about their karma.

Related story from last year

[nickersonm]

This looks quite similar to a European effort reported last year that successfully tested glucose fuel cells in rats in 2010. This MIT one can be fabricated in silicon, though, so hopefully has the potential to be cheaper.