Scientists Invent Electronics That Dissolve In the Body

An anonymous reader writes in with a story about some new electronics that are designed to melt in your body not in your hand. "Scientists have created ultra-thin electronic devices that can 'melt away' in the body once their job is done. A new study published in the journal Science, details how scientists have created a tiny, fully functional electronic device capable of vanishing within their environment, like in the body or in water, once they are no longer needed or useful. There are already implants that dispense drugs or provide electrical stimulation but they do not dissolve. The latest creation is an early step in a technology that may benefit not only medicine, like enabling the development of medical implants that don't need to be surgically removed or the risk of long-term side effects, but also electronic waste disposal."

Comments

Re:Medical applications? Nope.

[JustOK]

I predict it's been done already.

Re:Medical applications? Nope.

[one eyed kangaroo]

I predict that the *same* dissolvable device that retails for $1200 in the US will retail for a tenth of that in Canada, Europe, Australia, etc.

Re:also electronic waste disposal

[Samantha Wright]

I was thinking the same thing. Even with medical implants, electronic waste disposal is a problem because of the materials used, not the fact that they need to be removed. Even a more literal reading of TFS implies that our bodies will just absorb mercury, gold, silicon, lead, and so on from these new implants. (Awkward.)