Researchers Build Water Soluble Chips

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Researchers Build Water Soluble Chips

Posted by Unknown on Monday December 10, 2012 @10:02PM from the not-dishwasher-safe dept.

angry tapir writes "Researchers in the U.S. have developed integrated circuits that can stick to the skin like a child's tattoo and in some cases dissolve in water when they're no longer needed. The 'bio chips' can be worn comfortably on the body to help diagnose and treat illnesses. The circuits are so thin that when they're peeled away from the body they hang like a sliver of dead skin, with a tangle of fine wires visible under a microscope. Similar circuits could one day be wrapped around the heart like 'an electronic pericardium' to correct irregularities such as arrhythmia."

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I'm all for it. by nospam007 · 2012-12-10 22:18 · Score: 4, Funny

"Similar circuits could one day be wrapped around the heart..."
As long as they make it look like bacon...
1. Re:I'm all for it. by StuartHankins · 2012-12-11 04:02 · Score: 1
  
  So long as they remember to wipe, they can pop out all the Zunes they want. Those things are shit.
Do they actually do anything yet? by wonkey_monkey · 2012-12-10 22:29 · Score: 5, Insightful

To show the technology, Rogers rolled up his sleeve during his talk and, using a microscope and an overhead projector, revealed a circuit stuck on his arm. It looked like a clear tattoo, with a spaghetti-like mass of wires embedded in the surface.
Right, nice, but is it a circuit that actually does something?

--
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1. Re:Do they actually do anything yet? by fustakrakich · 2012-12-10 22:34 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Right, nice, but is it a circuit that actually does something?
  Yes, it communicates with the game console that is used to control his movements.
  
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  “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
2. Re:Do they actually do anything yet? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-10 23:02 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  So you're saying game consoles are looking to take over the human market? :O
3. Re:Do they actually do anything yet? by edibobb · 2012-12-11 05:43 · Score: 2
  
  I was wondering the same thing. Where does it get power? How does it communicate? It's obviously a breakthrough, but a few "topics for further research" remain before they can use the applications mentioned in the article.
4. Re:Do they actually do anything yet? by kelemvor4 · 2012-12-11 10:13 · Score: 1
  
  So you're saying game consoles are looking to take over the human market? :O
  What makes you think that hasn't already happened?
Ah, another weapon by fustakrakich · 2012-12-10 22:31 · Score: 1

Like stabbing somebody with an icicle.
The tin foil hatters will have a field day with this.

--
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
1. Re:Ah, another weapon by degeneratemonkey · 2012-12-11 05:15 · Score: 1
  
  Before you wander too far off into left field, you should probably know that the government funds this kind of research primarily because some geek in a lab has some good ideas and applies for a grant.
Re:Soluble, eh? by RaceProUK · 2012-12-11 00:13 · Score: 3, Informative

Well, it's a good thing the human body doesn't consist primarily of water
Most of it is contained by cell membranes. Also, water's not the only solvent. And from the summary:

in some cases dissolve in water

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No colour or religion ever stopped the bullet from a gun
Re:Soluble, eh? by RaceProUK · 2012-12-11 00:22 · Score: 1

First word of my post: Most
Please wait five minutes and troll again.

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No colour or religion ever stopped the bullet from a gun
Pacemakers are less intrusive indeed by Herve5 · 2012-12-11 00:25 · Score: 5, Insightful

"Similar circuits could one day be wrapped around the heart like 'an electronic pericardium' to correct irregularities such as arrhythmia."
Ok, once in place, I agree this is less intrusive than nowaday's pacemakers. And potentially more precise than their single electrode pair.
But if in order to get there you have to actually reach the heart to wrap them around, this, is catastrophically intrusive. This alone would be a no-go compared to the current pacemaker installation (through veins, basically a benign operation)
Like in many articles today, the idea and design are great, but authors feel compelled to add in the end a dreamy and ridiculous future application that basically spoils the paper.
I still think the affair is good. But now I also think the author is not really serious.

--
Herve S.
1. Re:Pacemakers are less intrusive indeed by jimbolauski · 2012-12-11 01:24 · Score: 1
  
  I doubt these microscopic robots would be reusable so wouldn't they make more sense to just leave the robots in the heart, you can skip the whole temporary tattoo circuit step. Further unless the circuits are flexible and can stretch without disbonding from the heart they will not work. Temporary motoring of surgical sites organ transplants or other trauma seems like the best application for these.
  
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2. Re:Pacemakers are less intrusive indeed by SuricouRaven · 2012-12-11 02:16 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I'm not a cardiologist, but I do wonder if there might be any significent number of hearts too badly damaged for a conventional pacemaker, but for which this implant-wrap could do the job. Intrusive it may be, but if the alternative is a heart transplant, the wrap wins.
3. Re:Pacemakers are less intrusive indeed by unkiereamus · 2012-12-11 03:01 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  This is speculation, but I'm betting this has less of an application for pacemaking than it does for correcting a conduction induced arrhythmia.
  
  Under normal circumstances, an electrical impulse is generated in the SA node at the top of the heart, then spreads through a defined path, first inervating the atria, a quick stop in the AV node which slows the conduction down for half a beat (haha, I'm so funny.), then continues down to activate the ventricles.
  
  Heart attacks kill muscle, and one of the big effects of that, aside from the loss of contractile force, is the fact that dead muscle doesn't conduct very well, so the electical impulse will start doing all sorts of interesting things to route around the problem, which can lead to the ventricles and atria firing in odd sequences.
  
  This circuit could potentially provide a new route for the impulse which would more closely mimic the original path, and restore a normal(ish) rhythm.
  
  Extending further out into speculation land, it's possible that with very precise control, and a reasonably powerful computer running the thing, you could correct atrial fibrillation, which would be all sorts of good.
  
  Finally, as to the implantation, I know that people are starting to do endoscopic Coronary Artery Bypass Grafts, which means that it's possible to work inside the pericardial sac without cracking the chest, I see no real reason that applying this circuitry couldn't be performed in the same way. Yes it's still going to knock people down for longer than a pacemaker implant will, but then, it's doing way more than a pacemaker does.
  
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Sprinkling surveillance by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-11 00:34 · Score: 1

I wonder when it becomes feasible to have surveillance (mic and or camera) so small it can be sprinkled, and when you don't need it anymore it simply dissolves.
It always sells as a health benefiting technology by dragisha · 2012-12-11 00:41 · Score: 2

While in fact espionage is what pays for it :).
We can only hope health care improvements will be at least a side-effect.

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Re:Soluble, eh? by RaceProUK · 2012-12-11 00:50 · Score: 1

Quote from the summary:

in some cases dissolve in water
Which I also included in my original post.
Please wait five minutes and troll again.

--
No colour or religion ever stopped the bullet from a gun
Re:It always sells as a health benefiting technolo by sixtyeight · 2012-12-11 01:12 · Score: 1

That occurred to me as well.
Perhaps people will get their governments under control, so that the People decide what gets researched... and the government must settle for the scraps.

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The Wolfpack Project: BitCoin + Crowdfunding = Political Accountability
Re:It always sells as a health benefiting technolo by dragisha · 2012-12-11 01:29 · Score: 2

Two words - better education.
If People are not educated, decisions are made by mainstream media propaganda.

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Re:It always sells as a health benefiting technolo by sixtyeight · 2012-12-11 01:43 · Score: 1

I'm not sure it's prudent to wait on the primary beneficiary of a poor educational system to overhaul that system.
A good education can be had by researching online, but the value of this is regularly naysaid by internet trolls. Counterintuitively, the public seem to put much stock in their opinion of it. The result is that "everyone knows" information cannot be trusted, simply because it can be found predominantly online.

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The Wolfpack Project: BitCoin + Crowdfunding = Political Accountability
What a showman by Sockatume · 2012-12-11 01:48 · Score: 1

As a veteran of boring science conferences, I love that to make his point "he produced and then ate a tiny RF oscillator 5 millimeters across."

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No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
1. Re:What a showman by SuricouRaven · 2012-12-11 02:22 · Score: 1
  
  Still no Warrick though.
Re:Soluble, eh? by girlintraining · 2012-12-11 01:54 · Score: 1

Most of it is contained by cell membranes. Also, water's not the only solvent. And from the summary:
I was making fun of the tragically amusing misleading headline less than the merely inaccurate summary.

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Do They Turn Black by Jeremiah+Cornelius · 2012-12-11 02:04 · Score: 2

After your 30th birthday?

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"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
1. Re:Do They Turn Black by Bieeanda · 2012-12-11 10:15 · Score: 1
  
  Thirty? Oh fuck, I'm eight years late for Carousel!
2. Re:Do They Turn Black by Jeremiah+Cornelius · 2012-12-11 11:35 · Score: 1
  
  Lastday, Capricorn 29's. Year of the City: 2274. Carousel begins.
  Be strong and you will be renewed. Identify.
  
  --
  "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
  Never been known to fail..."
Re:Soluble, eh? by RaceProUK · 2012-12-11 02:05 · Score: 1

Fair enough :)

--
No colour or religion ever stopped the bullet from a gun
Re:Soluble, eh? by hey! · 2012-12-11 02:13 · Score: 1

I've never heard of a sweaty heart -- unless that's the name of a band.

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Re:Soluble, eh? by hey! · 2012-12-11 02:17 · Score: 2

Once you've developed a soluble circuit, the rate at which it dissolves is no doubt a parameter that can be tweaked to yield the desired lifetime.
The fact that the circuit dissovles away is a *feature*, as in soluble sutures. We can already implant electronic circuits in the human body, but I believe the idea is to create circuits you don't need to remove with a second round of surgery.

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Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
agreed by grenadeh · 2012-12-11 02:21 · Score: 1

Hey look more bad news. Cool. Like Dragisha said, for those of us who don't get oppressed by this, maybe we can hope for some societal advancement when all the internment camps are liberated.
Where's the Christian conspiracy theorists? by Jellodyne · 2012-12-11 03:37 · Score: 1

In before "Mark of the Beast"
Re:Offisive Racism by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-11 03:47 · Score: 1

Capitalization is a very basic concept that is learned in elementary school. You clearly have a basic understanding of the English language, and were offended by the comment that you replied to.
The third sentence in your comment is a fragment, and the word capitalize is misspelled. The fourth sentence in your comment is a fragment, and should be broken into two sentences.
Talking tattoos! by zarmanto · 2012-12-11 03:48 · Score: 1

It seems to me that this is just a few more minor discoveries away from Amy's talking tattoo. I mean, the medical applications may be important and all, but come on; I'm sure everyone here knows that practicality isn't really what drives innovation...
What's this about water soluble ships? by stevegee58 · 2012-12-11 03:52 · Score: 2

What? Oh, never mind.
Re:Soluble, eh? by marcello_dl · 2012-12-11 05:03 · Score: 1

I see a dissolving circuit very problematic, you have to shut it down in a way that no interference with the heart is performed during dissolution. Stem cell therapy seems easier :)

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Sure it does! by ThatsNotPudding · 2012-12-11 06:30 · Score: 1

Right, nice, but is it a circuit that actually does something?
It broadcasts the message: "Drink More Ovaltine!".
Re:Soluble, eh? by kelemvor4 · 2012-12-11 10:18 · Score: 1

Similar circuits could one day be wrapped around the heart like 'an electronic pericardium' to correct irregularities such as arrhythmia."
Soluble... That word, I do not think it means what you think it means. Well, it's a good thing the human body doesn't consist primarily of water.
soluble
/sälybl/
Adjective

(of a substance) Able to be dissolved, esp. in water: "the poison is soluble in alcohol".

"Researchers in the U.S. have developed integrated circuits that can stick to the skin like a child's tattoo and in some cases dissolve in water when they're no longer needed.
Seems like it's used properly to me.
Re:Offisive Racism by julesh · 2012-12-13 04:17 · Score: 1

The third sentence in your comment is a fragment, and the word capitalize is misspelled.

(S (PP For instance), (S (NP they) (VP know (PP to (NP capitalise)) (SBAR (S (NP proper nouns) (VP like (NP (NP the names) (PP of (NP (NP countries) or (NP languages)))))))))
The 'S' in the outermost level indicates a complete sentence. Try it yourself here and get better formatting (doesn't get past slashdot's damned lameness filters with the whitespace required...).