Researchers Build Water Soluble Chips

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."

Comments

I'm all for it.

[nospam007]

"Similar circuits could one day be wrapped around the heart..."

As long as they make it look like bacon...

Do they actually do anything yet?

[wonkey_monkey]

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?

Re:Do they actually do anything yet?

[fustakrakich]

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.

Re:Do they actually do anything yet?

[Anonymous Coward]

So you're saying game consoles are looking to take over the human market? :O

Re:Do they actually do anything yet?

[edibobb]

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.

Re:Soluble, eh?

[RaceProUK]

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

Pacemakers are less intrusive indeed

[Herve5]

"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.

Re:Pacemakers are less intrusive indeed

[SuricouRaven]

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.

Re:Pacemakers are less intrusive indeed

[unkiereamus]

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.

It always sells as a health benefiting technology

[dragisha]

While in fact espionage is what pays for it :).

We can only hope health care improvements will be at least a side-effect.

Re:It always sells as a health benefiting technolo

[dragisha]

Two words - better education.

If People are not educated, decisions are made by mainstream media propaganda.

Do They Turn Black

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

After your 30th birthday?

Re:Soluble, eh?

[hey!]

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.

What's this about water soluble ships?

[stevegee58]

What? Oh, never mind.