Edible Electronic Medical Devices like Pills

PARTIALLY DIGESTIBLE ELECTRONIC DEVICES RELATED TO HEALING

Edible Electronic Pills

Few years back scientist have developed such camera pills that can be swallowed but indigestible whose function is to transmit video of interior parts of body. By considering this thing in mind of researchers from university of Camegie Mellon, they developed such an electronic medical device that can be easily edible and partially eatable and there should be no persistent treatment in this method.   

The project is led by two professors, Christopher Bettinger and Jay Whitacre. Christopher is working on the biodegradable electronics especially that can be used for medicinal purpose whereas Whitacre has developed such a cheap, non-hazardous electrochemical sodium ion battery. 

Whitacre declare that my battery is comestible. One day Christopher came to my office and said to me can you eat your battery? I answered yes and the history is explained after this. My battery can be easily eaten because it needs low power as need for the digestion of food and hence a perfect match.

The electronic gadgets such as sensors, drug delivering systems and tissue stimulating tools are placed in gelatin capsules that are powered by the palatable batteries. Such devices are made up of biodegradable memory shaped polymer and are enclosed in a folded manner in a capsule. When the capsule reaches in gastrointestinal area it dissolves after a particular time and after that polymer hydrate thus let the battery to flow electric current causing electronic device to operate.   

These capsules are taken like regular medicines. Such devices remain in the digestive system for about 18 to 24 hours and the functional lifetime would be one to two hours. Most of the components are digested like food and some are passed out without recycling them.

Bettinger said that most of patients feel comfortable in swallowing pills that have esculent electronics inside them. The key idea is to manufacture such nature friendly materials that are safe to use which we have done.