Wireless Blood Implants

Stanford University does not stop astonish people with its inventions and discoveries. One of the most progressive scientific establishments of the world has touched the problem of blood clots recently. In particular, its researchers, headed by Ada Poon, have created the device that moves through the blood vessels. According to their words, new technology allows to produce a miniature electro-mechanical implants. However, the main problem in the development of such devices is their power supply - the batteries are cumbersome, are subject to corrosion and need to be replaced or recharged.

For decades wireless implantable devices with electromagnetic power were an an object of discussion and challenge within scientific circles. The experiments resulted in pointing out that high-frequency radio waves dissipate quickly after passing the structure of human tissue and disappear as quickly as deep they had gone. On the contrary, low-frequency signals can be absorbed better, but they require too big antennas. The results of Ada Poon’s research lead her and her team to work in another direction, which is predominantly caused by their contradiction of tissue and bones being good conductors of electricity. The following stage of their research involved usage of mathematic operations, or so-called Maxwell's equations (quasistatic approximation), to be precise. Poon has adopted a different approach, choosing as a tissue model insulator transition. The researcher learned that the human tissue is a poor conductor of electricity, but radio waves can still navigate through it. Poon had repeated calculations, in which she was able to significantly extend the opportunity to "travel" of instrument within a human body.

Therefore, to solve power supply problem, scientists offered to use wireless way of energy supply. The device is equipped with special antenna, the total area of which is about two square millimeters. The antenna receives electromagnetic waves with a frequency of one gigahertz, generated by an external source. Additionally, Americans have constructed two versions of this novelty: one moves in specified direction with the speed of 5 mm per second; the second one moves from side to side within a blood steam, as it its current flows back and forth on a wire loop.

One might ask what is this device for? Well, it might perform two major assignments – diagnostics and less invasive catheter surgery. It can be used to deliver drugs to the affected organs and tissues, as well as to destroy blood clots or atherosclerotic plaques in blood vessels. Hence, clot retrieval device may be greatly facilitated by this invention. Let's hope that in future this device will help hundreds of people not only to study of their organisms, but also in the micro-operations such as cleaning of vessels and others.