After a trip through pig intestines, devices could measure temp and deliver drugs.
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Gut juice could power the next generation of health gadgets
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I remember building a lemon battery back in elementary school. Who'd have thought grade schoolers were at the cutting edge of medical monitoring tech?
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Definitely read "Git Juice" in the title of this story and had flashes of something like the Matrix powered by the excretions of developers.
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It is hard for me to believe that this saves much compared to a small battery which can last a couple days. We are only talking about 1.1V at most here. It may also introduce some uncertainties.
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Strictly speaking, is the battery "powered" by the stomach acid or is it just acting as an electrolyte? If you're consuming the electrodes to power it, you haven't really accomplished much - I'm reminded of the BS "water" powered devices that simply had dried salts in the battery compartment that formed a primary cell once water was introduced (which, of course, eventually ran down no matter how much water you added).
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Some interesting things from what I read:
The stomach acid acts as an electrolyte.
A generic anode reaction of:
X --> (X^n+) + (ne-)
substituting Mg or Zn into X
Mg wasn't really used much though as it was suggested by the authors "the lifetime of a magnesium-based prototype would not exceed 24 h" hence why Zinc was focused on.
"Nevertheless, the total elemental zinc present in the largest electrode we tested (30 mm × 3.0 mm × 0.25 mm) was 161 mg. Assuming the extreme case of full dissolution across the six-day experiment, the average zinc ion deposition rate for this electrode would be 27 mg d−1. This amount is below the US Food and Nutrition Board recommended upper limit of 40 mg d−1 (ref. 24 ), and in line with levels found in over-the-counter zinc supplements (15, 30 and 50 mg d−1 doses are commonly available)."
Also, the printed circuit board for the capsule included a regular battery inside it so wouldn't that contradict the purpose of the experiment?
The stomach acid acts as an electrolyte.
A generic anode reaction of:
X --> (X^n+) + (ne-)
substituting Mg or Zn into X
Mg wasn't really used much though as it was suggested by the authors "the lifetime of a magnesium-based prototype would not exceed 24 h" hence why Zinc was focused on.
"Nevertheless, the total elemental zinc present in the largest electrode we tested (30 mm × 3.0 mm × 0.25 mm) was 161 mg. Assuming the extreme case of full dissolution across the six-day experiment, the average zinc ion deposition rate for this electrode would be 27 mg d−1. This amount is below the US Food and Nutrition Board recommended upper limit of 40 mg d−1 (ref. 24 ), and in line with levels found in over-the-counter zinc supplements (15, 30 and 50 mg d−1 doses are commonly available)."
Also, the printed circuit board for the capsule included a regular battery inside it so wouldn't that contradict the purpose of the experiment?
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How was this idea overlooked for so long?
As previous comments have stated , it's a staple of grade school science fairs.
As previous comments have stated , it's a staple of grade school science fairs.
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Although it's kinda neat, it doesn't solve any particularly pressing problems. Ordinary batteries and externally powered probes already have this territory covered.
I'm actually not sure what, if any, advantage this approach brings to the table.
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Seems like a novelty, a solution looking for a problem. Ingestibles will need to get much, much tinier before this is of practical benefit over using a tiny battery. I assume ingestibles don't have to run for very long before they've passed.
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This was just a beta, a proof of concept.
later on they can add cameras, injectables etc.
The next step would be surgery without opening your skin, provided they can make the devices small yet powerful enough. Imagine, a tiny robot snipper that targets cancerous polyps in the digestive system etc.
Reduced hospital recovery time etc greater convenience and quality of lifefor the patient.
Thisis just the beginning.
later on they can add cameras, injectables etc.
The next step would be surgery without opening your skin, provided they can make the devices small yet powerful enough. Imagine, a tiny robot snipper that targets cancerous polyps in the digestive system etc.
Reduced hospital recovery time etc greater convenience and quality of lifefor the patient.
Thisis just the beginning.
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I don't see how this particular bit of technology enables any of that, since such applications are already well covered by conventional batteries, and even by external power sources attached via swallowable cables.
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Um... this offers a great vector for a restaurant.
Imagine a nano-version of this. For a given customer, based on the meal they ate, I get 24+ hours of telemetry. A fun data science problem is if it is the consumer or the sewer.
Imagine a nano-version of this. For a given customer, based on the meal they ate, I get 24+ hours of telemetry. A fun data science problem is if it is the consumer or the sewer.
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Um, maybe I'm missing something, but I believe the article addresses the question of what advantage this approach has compared to a device using an ordinary battery:
As for externally powered, I don't think you can have a device powered via a cable travel down the intestinal tract or any do any other activity that requires the device be active over multiple days. Plus, I'd certainly prefer one of these over swallowing something with a cable attached regardless of the length of time.
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Now I'm not a biologist, and it's been awhile since I read the books...
But isn't it completely normal that the energy collected drops off as soon as it leaves the stomach?
After all, the stomach lining is the only part of the body that can cope with the stomach acid's great acidity... As soon as stuff leaves the stomach BILE is injected to neutralize it, lest it burn a hole in the duodenum.
So if you rely on acidity for your current, the stomach will be the panacea for you.
Here you go, from Wikipedia:
With a pH of approximately 2, chyme emerging from the stomach is very acidic. The duodenum secretes a hormone, cholecystokinin (CCK), which causes the gall bladder to contract, releasing alkaline bile into the duodenum. CCK also causes the release of digestive enzymes from the pancreas. The duodenum is a short section of the small intestine located between the stomach and the rest of the small intestine. The duodenum also produces the hormone secretin to stimulate the pancreatic secretion of large amounts of sodium bicarbonate, which then raises pH of the chyme to 7.
But isn't it completely normal that the energy collected drops off as soon as it leaves the stomach?
After all, the stomach lining is the only part of the body that can cope with the stomach acid's great acidity... As soon as stuff leaves the stomach BILE is injected to neutralize it, lest it burn a hole in the duodenum.
So if you rely on acidity for your current, the stomach will be the panacea for you.
Here you go, from Wikipedia:
With a pH of approximately 2, chyme emerging from the stomach is very acidic. The duodenum secretes a hormone, cholecystokinin (CCK), which causes the gall bladder to contract, releasing alkaline bile into the duodenum. CCK also causes the release of digestive enzymes from the pancreas. The duodenum is a short section of the small intestine located between the stomach and the rest of the small intestine. The duodenum also produces the hormone secretin to stimulate the pancreatic secretion of large amounts of sodium bicarbonate, which then raises pH of the chyme to 7.
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I don't find that to be a compelling need. The risk of battery rupture are very small, and I'd wager they're comparable to the variety of risks this alternative brings to the plate.
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This sounds incredible.
However they're going to have to push the miniaturisation an order of magnitude before you'll get me onboard. I ain't swallowing a 4cm long device, I struggle enough with pills 5mm in diameter
However they're going to have to push the miniaturisation an order of magnitude before you'll get me onboard. I ain't swallowing a 4cm long device, I struggle enough with pills 5mm in diameter
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