2023-05-01 16:00:00
Italian scientists have designed an edible battery. A coming revolution in the medical industry?
In Italy, scientists have developed an edible battery that could pave the way for unmanageable electronic medical devices. Even more amazing, this battery is made from basic compounds found in almonds and capers – so the experts didn’t need to create an entirely new product to make this battery work.
Italian scientists have designed an edible battery
The use of ingestible devices in the medical field does not yet exist. However, currently unmanageable devices are used. They require surgery in case something goes wrong and they cannot be removed easily. This is where an edible battery could be very useful because the latter is made from compounds that the body can easily assimilate. The electrodes are composed of riboflavin, a vitamin found in almonds, and quercetin, a food supplement present in particular in capers.
Besides for medical devices like cameras and other biosensors, an edible battery could also be used to power food quality analysis equipment or even soft robotics devices.
A coming revolution in the medical industry?
A prototype of this battery is described in the paper published by the scientists in Advanced Materials. This is currently rechargeable and operates at 0.65V. Unfortunately, it still needs to be recharged outside the human body. Anyway, the development of this prototype is very exciting by the mere promise of such technology. If this battery can really be digested without any problem and if researchers manage to recharge it inside the body, that could revolutionize medical devices and their use.
Italian experts explain that this is the very first rechargeable and edible battery in the world. And while it most likely won’t be the last, this innovation could inspire other teams to develop similar options — or even find new ways to engineer edible batteries from compounds found in food.
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