Wireless device can power medical implants
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.028194
MIT Technology Review : As tiny medical devices such as pacemakers and deep-brain stimulators are developed that can be implanted in the human body, they will require some sort of power source. Batteries need to be recharged or replaced, and because the electromagnetic waves can’t penetrate tissue, current wireless systems work only on devices—hearing aids, for example—that sit on the surface of the skin. Now Ada Poon of Stanford University and coworkers have found a way to modify the waves by using a special conductive plate that sits on the skin surface. When a current is applied, the pattern of the conductive material in the plate produces a spatially focused magnetic field that can penetrate biological tissue and do so at radiation levels deemed safe for humans.
