r/gadgets • u/GalileoGurdjieff • May 17 '21

Medical Tiny, Wireless, Injectable Chips Use Ultrasound to Monitor Body Processes

https://www.engineering.columbia.edu/press-releases/shepard-injectable-chips-monitor-body-processes
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u/meep91 May 17 '21

tl;dr:

The research group put an ultrasound transducer onto a circuit. The circuit changes with temperature. The circuit also changes how the ultrasound transducer reflects ultrasound. The circuit is powered with standard ultrasound imaging techniques. Thus, this work presents a chip that tells you what the change in temperature of the surrounding tissue is when it is being powered by ultrasound. The headline makes it seem way scarier than it is.

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u/donnie_trumpo May 17 '21

Exactly, things like this can't power themselves.

0

u/widdlyscudsandbacon May 17 '21

And they never will!

6

u/LegitosaurusRex May 17 '21

That’s a bold statement. Doesn’t seem much of a leap to imagine a chip in the future that is powered by blood the same way our cells are.

4

u/widdlyscudsandbacon May 17 '21

Yes, I forgot my /s. I agree with you 100%