Melt In The Body Electronics

[Deepwater6]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19737125

 

This is impressive. This tech. should be helpful in a variety of human issues in the future. Not only can they help keep a wound clean with heat, they should also be available to monitor surgeries after they are closed up. That kind of technology for its use can't be far off.

 

There has always been talk of technology getting merged with the human body. Many people fear this union for a variety of reasons. I think its an inevitable process as our species continues to grow. Certainly if its used in a medical application. People will use it if its likely to save their lives regardless of their suspicions. One step closer to a chip in every head.

[CraigD]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19737125

 

This is impressive.

I agree.

 

It’s also remarkable in its simplicity – just silicon components made very thin, rather than the usual practice of encasing them in thick silicon outer layers to make them sturdy – and it’s incorporation of the very old technology of silkworm silk, used as an outer coating to prevent the thin silicon from dissolving too soon.

 

I’m somewhat surprised by the use of silk, because as any MD, nurse, or even a medical computer person like me will tell you, silk doesn’t dissolve. So, while the silicon electronics it temporarily protects dissolves, as best I know their silk covers won’t, for a long – possibly longer than a human lifetime – time. In surgery, silk is used external sutures only, and must be manually removed. It’s main advantage is that it’s very fine and flexible, and knots easily, making it one of the materials of choice where scarring is to be especially avoided, such as closing facial incisions.

 

Also surprising to me is the fact that thin silicon dissolved quickly in water. I’d think this would be common knowledge, especially for folk like me who have had a smattering of undergrad and professional education in practical electronics, but this is the first time I’ve heard it.

 

There has always been talk of technology getting merged with the human body. Many people fear this union for a variety of reasons. I think its an inevitable process as our species continues to grow. Certainly if its used in a medical application. People will use it if its likely to save their lives regardless of their suspicions.

I think we’re already there, and have been for a couple of human generations. People who are alive only because of implanted cardiac pacemakers and artificial heart valves have been pretty grateful for the technology, which has been around since the 1960s.

 

PS:

Did anyone besides me notice and follow the article’s link to this 11 Aug 2011 article about “Electronic tattoos”?

 

I found the promise made by this technology wonderfully cool, especially if you take it the further step of imagining depositing these thin electronic devices not like a decal, as in the article, but using printing technology.

 

Imagine getting out of the shower, then sticking your arm or other body part into your household printer to get the latest smartphone or whatever temporarily “tattooed” onto your skin. Or just getting an animated tattoo that plays a video loop, rather than the usual boring static kind. I want this!