A new type of material can use ultrasound to penetrate human skin to charge bioelectronic implants, and can eliminate the need for invasive replacement of batteries in devices such as pacemakers.

Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia believe that hydrogels (a three-dimensional network formed by cross-linking long polymer molecules) can generate electricity by absorbing sound waves that penetrate the human body.

Electronic devices are increasingly being used to solve serious long-term health problems, such as pacemakers used to regulate the heartbeat, electronic pumps that release insulin, and implanted hearing aids.

Such equipment is usually designed to minimize the size and weight, and has no toxic effect on the body, so as to make the patient feel comfortable

Powering such devices is usually a design problem. In order to improve the patient‘s treatment effect, it is necessary to minimize the need for external operations (such as battery replacement).

The hydrogel can hold a large amount of water and is conductive, and its soft and stretchable texture is very suitable for use in the human body.

The research team combined polyvinyl alcohol with MXene nanosheets (a transition metal carbide) to create M-gel.

"
Just as dissolving salt in water can make water conductive, we use MXene nanosheets to make hydrogels, and we were surprised to find that the resulting material can generate electricity under the action of ultrasound.

——Lead author Kanghyuck Lee
"

When an external force is applied to fill the hydrogel with the current of electric ions in the water, M-gel will generate an electric current. When the external force is the result of ultrasonic action, the effect is called streaming vibration potential.

The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology team verified this concept by using a series of ultrasound sources, including ultrasound heads used in many laboratories and ultrasound probes used for imaging in hospitals. They were able to quickly charge electronic devices buried a few centimeters deep in the beef.

"
This is another application example of the great potential of MXene hydrogel. Our laboratory has been conducting research on MXene hydrogels in sensing and energy applications.

-Researcher Husam Alshareef
"

In February of this year, a team from the United States demonstrated a wearable sensor that can help doctors remotely detect key changes in patients with heart failure before a health crisis occurs.

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Article source: IET Engineering Technology