MIT researchers have developed a small battery that runs on stomach acids

  • MIT researchers have developed a small battery that runs on stomach acids and is capable of powering e-pills to monitor patient health.
  • The small system can generate enough power to run small sensors or drug delivery devices that can reside in the gastrointestinal tract for long periods of time.
  • For this battery, researchers used idea of very simple type of voltaic cell, lemon battery that produces electric current between the two electrodes stuck in a lemon due to its citric acid.
  • To replicate it, the researchers attached zinc and copper electrodes to the surface of their ingestible sensor.
  • The zinc emits ions into the acid in the stomach to power the voltaic circuit.
  • It can generate enough energy to power a commercial temperature sensor and a 900-megahertz transmitter to wirelessly transmit the data to a base station located 2 metres away, with a signal sent every 12 seconds.
  • The current prototype of the device is a cylinder about 12 millimetres in diameter and 40 millimetres in length.
  • Researchers are anticipating to make the capsule about one-third that size.
  • It offers a safer and lower-cost alternative to the traditional batteries used to power such devices.
  • It can also help in manufacturing new generation of electronic ingestible pills.
  • This could enable novel ways of monitoring patient health and treating disease.

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