Ada Poon, an assistant professor at the Stanford School of Engineering, has developed a tiny, wirelessly powered, self-propelled medical device capable of controlled motion through blood, according to a Stanford report.
The device is powered by electromagnetic radio waves and could travel through the bloodstream to deliver drugs, perform analyses and possibly even remove blood clots or plaque from sclerotic arteries. Because they are powered by electromagnetic radio waves, there is no need for batteries. In battery-powered devices, almost half the volume is taken up by batteries.
Scientists have been working on devices powered by electromagnetic radio waves for 50 years but didn't use high-frequency waves because it was thought they dispersed too quickly in the human body. Low-frequency waves were thought to work better, but the antennae required to propel devices made them too large. These scientists had been working on the assumption that human tissue was a good conductor of electricity. Ms. Poon found out they were wrong. Using a new equation that factored in human tissue as an insulator rather than a conductor, she found high-frequency waves traveled farther than originally thought. This concept provided the basis for the development of these devices.
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The device is powered by electromagnetic radio waves and could travel through the bloodstream to deliver drugs, perform analyses and possibly even remove blood clots or plaque from sclerotic arteries. Because they are powered by electromagnetic radio waves, there is no need for batteries. In battery-powered devices, almost half the volume is taken up by batteries.
Scientists have been working on devices powered by electromagnetic radio waves for 50 years but didn't use high-frequency waves because it was thought they dispersed too quickly in the human body. Low-frequency waves were thought to work better, but the antennae required to propel devices made them too large. These scientists had been working on the assumption that human tissue was a good conductor of electricity. Ms. Poon found out they were wrong. Using a new equation that factored in human tissue as an insulator rather than a conductor, she found high-frequency waves traveled farther than originally thought. This concept provided the basis for the development of these devices.
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Provista Announces Partnership With Health Inventures for Provista Pro Platform
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