New wireless resorbable electronic implant demonstrates promise

US researchers have showcased the potential benefits of a new resorbable electronic implant that dissolves harmlessly once it has been activated.

Scientists and engineers at Tufts University, in collaboration with a team at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, have created silk and magnesium devices that eliminated bacterial infection in mice by delivering heat to infected tissue when triggered by a remote wireless signal.

The implants then harmlessly dissolved in the test animals, circumventing the need for additional surgery to retrieve the devices. They were absorbed within minutes or weeks, depending on how the silk protein was processed.

It represents an important step in the development of on-demand medical devices that can be turned on remotely to perform a therapeutic function, then safely disappear after their use.

Senior author Fiorenzo Omenetto, professor of biomedical engineering at the Tufts School of Engineering, said: "These wireless strategies could help manage post-surgical infection, for example, or pave the way for eventual Wi-Fi drug delivery."

This approach had only previously been trialled via in vitro studies. It is hoped that this research can help to accelerate progress in this emerging field.