A wireless pacemaker that can dissolve in the body has been created for patients who need only temporary help to regulate their heartbeat. The Guardian reports: While pacemakers can already be used for temporary periods, experts say there are problems, including that leads placed through the skin can pose an infection risk. The external power supply and control system can become accidentally dislodged, and heart tissue can be damaged when the device is removed. Now researchers say they have developed a battery-free pacemaker that can be implanted directly on to the surface of the heart and absorbed by the body when no longer needed. The device — which Rogers said would cost about $100 — is free of leads and can be controlled and programmed from outside the body.

Writing in the journal Nature Biotechnology, Rogers and colleagues report how they made the device — which is thin, flexible and weighs less than half a gram — from materials including magnesium, tungsten, silicon and a polymer known as PLGA, all of which are compatible with the body but which undergo chemical reactions that allow them to dissolve and be absorbed over time. The device, which resembles a tiny tennis racket in shape, is powered by wireless technology in which radio frequency power from an external device is sent to a receiver within the pacemaker where it is converted into an electrical current that is used to regulate the heart. Rogers said similar technology was used in applications such as wireless charging of smartphones and electric toothbrushes.

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Source: Slashdot – Scientists Develop Wireless Pacemaker That Dissolves In Body