A new battery -- lauded as the smallest implantable battery in the world -- may soon be powering tiny bionic neurons, devices that emit electrical micropulses to stimulate damaged nerves and muscles.
The battery measures 2.9 mm in diameter and 13 mm in length -- about the size of a pencil tip.
The tiny powerhouse helps keep the bionic neurons small. Even with the battery, the cylindrical devices are only 1/35 the size of a standard AA battery. The small size allows doctors to use minimally invasive techniques when implanting the bionic neurons, reducing surgical trauma and the risk of infection.
While the battery may be small, it makes up in staying power what it lacks in size. California-based Quallion's battery can, with recharging, last up to 10 years.
The team at Quallion, which developed the battery in conjunction with Argonne National Laboratory, says the key to the lifespan of the battery is its chemistry.
The researchers isolated a phase of a polysiloxane polymer, a material that has the highest conductivity ever reported for an electrical conductor.
http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,60706,00.html
The battery measures 2.9 mm in diameter and 13 mm in length -- about the size of a pencil tip.
The tiny powerhouse helps keep the bionic neurons small. Even with the battery, the cylindrical devices are only 1/35 the size of a standard AA battery. The small size allows doctors to use minimally invasive techniques when implanting the bionic neurons, reducing surgical trauma and the risk of infection.
While the battery may be small, it makes up in staying power what it lacks in size. California-based Quallion's battery can, with recharging, last up to 10 years.
The team at Quallion, which developed the battery in conjunction with Argonne National Laboratory, says the key to the lifespan of the battery is its chemistry.
The researchers isolated a phase of a polysiloxane polymer, a material that has the highest conductivity ever reported for an electrical conductor.
http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,60706,00.html