After performing a surgery that affects the brain, doctors must check that there are no complications . To do this, they control the evolution of some parameters, such as temperature and intracranial pressure. However, this often requires that the patient be implanted – and then removed – a monitoring system, increasing the risk of infection and bleeding.
Now, according to a study published in the journal Nature , a team of researchers from the universities of Illinois, in Urbana-Champaign, and of Washington, in San Luis, has devised a small biosensor that after recording and sending that information key dissolves harmlessly in the body.
One of the coordinators of the study, Professor of Engineering and Materials Science John A. Rogers, at the aforementioned institution in Illinois, highlights that this device is part of a new type of disposable biomedical systems capable of carrying out complex missions, such as collect different data after an operation or even fulfill a therapeutic function, and that can be ingested or implanted.
The device, smaller than a grain of rice, is made up of very thin sheets made of biodegradable silicon, and connects to a stamp-sized wireless transmitter that, although it does not dissolve like the biosensor, is implanted just under the skin, high up on the skull. Scientists warn that although it is not yet ready to be tested in humans , tests carried out with rodents are satisfactory.
