In a breakthrough of astonishing proportions, scientists have invented a device and technology that allows for implanted devices to run on their own energy sources based on nanogenerators.

The team at the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology and the Beihang University are responsible for this epic breakthrough in nano technology.

Based on the simple principles of energy generation, the device uses two strips, each designed to interact with the other during contact to generate sufficient electricity to run an implanted device. It is also biodegradable. So far the devices have worked in animals with no side effects reported.

The process by which this technology works is that of triboelectricity (think of static electricity), when electrical power and energy are generated when two materials come into contact with one another and then separate. In this instance, two strips of an inexpensive multi-layered material are used (such as PCL or PLGA). One strip has a flat film outer layer and the other has nanometer protruding rods on its exterior. When the body’s motions bring the two strips together and then separate, the electrical energy is discharged. A coating of biodegradable polymer keeps the strips apart.

The device showed it can generate a power density of 32.6 milliwatts per square meter. This brought about enough energy to operate a neuron stimulation device used to steer neuron growth. The team has proven now, that such devices can work and can be engineered to self destruct over a period of days to a year.

This breakthrough opens the door to a myriad of applications. Implantable devices have been around for years, the pacemaker and defibrillator are two examples, but they’re dependent on batteries. This new technology has its own generating power source leaving the patient safe from continued maintenance that present day implants call for. This will prevent complications such as infections from surgery and the need to surgically replace them.

As more testing is done, it will create new advances in the medical industries, maybe even military applications. Patients that need implants to help remedy any number of conditions could greatly benefit from this type of micro technology. It would make them far more independent and increase their quality of life that most implants can and do affect. Much more testing will have to be done, however, it’s blatantly clear that this breakthrough is what the doctor ordered and then some.

It will be a matter of time before these are wide spread. It will take more clinical trials and FDA approval to see these devices used in the US. They may be in use in other parts of the world first as the US has a tendency to be very slow in approving anything that isn’t a pharmaceutical. Research also suggest that future devices could also be powered by the mechanical energy from breathing (exhalation and inhalation) or heartbeats.

The study has been published in the journal Science Advances.

Want to know exactly how triboelectric nanogenerators work? Here is a video presentation from one of the lead experts in this area of expertise: