Researchers develop biodegradable 'transient electronics'

CHAMPAIGN, IL – Researchers at the University of Illinois, in collaboration with Tufts University and Northwestern University, have demonstrated a new type of biodegradable electronics technology, referred to as transient electronics.

“From the earliest days of the electronics industry, a key design goal has been to build devices that last forever – with completely stable performance. But if you think about the opposite possibility – devices that are engineered to physically disappear in a controlled and programmed manner – then other, completely different kinds of application opportunities open up,” said John A. Rogers, professor of engineering at the University of Illinois and leader of the multidisciplinary research team.

One of the three most promising applications of the technology is on medical implants that perform important diagnostic or therapeutic functions for a useful amount of time and then simply dissolve and resorb in the body. These devices would never have to be surgically removed and since they would disappear after a programmed amount of time, long-term biocompatibility would not be an issue.

The researchers constructed these biodegradable devices as circuits made of silicon, magnesium, and other biocompatible materials layered thinly enough to dissolve within a matter of days and weeks. The researchers encapsulate the devices in silk, whose structure determines the rate of dissolution.

The researchers have so far been successful in constructing diodes, wireless power coils, temperature and strain sensors, photodetectors, solar cells, radio oscillators, antennas, and a 64-pixel digital camera. They have also developed a device that’s designed to monitor and prevent post-surgical infections, which has already been tested in rats.