Digestive Pacemaker

A company called BioTx has developed new electronic implants that send electrical impulses in the body and are completely wireless.  Originally, the technology was going to be used in the cardiovascular system, with the chips propelling themselves to their locations through the bloodstream.  However, the researchers realized that using that method of transport was risky, so they decided to apply their technology to the digestive system.  In the digestive system, electrical impulses can be used to either delay or speed up the emptying of the stomach, which could be useful for patients with diabetes or obesity.  In this way, the chips essentially become a pacemaker for the digestive system, similar to a pacemaker in the heart.  The hope is that this technology can be applied to other issues in the digestive system, such as gastroesophageal reflux disease, in the future.

I found this article interesting because it emphasizes the idea that a certain kind of technology used in one part of the body can be used to solve problems in another part of the body.  I think this is an important concept for engineers to remember as they work to solve more problems in the body through biomedical engineering.  Also, the article shows how the use of electrical impulses in the body is a growing field and may have more applications that have not been thought of yet.

http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/biomedical/devices/a-pacemaker-for-your-digestive-system