"Nervous dust"
StimDust is the most effective wireless "artificial nerve" to date
The device, called StimDust, is the smallest, most effective wireless electronic "artificial nerve" to date. At least, that's what the developers of this device, researchers from the University of California at Berkeley, think. In their work, they used superminiature and safe electronics, thanks to which the StimDust device can be attributed to the class of so-called "nerve dust", to devices of submillimeter sizes powered by wireless technologies that completely repeat the functionality of the nerve tissues of living organisms. And such devices, as it is easy to guess, are used in medicine, in prosthetics and in scientific research.
StimDust on a 10-cent coin with a diameter of 17.91 mm. Drawings and videos (below) from the Berkeley engineers build smallest volume, most efficient wireless nerve stimulator press release - VM.
The StimDust device is implanted into the body of a living being, where it provides real-time data collection. It has a volume of 6.5 cubic millimeters and is operated wirelessly, using ultrasonic vibrations. This device can artificially stimulate nervous activity, and the effectiveness of this procedure is 82 percent at the level of 4 microwatts of power supplied to the device.
"StimDust is the smallest implantable stimulator of nervous activity. It can work with almost all types of nerve tissues of the peripheral nervous system, which provides a very wide range of its use for therapeutic purposes," says Rikky Muller, lead researcher – "This device can become a link connecting broken or damaged nerve circuits. In addition, it will be able to replace non-functional nerve circuits and nodes that are unable to produce signals that make other nerves and organs of the body of a living being work."
The StimDust device includes only the components necessary for its operation. The piezo crystal acts as an antenna receiving signals from the outside and providing the system with the energy necessary for its operation. This energy accumulates in the capacitor, and the system is controlled by a miniature chip, the size of which does not exceed one millimeter. On the base of the device there are electrodes that touch the surface of nerve cells. To ensure the operation of the StimDust device, a special wireless protocol was developed that allows programming the functionality of the device within a fairly wide range, despite its very modest size and built-in resources.
During the tests of the StimDust device, scientists managed to control the movement of the limbs of the experimental rodent. And further work in this direction will allow us to create a truly intelligent device that will allow people to get rid of some specific diseases, such as asthma, epilepsy and chronic pain.
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