Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences

Recently, scientists developed edible batteries to power ingestible devices that may cure diseases in the near future, eliminating the risk of using conventional batteries.

Although ingestible devices are not new, edible batteries that were recently developed by scientists can greatly help in the medical practice and treatment of diseases.

Scientists developed new edible batteries composed of natural materials found on the skin, eyes and hair. The pigments from natural sources are not harmful to the human body even when ingested. These innovative batteries can power ingestible devices such as pacemakers and those used to observe hard-to-reach internal organs.

"For decades, people have been envisioning that one day, we would have edible electronic devices to diagnose or treat disease," Christopher Bettinger from Carnegie Mellon University said in a statement. "But if you want to take a device every day, you have to think about toxicity issues," Bettinger added.

The ingestible medical devices had been around for almost 20 years. It helps the doctors to observe hard-to-reach areas inside the human body and a vital tool in endoscopies. However, using conventional batteries posed a risk to the system. Identifying the risk paved the way to the development of edible batteries.

Aside from the threat of using conventional batteries in small intricate parts of the human body, the toxic materials found in conventional batteries are also found to be alarming to experts as they pose a risk of contamination. The edible batteries are designed to free the body from any threats coming from the use of conventional batteries.

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