How to build transistors that are 'body compatible'
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Scientists have built a transistor that uses protons, not electrons, paving the way for devices that interface directly with living things.
Unlike human devices, such as light bulbs and iPods, which send information using electrons, human bodies and all other living things send signals and perform work using ions or protons.
Devices that connect with the human body’s processes are being explored for biological sensing or for prosthetics, but they typically communicate using electrons, which are negatively charged particles, rather than protons, which are positively charged hydrogen atoms, or ions, which are atoms with positive or negative charge.
“So there’s always this issue, a challenge, at the interface—how does an electronic signal translate into an ionic signal, or vice versa?” says lead author Marco Rolandi, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Washington. “We found a biomaterial that is very good at conducting protons, and allows the potential to interface with living systems.”
Full story at Futurity.
Photo credit: Marco Rolandi, University of Washington