Researchers have created an edible transistor from toothpaste: what the device can do

The development of an edible transistor is critical for electronic medical devices that can be safely ingested for gastrointestinal research.

< p>Researchers from the Italian Institute of Technology in Milan created a transistor from copper and phthalocyanine — a whitening agent used in toothpaste. About it writes Tom's Hardware.

Now, thanks to scientists, you don't need a huge amount of CuPc to create such an edible transistor. According to the study, a person consumes about 1 mg of CuPc when brushing their teeth twice a day. That's 12,500 times more than the 80 nanograms needed to make one chip.

The development of an edible transistor is critical for electronic medical devices that can be safely ingested for gastrointestinal research.

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Capsule endoscopy already exists, which uses a tiny wireless camera the size of a vitamin pill that the patient takes. Then she takes pictures or videos of the digestive tract for diagnosis. However, this procedure requires a doctor's supervision and you should still undergo it after the test is completed. Also, capsule endoscopy has no sensors other than a camera, so it is limited to visual procedures.

However, with an edible transistor, bioengineers could develop a medical device that includes sensors to detect enzyme levels and other chemical functions body.

And since these are edible devices that pose almost no risk to health, it can be taken orally without the preparation and supervision of a doctor. This makes it suitable for early diagnosis and monitoring and may even automate future medical treatments.

Edible electronic components such as electrolytes, batteries, supercapacitors, conductive pastes and inks, honey gate circuits and even sensors are already were offered. But all this is limited without an edible transistor to serve as the “brain” of the operation.

Thus, by implementing a transistor using CuPc, we could create a completely edible computer that could diagnose, treat and prevention much more accessible, faster and inexpensive.