Gizmorama - January 25, 2016

Good Morning,

Here's something that blew my mind! Researchers have developed thin, electronic sensors that can be implanted in the brain to monitor temperature and pressure after an injury. And once it's no longer needed, it dissolves. What?

Learn about this and more interesting stories from the scientific community in today's issue.

Until Next Time,
Erin

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*-- Sponge-like material promises to store natural gas more efficiently --*
PITTSBURGH - Natural gas is more clean and efficient than diesel, but it's also more volatile and requires a bigger, heavier, reinforced storage tank, complicating the vehicle design process.

Researchers at University of Pittsburgh are attempting to solve this problem with a new and improved natural gas storage system.

The storage system doesn't actually exist yet. Currently, researchers are trying to find an ideal material to incorporate into their system. Scientists at Pittsburgh's Swanson School of Engineering are exploring the qualities of various metal-organic frameworks capable of absorbing natural gas.

Metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs, are compounds combining metal ions with organic molecules to form 3-D porous structures.

Storing natural gas inside an empty container requires intense pressure, but a porous crystal, sponge-like material promises to absorb and store natural gas more efficiently -- without the extra weight.

The main problem facing the researchers is that these porous crystal/gas systems produce lots of heat as they absorb the gas, limiting the speed at which they can be filled.

A new paper by Pittsburgh researchers, published recently in the journal Physical Review Letters, explores the mechanics of heat transfer in these systems and highlight ways the systems might be able to dispel heat more quickly.

"Not a lot is known about how to make adsorbents dissipate heat quickly," lead study author Christopher E. Wilmer, assistant professor of chemical and petroleum engineering, explained in a press release. "This study illuminates some of the fundamental mechanisms involved."

Wilmer thinks MOFs will be of increasing importance as natural gas continues to play a larger role in the economy. Currently, the natural gas industry injects some $500 billion into the global economy, but U.S. storage infrastructure is lacking.

"By gaining a better understanding of heat transfer mechanisms at the atomic scale in porous materials, we could develop a more efficient material that would be thermally conductive rather than thermally insulating," Wilmer explained. "Beyond natural gas, these insights could help us design better hydrogen gas storage systems as well. Any industrial process where a gas interacts with a porous material, where heat is an important factor, could potentially benefit from this research."


*-- Implantable brain monitor dissolves when no longer needed --*
WASHINGTON - Researchers created thin, electronic sensors that can be implanted in the brain after injury to monitor temperature and pressure, and then dissolve when they are no longer needed.

The sensors, developed by scientists at the University of Illinois and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, may also be built into similar monitors that can be used for other organs.

Although there are many devices used to monitor activity in the body, they can be large, unwieldy and sometimes require surgery to be removed. Those that are implanted also often carry the risk of infection or rejection by the body, which the scientists said is avoided because the new devices dissolve away.

"The ultimate strategy is to have a device that you can place in the brain -- or in other organs in the body -- that is entirely implanted, intimately connected with the organ you want to monitor and can transmit signals wirelessly to provide information on the health of that organ, allowing doctors to intervene if necessary to prevent bigger problems," said Dr. Rory Murphy, a neurosurgery resident at Washington University School of Medicine, in a press release. "And then after the critical period that you actually want to monitor, it will dissolve away and disappear."

In a study published in the journal Nature, the researchers describe the devices, which are made out of polylactic-co-glycolic acid and silicone.

The devices were first tested in saline, which caused them to dissolve within a few days. Researchers then tested them in rats, taking accurate measurements and then seeing them dissolve successfully.

The researchers said the next step is to start testing the devices in humans for both safety and accuracy.

"With advanced materials and device designs, we demonstrated that it is possible to create electronic implants that offer high performance and clinically relevant operation in hardware that completely resorbs into the body after the relevant functions are no longer needed," said Dr. John Rogers, a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Illinois. "This type of bio-electric medicine has great potential in many areas of clinical care."

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