Materials Advances for Next-Generation Ingestible Electronic Medical Devices

Electronic medical implants have collectively transformed the diagnosis and treatment of many diseases, but have many inherent limitations. Electronic implants require invasive surgeries, operate in challenging microenvironments, and are susceptible to bacterial infection and persistent inflammation. Novel materials and nonconventional device fabrication strategies may revolutionize the way electronic devices are integrated with the body. Ingestible electronic devices offer many advantages compared with implantable counterparts that may improve the diagnosis and treatment of pathologies ranging from gastrointestinal infections to diabetes. This review summarizes current technologies and highlights recent materials advances. Specific focus is dedicated to next-generation materials for packaging, circuit design, and on-board power supplies that are benign, nontoxic, and even biodegradable. Future challenges and opportunities are also highlighted.

TrendsMicroelectronic device miniaturization. There is a continuous trend in the miniaturization and reduced power consumption of many electronic components including transistors and logic elements, optoelectronics, and biosensors.Bioresorbable electronics. Imparting novel properties of transience and biodegradability to functional electronics has the potential to reduce the intrinsic risk of many types of ingestible electronic devices.Biologically derived energy storage materials. Naturally occurring endogenous compounds can serve as nontoxic electrochemical energy storage materials when combined with benign minerals and aqueous electrolytes. This materials framework could serve as on-board energy storage systems to power next-generation ingestible electronic devices.