For a person with diabetes, monitoring blood glucose levels is an everyday hassle, usually involving finger pricks. An emerging alternative might be implantable devices that can automatically monitor levels and alert the patient when attention is needed, but powering these devices is tricky. A new prototype glucose monitor has been designed to power itself from that same glucose in bodily fluids. Powering implantable devices has long been a challenge – after all, you can’t exactly take it out and pop it on the charger at night like you would your phone.
Long-lasting batteries are the main method, but even if they last years surgery is often still required to replace them eventually. Other teams have experimented with wearable devices that charge implants wirelessly from outside the body, or disposable skin patches that monitor blood glucose without needing extra power. Researchers at…
