Deep inside your ears, a membrane turns vibrations from
your eardrums into an electrical signal that reaches your brain — an
arrangement that scientists call a "biological battery." For the first
time, researchers have harnessed this natural battery to power a wireless implanted chip without disrupting the delicate process of hearing.
Research teams from MIT, the Massachusetts Eye and Ear
Infirmary, and the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and
Technology carefully implanted a low-power chip deep within the ear,
which could then be used to transmit diagnostic data about the state of
the inner ear. The ear's biological battery doesn't generate much energy
to begin with, and researchers were only able to use a small fraction
of it to power the chip and transmitter to avoid disrupting hearing.
Although the study focused only on guinea pigs, researchers
project that the technology, once perfected, could be used for
diagnostic purposes and to power cochlear implants in humans — not to
mention the exciting applications biohackers can dream up.
