Proton-Based Body Sensors
November 29, 2011 | Terry Sharrer
Electrical devices rely on electrons for signaling; biological systems signal through ions and protons, which prompted University of Washington researchers to develop a tiny (5 µm wide) “field-effect transistor” based on pulses of proton current. Key to this work was a novel biomaterial, chitosan (derived from squid pen and crab shell), which allows protons to move through the material’s absorbed water. The researchers see this as a possible way to directly control some biological functions. MORE