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Researchers have developed a method to activate electronic implants in the body and eliminate bacterial infections using Wi-Fi.

When triggered by a remote wireless signal, the technology delivers heat to infected tissue.

And it could lead to technologies that enable drugs and treatment to be delivered to patients at the press of a button.

US researchers have developed a device to treat infections wirelessly. An electronic implant (illustrated) was activated by a Wi-Fi signal. It used a heater to treat tissue that had been infected with staph. And one researcher said it could be a precursor to drugs being delivered via Wi-Fi activation in the future

The technology was developed by researchers at Tufts University in Massachusetts and the University of Illinois.

Mice were given electronic implants that, when a signal was sent, heated up to treat tissue that was infected with staphylococcus, or staph, which can cause minor skin abscesses or life-threatening infections of the blood. 

Tissues collected from the mice 24 hours after treatment showed no sign of the infection, while the device dissolved in 15 days, proving it can not only treat infections but also be disposed of easily.

The research, which also eliminated E. coli bacteria, was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Each device, made of silk and magnesium, harmlessly dissolved in the animals after the tests.

The heating device in the implants has a resistor and power-receiving coil made of magnesium, and the magnesium is wrapped in 'packet' of silk, keeping it safe and controlling its dissolution time. 

The ability of the device to dissolve is important, as it means such implants would not need to be removed.

Implantable medical devices normally use non-degradable materials that have limited operational lifetimes and must eventually be removed or replaced.

But these new wireless therapy devices can handle the surgical process, and can then dissolve in minutes or weeks, depending on the time needed.

'This is an important demonstration step forward for the development of on-demand medical devices that can be turned on remotely to perform a therapeutic function in a patient and then safely disappear after their use, requiring no retrieval,' said senior author Fiorenzo Omenetto, professor of biomedical engineering at Tufts School of Engineering.

'These wireless strategies could help manage post-surgical infection, for example, or pave the way for eventual Wi-Fi drug delivery.'

The heating device in the implants (illustrated) has a resistor and power-receiving coil made of magnesium, and the magnesium is wrapped in 'packet' of silk, keeping it safe and controlling its dissolution time. The ability of the device to dissolve is important, as it means such implants would not need to be removed

In the research Mice were given electronic implants that, when a signal was sent, heated up to treat tissue that was infected with staphylococcus, or staph, shown in a scanning electron micrograph (SEM) image here. Staph can cause minor skin abscesses or life-threatening infections of the blood