Fuel cell running on blood developed by team in Japan
May 13 2005 at 09:10AM
Tokyo - A Japanese research team has developed a fuel
cell that runs on blood without using toxic substances,
opening the way for use in artificial hearts and other
organs.
The biological fuel cell uses glucose, a sugar in blood,
with a non-toxic substance used to draw electrons from
glucose, said the team led by Matsuhiko Nishizawa, bio-engineering
professor at the graduate school of state-run Tohoku
University.
"Since the electron mediator is based on Vitamin
K3, which exists in human bodies, it excels in safety
and could in the future generate power from blood as
an implant-type fuel cell," the group said in a
statement.
Most other bio-fuel cells under study use a
metal complex, spawning concern about harm if used
for implants.
The
newly developed cell in the size of a tiny coin is
able to generate 0,2 milliwatts of electricity, enough
to power a device that measures blood sugar level and
transmits data elsewhere, the group said. - Sapa-AFP
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