Flexible electronics could be embedded in the patients of tomorrow

“So our objective has been to create a lightweight, flexible platform that can match the mechanics of the tissues in the human body.”

The nanometre-thin material is a mixture of silicon and carbon called silicon carbide, which has semiconducting properties.

Research co-lead Professor Nam-Trung Nguyen said they believed they could develop devices with it that could last for more than a decade.

“We’re confident this material can last for up to 10 years in the body, and actually it could last for the life of the patient,” he said.

Currently implants such as pacemakers and other bioelectric devices have to be replaced at regular intervals as their components erode over time.

But the silicon carbide platform the Griffith team has developed…