Tiny Resorbable Semiconductors: Smooth as Silk ‘Transient Electronics’ Dissolve in Body or Environment

Researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign recently developed silk-silicon implantable microcircuits that begin to dissolve two weeks after implantation.  These particular implantable devices were designed to produce heat to fight infection after surgery.  When the device were implanted in mice, they found that infection was reduced and only faint traces of the device remained after three weeks.  These transient implantable devices may have far-ranging applications not only in medicine but in reducing electronic waste.