Graphene Toast and Other Edible Electronics of the Future

Eating electronics sounds too hard on the gut, but with advancements in technology, you can now literally consume gadgets and reap their medical benefits. It may be hard to believe, so below is a list of ingestible devices that'll change the way you live.

Graphene Toast
Here's a smartwatch you can eat. The graphene toast is your ordinary English breakfast with a techy twist. It has electronic sensors that measure your vital signs. You can connect it to a health device that displays your heart rate, calorie intake, and sleep quality. It also detects harmful bacteria, so it comes in handy when testing for food-borne illnesses in the body.

Researchers at Rice University in Texas incorporate the technology into food by printing RFIDs on bread. These tags are made of graphene, an innovative carbon-based material that's completely safe to eat. It's sensitive to changes in the environment, so it's able to detect movements and chemical reactions inside the body. Scientists are continuously working on methods to transfer graphene to food and other organic materials easily.

Pill Camera
They don't sound as yummy as toasted sensors and battery sandwiches (well, they don't sound delectable, either!), but ingestible devices are very helpful for doctors who examine the digestive tract. In recent years, health professionals have been performing endoscopy on patients to detect abnormalities in their gut. The procedure is uncomfortable, especially for children.

This is where the pill camera comes in, a technology that involves swallowing a capsule-sized gadget that examines the gastrointestinal tract up close. Some of its parts are made of organic materials, which naturally dissolve in the body after some time. Others are ejected as regular food waste. Engineers and scientists are currently testing the potential of graphene transfer to improve the circuitry.

Capacitor Sandwich
They say everything's better with cheese. But when the dairy product is stacked with gold sheets and charcoal, will you still find it good to eat?

In 2016, researchers from Arizona State University created a supercapacitor from food. They layered gelatin, gold sheets, egg white, and activated charcoal, then sandwiched them between two sheets of American cheddar. The stuffing was "marinated" in an energy drink that provided electrolytes for the gadget.

Apparently, these food items are good conductors, and combining them makes an ingestible device that stores electricity. Its creators plan to use it to power small medical devices like the pill camera, which acts as a minimally invasive tool for monitoring the body. Now, who's in for a cheesy treat?

The future of electronics looks tasty! However, more work has to be done to make these devices safer to use. Researchers are still looking for ways to fuse technology with food. In the future, it may be possible to transfer graphene to burgers to monitor your health or eat cheesy batteries to power medical implants.