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15 Apr, 2016 22:20

Wireless signal strong enough to stream Netflix goes through flesh to revolutionize implants

Wireless signal strong enough to stream Netflix goes through flesh to revolutionize implants

You may soon be able to Periscope from within, as researchers have developed a wireless signal so strong that it could transmit high-definition video through your flesh.

Currently, devices implanted in our bodies use radio to communicate with doctors – a system that has never been ideal, since radio waves don’t carry well through flesh, and increasing the power in order to improve the signal means dangerously heating up the tissue it passes through.

But revolutionary light based Wi-Fi technology means that wireless signals will be stronger than ever – the equivalent of downloading an entire “DVD box set in the blink of eye,” according to NewScientist.

Scientists have successfully tested the theory using slabs of pork and beef submerged in water. The team found ultrasonic signal passed through the meat at speeds of up to 30 megabits per second, or 1,000 times faster than radio signals in existing implants.

“You could stream Netflix through the pork loin,”  said Andrew Singer, at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.

READ MORE: New wireless technology can see people through walls

The next stage for the research team involves testing the approach with real medical implants or living tissue.

Singer remains hopeful for the technology’s future possibilities, which he thinks will enable doctors to update implant software without the need to surgically remove them.

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