Body-friendly Memory Device

Actual images of glucose memory device. When water is dropped on the memory device, it dissolves as time passes.
Actual images of glucose memory device. When water is dropped on the memory device, it dissolves as time passes.

A Korean scientist has created next-generation memory devices using glucose, a form of sugar that people consume through fruits and vegetables.

The Ministry of Science and Technology announced on May 23 that Kim Hyun-jae, a professor at Yonsei University, succeeded in creating resistance switching memory devices using glucose materials. Resistance switching memory is a type of next-generation nonvolatile device that will replace currently used storage media such as USBs and SSDs.

Research and development on electronic devices implanted into the human body is underway to provide customized health care by detecting real-time body signals. However, silicon or synthetic organic materials, which are currently used to produce electronic devices, could be harmful to the human body in the long run, and the risk of secondary operation for later removal cannot be avoided.

Prof. Kim has found that when glucose, a natural ingredient commonly found in everyday life, is used into electronic devices, it showed the ability to store data. This discovery opened the way for the production of body-friendly resistance switching memory.

This new invention is flexible and harmless to the human body even when inserted into it for a long time. It is also naturally dissolved and absorbed in the body.

Professor Kim said, "This study is a realization of a memory device that meets both biocompatibility and high-performance storage system." He added, “It is regarded as a core technology that can be applied to diverse smart health care electronic devices and bring innovations in the health care field.”

The research outcome was published in the May 15 issue of Advanced Materials, an international scientific journal in material science.

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