Scientists at Tucson-based University of Arizona developed an ultra-thin microchip that aims to monitor a patient's bone health from inside the body, FOX 4 reported Dec. 29.
The microchip is about the size of a penny, paper-thin and would be attached to broken or fractured bones during surgery. Afterward, the chip would monitor the healing process.
Researchers had to figure out how to develop a computer thin enough that it wouldn't irritate muscles near the bone and would stay on bone. They also had to overcome the bone's ability to shed old cells.
The device isn't ready for human trials yet. Details about the device were published Nov. 18 in Nature Communications.