Betavoltaic Battery Expected to Live 25 Years

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

[caption id="attachment_10418" align="alignleft" width="220" caption="A prototype betavoltaic battery contains layers of silicon carbide and metal foil embedded with the radioactive isotope tritium. When high-energy electrons emitted by the decay of tritium hit the silicon carbide, it produces an electrical current that exits the cell through the metal pins. Image courtesy ...

Ultrasound Encryption Prevents Pacemaker Hacking in Lab Tests

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

[caption id="attachment_10217" align="alignleft" width="220" caption="Researchers implanted a medical device in the abdominal wall of a cow to test a new authentication system. Image courtesy of ETH Zürich "][/caption] In recent years, device manufacturers have been adding wireless functionality to a growing number of devices such as pacemakers and cardioverter defibrillators. The ...

Scientists Address Hacking Risk for Heart Devices

Thursday, September 4th, 2008

A pacemaker may not seem like an obvious target for a hacker to pursue. But in March of this year, US researchers demonstrated they could hack an implantable cardioverter defibrillator using relatively inexpensive equipment. Although the risk may be remote, the potential implications are troubling, to say the least, because ...