‘Tea bag’ fuel cell shows promise in insulin pumps

Led by Martin Fussenegger from the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering at ETH Zurich in Basel, the team has combined the fuel cell with artificial beta cells that produce insulin at the touch of a button and lower blood glucose levels. The team’s findings are detailed in Advanced Materials.

“Many people, especially in the Western industrialised nations, consume more carbohydrates than they need in everyday life,” Fussenegger said in a statement, adding that this leads to obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

“This gave us the idea of using this excess metabolic energy to produce electricity to power biomedical devices,” he said.

Central to the fuel cell is an anode made of copper-based nanoparticles that splits glucose into gluconic acid and a proton to generate electricity, setting an electric circuit in motion. 

Wrapped in a nonwoven fabric and coated with alginate, the fuel cell resembles a small tea bag that can be implanted under the skin. The alginate soaks up body fluid and allows glucose to pass from the tissue into the fuel cell.