'Born-to-die': this device will self-destruct in 60 seconds

The article draws a good distinction between human medical device applications (very heavily regulated, and thus very slow to market) and civil engineering applications (possibly much faster to market): "Like Dickey, Odom feels that worries over the complexity of these born-to-die devices are 'a straw man' as 'the real sweet spot' for the technology are low-powered devices that are built to perform a specific function. However, she does warn that 'anything in the biomedical arena takes time – in the order of 10 years for a device. Other applications like sensors to detect temperatures of structures like bridges might take less time.'"

Yes, even the user interface code for an external testing device used by medical doctors has to have a complete code review by the FDA (I know of an example). So products that look rather simple and inherently safe to laymen can take years to get to market by the time all regulatory approvals are obtained. But the article kindly submitted here immediately caught my eye with examples of medical device applications of biodegradable electronic circuits. There should be a lot of private industry uptake of further research and development of this technology, which someday may be part of routine medical practice as you and I visit physicians.

>And finally, realise that this isn't science fiction from Orson Scott Card, the writer of Ender's Game

Nice little bit of product placement there, considering there's not really anything in Ender's Game about advanced medical technology - and in fact, the most significant item we see is the monitor, which is so non-biodegradable that Ender has to go back to the doctor for a surgery with apparently non-negligible risk to have it removed. I wonder what the Guardian's relationship with Lionsgate is.

Would such devices really work as post-op infection treatments? Presumably the bacteria might evolve to be more heat-resistant. And there's only so much heat you can apply before you start to kill off healthy tissue.

The applications here could be very interesting as you could accomplish something and simply perish. snapchat for the physical world.

For the lazy commenter: <insert snark about Apple here />