Is an implantable electronic device the future of medicine? – Gordon Wallace

Materials scientist Gordon Wallace is the director of ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science at the University of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. He is developing the ‘sutrode’, a medical device made from graphene that combines the electrical properties of an electrode with the mechanical properties of a suture.

The device is wrapped around damaged or malfunctioning nerve bundles and used to stimulate them and return their regular function. Though still in its early stages, the technology may one day be used to treat epilepsy, schizophrenia, and in the production of next generation prosthetics.

He speaks to BBC Science Focus commissioning editor Jason Goodyer in this episode of the Science Focus Podcast.

We now have more than 75 episodes of the Science Focus Podcast, each of which is still well worth a listen. Here are a few that you might find interesting:

• Is the cure for cancer hiding in human breast milk? – Professor Catharina Svanborg
• Is gene editing inspiring or terrifying? – Nessa Carey
• Can we slow down the ageing process? – Sue Armstrong
• What is your brain doing while you sleep? – Dr Guy Leschziner
• What does a world with an ageing population look like? – Sarah Harper
• Is racism creeping into science? – Angela Saini

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