Researchers Associate Professor Deblina Sarkar at the MIT Media Lab has developed a sub-millimeter antenna capable of wirelessly powering deep-tissue medical implants, including pacemakers for cardiac patients and neuromodulators for neurological conditions such as epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease. The device, smaller than a grain of sand, can be delivered via needle injection, avoiding the need for major surgery.
Cai, Y., Joy, B. C., Desbiolles, B. X. E., Schell, V., Yadav, S., Currier Bono, D., & Sarkar, D. (2025). Low-Frequency Sub-0.5 mm Magnetoelectric Antenna for Wireless Power Harvesting in Injectable Deep-Tissue Implants. IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, 73(10), 7134–7146. https://doi.org/10.1109/TAP.2025.3594009
The research team includes lead author Yubin Cai, Ph.D. student at the Media Lab, doctoral researchers Baju Joy and Shubham Yadav, former postdoctoral researchers Benoît Desbiolles and Viktor Schell, materials science instructor David Bono, and senior author Deblina Sarkar, the AT&T Career Development Associate Professor and head of the Nano-Cybernetic Biotrek group.
Associate Professor Deblina Sarkar from MIT stated,
“Our technology offers a new avenue for minimally invasive bioelectric devices that can operate wirelessly inside the human body”.
“This represents the next major step in miniaturizing deep-tissue implants,” says Baju Joy, a Ph.D. student in the Media Lab’s Nano-Cybernetic Biotrek group. “It allows battery-free devices to operate safely and effectively at depths previously inaccessible with conventional technology.”
Current deep-tissue implants rely on centimeter-scale batteries or magnetic coils. Batteries require periodic replacement via surgery, while coils operate at high frequencies that can heat surrounding tissue, limiting safe power delivery. The MIT team addressed this limitation by developing a 200-micrometer antenna that functions at low frequencies around 109 kilohertz, a range that can safely transmit sufficient power without damaging cells.
The device combines a magnetostrictive layer, which deforms under a magnetic field, with a piezoelectric layer that converts mechanical deformation into electrical charge. When an alternating magnetic field is applied externally, mechanical strain in the magnetostrictive film causes the piezoelectric layer to generate an electrical output. This innovative design produces four to five orders of magnitude more power than conventional sub-millimeter antennas relying on metallic coils and high-frequency operation.
“The antenna converts a low-frequency magnetic field into electrical energy through mechanical vibration,” Joy explains. “This approach significantly increases efficiency while allowing the device to remain extremely small.”
Power can be delivered via a device comparable to a wireless smartphone charger, which can be placed near the skin, either as a stick-on patch or carried in a pocket. Because the antenna uses standard microchip fabrication techniques, it can be integrated with existing microelectronic circuits, including electrodes and sensors for monitoring biological signals.
“The electronics themselves can be much smaller than the antenna and are integrated during nanofabrication,” Joy adds. “This enables a complete implantable system that can be deployed with a simple needle injection.”
The researchers highlight that scalable manufacturing is feasible, allowing multiple antennas and implants to be deployed to treat larger areas. Beyond pacemaking and neuromodulation, the technology could enable wireless glucose monitoring or other bio-sensing applications where non-invasive, deep-body power delivery is critical.
“Our work leverages decades of microelectronics miniaturization and integrates it with novel magnetoelectric materials,” Sarkar explains. “This approach opens possibilities for a wide range of minimally invasive medical devices, potentially transforming patient care and treatment methods.”
Adrian graduated with a Masters Degree (1st Class Honours) in Chemical Engineering from Chester University along with Harris. His master’s research aimed to develop a standardadised clean water oxygenation transfer procedure to test bubble diffusers that are currently used in the wastewater industry commercial market. He has also undergone placments in both US and China primarely focused within the R&D department and is an associate member of the Institute of Chemical Engineers (IChemE).
