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Scientists Discover Way to Send Information into Black Holes Without Using Energy

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New Wireless System Could Power Medical Implants Even as They Stretch and Move

Medical implants are becoming smaller, smarter and more flexible. From cardiac pacemakers to sensors that monitor the body, these devices could play an increasingly important role in future healthcare. But one major challenge remains: how to reliably power an electronic device that is constantly moving inside the human body?

Researchers from the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Seoul National University and other institutions in South Korea have developed a new wireless power-transfer system designed to address this problem. The technology can deliver energy to soft, stretchable implants even when the implant changes shape or moves out of alignment with the external power source.

The researchers describe their work in a study published in Nature Electronics. As an initial demonstration, they used the system to develop a wireless cardiac pacemaker and successfully tested it in pigs.

Why powering flexible implants is difficult

Traditional electronic implants often use rigid components. However, researchers are increasingly developing soft and stretchable electronics that can better conform to organs and biological tissues.

These flexible devices can bend, stretch and move along with the body. This can make them more comfortable and reduce mechanical stress on surrounding tissue.

However, flexibility creates another problem.

Wireless power systems generally work best when the transmitter and receiver remain in a predictable position relative to each other. If an implant moves, stretches or becomes misaligned, the strength of the wireless connection can change.

As a result, the implant may receive less energy than expected, potentially affecting its operation.

"How can we reliably power a wireless implant in a body that is constantly moving?" asked Dae-Hyeong Kim, senior author of the study.

The researchers set out to develop a system that could automatically adapt to these changes.

A two-part wireless power system

The new technology consists of two main components: an external wearable transmitter and a stretchable receiver integrated into the implant.

The transmitter is designed to remain outside the body. In the future, it could potentially take the form of a skin-mounted patch.

The receiver, meanwhile, is placed inside the body and is designed to stretch and deform along with the implant.

Energy travels wirelessly between the two components, eliminating the need for a physical cable connecting the implant to an external power source.

One of the key innovations is the use of an intrinsically stretchable liquid-metal receiver.

Liquid metal can maintain electrical conductivity even when its shape changes significantly. This makes it particularly useful for flexible electronics that need to withstand repeated stretching and movement.

According to the researchers, the receiver maintained high electrical conductivity during deformation. When combined with the adaptive transmitter, the system continued delivering power even when stretching and misalignment happened at the same time.

Inspired by a concept from physics

The system also uses an interesting concept known as parity–time (PT) symmetry.

PT symmetry originated in quantum physics but has since been explored in areas including optics, electronics and wireless power transfer.

In this system, PT symmetry helps the wireless power link respond to changes in the relationship between the external transmitter and the implant receiver.

The transmitter contains an amplifier and feedback circuit. These components allow the system to automatically adjust its operating frequency when the coupling between the transmitter and receiver changes.

In simple terms, the system can adapt instead of assuming that the implant will always remain in exactly the same position.

That ability could be particularly important for implants inside living bodies, where movement is unavoidable.

Testing the technology with a cardiac pacemaker

To demonstrate that the technology could be useful for medicine, the researchers integrated their stretchable receiver with stimulation electronics and electrodes to create a wireless cardiac pacemaker.

A pacemaker delivers electrical stimulation to help regulate the heart's rhythm.

The researchers tested their system in pigs, which allowed them to evaluate the wireless power system in living, freely moving animals rather than only in controlled laboratory conditions.

The experiments showed that the pacemaker could receive wireless power and deliver electrical stimulation to the heart.

The researchers also demonstrated cardiac pacing and the termination of rapid abnormal heart rhythms.

Importantly, the system continued functioning despite changes in deformation and alignment.

This is significant because movement is one of the biggest challenges for wireless implants. A device that works perfectly when positioned in a laboratory setup may behave differently once implanted in a moving body.

Beyond pacemakers

Although the researchers demonstrated the technology using a cardiac pacemaker, its potential applications could extend much further.

The same basic approach could potentially be used to power soft sensors, neural implants, stimulation devices and other implantable electronics.

For example, future implants could continuously monitor physiological signals such as electrical activity, pressure or other biological measurements while also delivering therapy when needed.

The researchers are particularly interested in developing systems capable of both monitoring the body and responding to what they detect.

Such systems are sometimes described as closed-loop medical devices.

Instead of delivering a fixed treatment, a closed-loop implant could monitor a biological signal, analyze the information and automatically adjust its therapy.

For example, an implant could detect a physiological abnormality and respond by changing the intensity or timing of electrical stimulation.

Wireless power and data communication

The research team also wants to expand the technology beyond wireless energy transfer.

Their future work includes exploring whether PT symmetry can help support data transmission at the same time as wireless power delivery.

That could allow an implant to receive energy from an external wearable device while simultaneously sending information back to it.

Such a system could create a continuous communication link between the implant and an external device.

A wearable patch could potentially provide power, receive health information from the implant and help adjust treatment based on the data.

This could make future implants more autonomous and reduce the need for frequent physical intervention.

Still some way from human use

Despite the promising results, the technology is still at the research stage.

The successful experiments in pigs demonstrate that the concept can work under dynamic conditions, but much more testing will be required before such a system could be used routinely in human patients.

Researchers will need to evaluate factors including long-term safety, durability, biocompatibility, wireless power efficiency and the behavior of the system during prolonged implantation.

Human clinical trials would ultimately be required before the technology could become a medical treatment.

Nevertheless, the research addresses an important problem in the development of next-generation implants.

A step toward flexible, smarter implants

The biggest advantage of the new system is its ability to tolerate changes in position, alignment and shape.

Instead of requiring an implant to remain in a carefully controlled location, the adaptive wireless system is designed to continue operating as the body moves.

The combination of a wearable transmitter, adaptive electronics and a stretchable liquid-metal receiver could therefore provide a new approach to powering soft medical implants.

If the technology can be developed further, future implants may not only be flexible enough to move with the body but also capable of communicating wirelessly, monitoring health signals and delivering personalized treatments.

The study represents an important step toward that vision: medical implants that can move, stretch and adapt with the body without losing their wireless power connection.

Reference: Seonghyeon Nam et al., A wearable-to-implant wireless power transfer technology with variation tolerance, Nature Electronics (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41928-026-01714-0.

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