601248 lipo battery.Landsdowne Labs develops new materials to make swallowing button batteries no longer scary

A material developed by startup Landsdowne Labs can make eating batteries no longer dangerous. This material utilizes the quantum tunneling effect and is mainly composed of semiconductor silicon. When the battery is coated with this material, it will become a conductor and can be energized only when it is subjected to greater pressure, such as when it is installed in a battery box and pressed by contacts; when it is left standing or swallowed, because it is not subjected to Pressure, this button battery is no different from a button.

The 8-month-old Minhou baby girl Xiaoyun (pseudonym) accidentally swallowed a button battery and it stayed in her stomach for 5 hours. The doctor helped her take it out overnight, but the alkali in the battery leaked and burned the gastric mucosa. at. Lin Weidong, director of the Department of Gastroenterology at Fuzhou Children's Hospital, said that recently, the hospital often receives cases of young children swallowing foreign objects. Parents should strengthen supervision and keep children away from dangerous items. After accidents, they should seek medical treatment promptly.

A 4-year-old boy died after swallowing a battery. Fortunately, doctors removed the corroded battery in time. A four-year-old boy in Torch Development Zone, Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province almost died after accidentally eating a button battery. The button battery was only as big as a fingernail. Why is life-threatening if swallowed? According to Liu Zhishang, deputy chief physician of the Gastroenterology Department of Zhongshan People's Hospital, swallowed batteries will change position as the body changes...

It is a common parenting problem for children to accidentally eat inedible things. It is even more dangerous if they eat small button batteries. A new material that is being prepared for commercial use may change this situation.

A material developed by startup Landsdowne Labs can make eating batteries no longer dangerous. This material utilizes the quantum tunneling effect and is mainly composed of semiconductor silicon. When the battery is coated with this material, it will become a conductor and can be energized only when it is subjected to greater pressure, such as when it is installed in a battery box and pressed by contacts; when it is left standing or swallowed, because it is not subjected to Pressure, this button battery is no different from a button.

Button batteries are generally smaller in size and are commonly used in children's products. When this kind of metal battery is eaten into the human body, the contact between the moist mucous membrane in the digestive tract and the battery electrode will produce a current discharge. The button battery will produce a certain electrolytic effect on the body fluids, and the pH value near the negative electrode of the battery will change to alkaline, causing acute mucosal inflammation. damage. It can be more dangerous for children.

Studies have found that solid objects swallowed by humans generally enter the digestive tract quickly and are excreted within a few hours, such as coins. However, if coins or buttons happen to get stuck in the esophagus, they will not pose any real danger. They will still be discharged after a period of time. However, the button battery will stick to the digestive tract and within a few hours, it will cause damage to the mucous membrane or even perforation, which is dangerous. Toddler life.

Chemical ablation marks left by button batteries on bacon/MedicalXpress

According to statistics from the U.S. Toxic Data System, more than 3,000 young children are hospitalized for swallowing button batteries every year. And as more and more button batteries are replaced by lithium-ion batteries with higher current and higher voltage, the danger of button batteries is increasing.

Currently, this material has not been adopted by battery companies, and there are currently no battery companies among the investors who have invested a total of US$3 million in this startup. However, this material has obvious effects in pig biological tests. Ordinary 1.4-volt hearing aid batteries will cause necrosis of digestive tract tissue within two hours, but batteries using new materials did not cause any damage.

Bob Altabet, a former executive of Duracell, believes that battery companies will accept this material. Although the cost has increased, companies are worried about the consequences of safety accidents. As long as one company uses it, the industry will follow suit.

LandsdowneLabs was founded four years ago and includes physicians from Brigham and Women's Hospital. In 2014, their research team published a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) about the principles of this new material, and this startup is committed to commercializing this theory.