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Simple battery armor to protect against gastrointestinal injury from accidental ingestion

  1. Jeffrey M. Karpa,b,f,2
  1. aDivision of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Center for Regenerative Therapeutics, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115;
  2. bHarvard–MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139;
  3. cDivision of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114;
  4. dDepartment of Chemical Engineering and Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139;
  5. eDepartment of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114; and
  6. fHarvard Stem Cell Institute, Cambridge, MA 02138

  1. Contributed by Robert Langer, September 24, 2014 (sent for review August 22, 2014)

Significance

Accidental battery ingestion in children is a recognized source of significant morbidity and mortality. To mitigate the risks of accidental battery ingestion, legislation has been introduced to regulate the locking of battery compartments. Regulation of battery housings has translated into modest reductions in the number of battery ingestion cases reported. We report here the fabrication of waterproof, pressure-sensitive battery coatings that are nonconductive in the low-pressure gastrointestinal tract, yet conduct in higher-pressure standard battery housings. These safer batteries are expected to reduce complications from accidental battery ingestion.

Abstract

Inadvertent battery ingestion in children and the associated morbidity and mortality results in thousands of emergency room visits every year. Given the risk for serious electrochemical burns within hours of ingestion, the current standard of care for the treatment of batteries in the esophagus is emergent endoscopic removal. Safety standards now regulate locked battery compartments in toys, which have resulted in a modest reduction in inadvertent battery ingestion; specifically, 3,461 ingestions were reported in 2009, and 3,366 in 2013. Aside from legislation, minimal technological development has taken place at the level of the battery to limit injury. We have constructed a waterproof, pressure-sensitive coating, harnessing a commercially available quantum tunneling composite. Quantum tunneling composite coated (QTCC) batteries are nonconductive in the low-pressure gastrointestinal environment yet conduct within the higher pressure of standard battery housings. Importantly, this coating technology enables most battery-operated equipment to be powered without modification. If these new batteries are swallowed, they limit the external electrolytic currents responsible for tissue injury. We demonstrate in a large-animal model a significant decrease in tissue injury with QTCC batteries compared with uncoated control batteries. In summary, here we describe a facile approach to increasing the safety of batteries by minimizing the risk for electrochemical burn if the batteries are inadvertently ingested, without the need for modification of most battery-powered devices.

Footnotes

  • ↵1B.L. and G.T. contributed equally to this work.

  • ↵2To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: jmkarp{at}partners.org or rlanger{at}mit.edu.

  • Author contributions: B.L., G.T., R.L., and J.M.K. designed research; B.L., G.T., and V.D. performed research; B.L., G.T., and V.D. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; B.L., G.T., V.D., R.L., and J.M.K. analyzed data; and B.L., G.T., R.L., and J.M.K. wrote the paper.

  • Conflict of interest statement: A provisional patent application for the technologies described herein was filed by B.L., R.L., and J.M.K. on March 13, 2013.

  • This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1418423111/-/DCSupplemental.

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