The World in 2030

298 The World in 2030
the construction of ever smaller and ever lighter monitoring
devices. Even today patients with heart conditions are able
to wear lightweight ECG equipment for long periods to
provide ‘ambulatory data’ (data collected as the patient goes
about daily life). 521
Eventually smart plastics will start to interface directly
with our bodies. In 2005 New Scientist reported:
Scientists are building a new bionic ear coated in a
smart plastic that boosts the growth of nerve cells in
the inner ear when it’s zapped with electricity.
The technology, which also has potential for healing
spinal cord injuries, is being developed at the Australian
Centre for Medical Bionics and Hearing Science,
part of Melbourne’s Bionic Ear Institute. 522
Collaborator, Professor Gordon Wallace of the Intelligent
Polymer Research Institute at the University
of Wollongong, says the polymer polypyrrole is
unusual because unlike most plastics, it can conduct
electricity. 523
Plastics also have a significant role to play in creating casings
for the delivery of powerful drugs to sites deep within
patients’ bodies. As this announcement by the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, USA spelled out:
Working in the emerging field of ‘nanomedicine,’
University of Wisconsin-Madison pharmacy professor
Glen Kwon 524 aims to improve the delivery of