Interesting new discovery: "Bionic eyes and limbs made television's six million dollar man an icon, but new research suggests our existing biological structure already exhibits a valuable electrical property. Scientists have found that arteries react curiously to external electric fields, opening the door to minimally invasive detection and treatment of the U.S.'s number one killer -- heart disease.Discovery of 'bioelectric' arteries opens path to heart disease treatment
The research team found for the first time that electric charge inherently builds up along the walls of the body's largest artery, the aorta. The charge arranges itself so that an electric field points outward from the artery, and the direction of this internal field can be manipulated by external electric fields.

Together, these electrical traits make the aorta ferroelectric, a property mainly associated with artificial materials such as liquid crystals used in some flat screen displays. Although the researchers used pig tissue for their study, outside experts believe that these ferroelectric characteristics are likely present in humans as well.

"It's an unusual property, and we were very skeptical at the beginning," said Jiangyu Li, a mechanical engineer at the University of Washington, in Seattle, and a member of the research team. "It came to us as a big surprise, and we're very excited about it."

Having observed this property, scientists now hope to develop technology that takes advantage of it. Biomedical researchers envision new devices that could help abate the widespread problem of atherosclerosis, the buildup of fatty plaque in arteries." http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/jan/29/discovery-bioelectric-arteries-opens-path-heart-di/?partner=RSS