One of the first nanoradios was constructed in 2007 by researchers under Alex Zettl at the University of California, Berkeley where they successfully transmitted an audio signal.
[2] The first observation of a nanoradio can be accredited to a Japanese physicist Sumio Iijima in 1991 who saw a "a luminous discharge of electricity" coming from a carbon nanotube on a graphite electrode.
[2] On October 31, 2007, a team of researchers under Alex Zettl at the University of California, Berkeley created one of the first nanoradios.
[3] They then placed the apparatus into a high-resolution transmission electron microscope to document the movement of the nanotube.
[4] After some minor adjustments, the team was able to transmit and receive signals from a couple meters across the laboratory;[2] however, the initial audio receptions from the radio were scratchy which Zettl believed was due to the lack of a better vacuum.
[2] Nanoradios can also be used to monitor insulin levels of diabetes patients and use that information to release a drug or chemical.
The amount of energy input can be increased, which would generate much heat in the body, which can pose a safety risk.