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What do rappers Drake, Jay-Z, and Kanye West have in common? Aside from their occupations and celebrity status, they can save your life. At least their music might.

The powerful bass rhythm of rap music has the ability to power a new, implantable sensor designed by researchers at Purdue University. The device, which can monitor the pressure of an aneurysm in the blood stream, can warn doctors before a potentially fatal rupture. Likewise, a sensor such as this could detect pressure in the bladder and trigger a device to prevent urine leakage for those with paralysis-induced incontinence.

But instead of batteries, this tiny sensor is charged by sound waves from music, which pass through the skin and cause part of the device, the cantilever, to vibrate. The electricity generated from this action is then stored.

Plain tones would do the trick, but music is more fun. Researchers tested different genres including blues, jazz, rock, and rap. Rap, with its low-frequency sound (that super bass), won out.

Only music in a certain range of frequencies (anywhere from 200-500 hertz) can make the cantilever vibrate. "The music reaches the correct frequency only at certain times, for example, when there is a strong bass component," Babak Ziaie, PhD, Purdue University professor and co-author of the paper detailing these findings, said in a release.

"You would only need to do this for a couple of minutes every hour or so to monitor either blood pressure or pressure of urine in the bladder," says Ziaie. "It doesn't take long to do the measurement."

Batteries used in traditional implantable devices have to be replaced periodically and external transmitters used for inductance are cumbersome, so recharging with sound energy has its benefits.

Not a rap enthusiast? It sounds like patients only have to listen to a song at a time, but this new technology could amp up the genre’s fan base. The catchy beats can grow on you!

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