Medical device design with absorbable metals has the potential to revolutionize patient care by providing effective short-term therapy and then harmlessly dissolving away. One of the primary hurdles to overcome is that of premature material fracture which could potentially lead to improper device function. One potential avenue to solve this problem is to harness and use a natural property of metals to our advantage, namely galvanic activity. When two differing metals are in proximity to one another in a conductive solution, one material will be electrochemically dissolved and the other protected from dissolving. This is the same principle by which a potato battery or galvanized steel works