The strength of the heart rate is so high that it can recharge devices designed to save a person's life, according to a study by experts from Dartmouth College (USA). Designed by college engineers, the compact device is capable of collecting kinetic energy from the heart and converting it into electricity to power a variety of implantable electronics, according to a press release posted on the EurekAlert!
Millions of people around the world rely on compact battery powered pacemakers, defibrillators and other essential electronic devices. Typically, these batteries need to be replaced every 10 years. Each replacement requires costly surgery, which can come with risks of complications and infections.
The team suggests modifying existing pacemakers and collecting kinetic energy from a main electrode, which is attached to the heart, to be converted into electricity to recharge batteries. The material added to the electrode for collecting kinetic energy is a thin polymer piezoelectric film "PVDF". When a special porous structure is added to the film, it gains the ability to convert the energy of even minor mechanical movement into electricity. An additional plus of the device is that the module in this form can be used as a sensor for monitoring the patient's condition in real time.
The results of three years of closed testing of the new device on animals by a team of engineers at Dartmouth College and the University of Texas at San Antonio were published in an article in the journal Advanced Materials Technologies.
Professor John Zhang notes that there are still about two years left before the completion of preclinical trials. According to their results, it will take some more time to obtain approval for the use of devices by people. Thus, the scientist hopes, self-loading pacemakers can appear on the market within the next five years.
