Engineers use the energy of the heart to charge themselves a bio-implant device

The engineers at Dartmouth College have created a device of the size of a tenth that could allow implanted biomedical devices to be charged indefinitely using the natural kinetic energy (movement) of the heart. In a study conducted in the last three years and published in the journal Advanced Materials Technologies in January of this year, an implant with piezoelectric materials was badociated with a pacemaker to convert heartbeats into electricity. Given the 5-10 year replacement requirements for the battery-powered average implantable biomedical device, this invention may soon result in a significant reduction in invasive and at-risk surgeries.

Piezoelectricity is a mechanical stress converted into electricity. Pressure, sound waves and other vibrations coming into contact with piezoelectric materials cause the displacement of their atoms, creating positive and negative charges. In the Dartmouth invention, the moving heart tissue squeezes a flexible container in which a piezoelectric material is located, thereby creating charges that are returned by the stimulator lead to its battery. In theory, this continuous charging cycle would allow any biomedical implant in which motion is a component of the device's location to last the patient's entire life.

Project engineers have two years of additional funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to complete a pre-clinical and regulatory approval process. A commercially available version is expected to be available in approximately five years. The potential of this device has already been recognized by important players in the biotechnology sector. Andrew Closson, one of the authors of the study, explained in an article about the device: "The major medical technology companies are already showing a lot of interest …[and we are]… go ahead with the entrepreneurial phase of this effort. "

The idea of ​​harvesting the energy of the heart is not new. A team of researchers from the University of Illinois demonstrated a proof of concept in 2014 with the aid of a flexible piezoelectric patch on anesthetized sheep. After sewing multiple patches in an optimal orientation on the sheep's heart, the voltage produced proved sufficient to power a standard pacemaker. Other devices that can be powered by this type of technology include cochlear implants and implantable defibrillators.

Implantable electronic medical devices frequently find improvements in the field of biotechnology and thus directly relate to the invention of Dartmouth engineers. In November of last year, a study was published demonstrating the effectiveness of a spinal implant used to amplify cerebral signals. After the epidural electrical stimulation was administered to the spinal cord of three paralyzed participants, all were able to recover the movement of their lower limbs. The piezoelectric functionality in a device like this would be a natural inclusion.