Animal study finds way to harness energy from internal motions
In the future, lifesaving pacemakers, defibrillators and other implantable devices might be powered not by limited-lifespan batteries but by the limitless energy generated by the movement of a patient's own bodily organs, new animal research suggests.
The idea is to safely stitch electricity-converting materials directly onto the surface of the heart, lungs and diaphragm to draw upon the endless power that is naturally produced as each organ continuously contracts and relaxes.
The result would be a never-ending supply of juice that researchers say will eliminate the current need for invasive, risky and expensive battery-replacement surgery.
"Once a pacemaker's battery is depleted, you have to perform an operation to replace it," said study co-author John Rogers, a professor in the departments of bioengineering and materials science and engineering at the University of Illinois. "The same is true of many kinds of devices, and it's obviously not ideal.
"Over the years, people have been thinking a lot about many different possible ways we could harvest power from the body itself," Rogers added. "Some have looked at glucose [breakdown], others at the exploitation of tiny temperature changes in the body. We focused our effort on the energy generated by motion. And now, by working with living cows, sheep and pigs, we have been able to demonstrate that this can work."
Rogers and his colleagues discussed their findings in the Jan. 21 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
SOURCE: HealthDay News