Engineers at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, tested an energy-harvesting device that uses piezoelectricity — an electrical charge generated from motion — to convert energy from a beating heart to provide enough electricity to power a pacemaker.
As reported in a study presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2012, patients may be able to power their own pacemakers, eliminating replacements when batteries are spent.
Pacemakers require very small amounts of power to operate, and the engineers say that piezoelectricity might be able to power other implantable cardiac devices like defibrillators, which also have minimal energy needs.
The researchers haven't built a prototype yet, but they've made detailed blueprints and run simulations demonstrating that the concept would work.
