KAIST Researchers Invent Self-Powered Pacemaker

The self-powered heart pacemaker could reduce the need for repeated surgery to replace batteries.

AsianScientist (Jul 4, 2014) – Scientists have developed a self-powered artificial cardiac pacemaker that is operated semi-permanently by a flexible piezoelectric nanogenerator. This innovation does away with the need for surgery to replace pacemaker batteries, reducing the risk to patients.

The artificial cardiac pacemaker is a widely accepted medical device that is integrated into the human body to regulate the heartbeat through electrical stimulation. However, repeated surgeries to replace pacemaker batteries expose elderly patients to health risks such as infections or severe bleeding during operations.

A team headed by Professor Lee Keon Jae and Professor Joung Boyoung from Severance Hospital of Yonsei University, have now designed a flexible piezoelectric nanogenerator that directly stimulates the heart using electrical energy converted from the small body movements in rats. This technology could facilitate the development of self-powered flexible energy harvesters which not only prolong the life of cardiac pacemakers but can also perform real-time heart monitoring.

The research team fabricated high-performance flexible nanogenerators utilizing a bulk single-crystal PMN-PT thin film (iBULe Photonics). The harvested energy reached up to 8.2 V and 0.22 mA by bending and pushing motions, which were high enough values to directly stimulate the rat’s heart. The results of the study have been published in the journal Advanced Materials.

“For clinical purposes, the current achievement will spur the development of self-powered cardiac pacemakers as well as prevent heart attacks via the real-time diagnosis of heart arrhythmia. In addition, the flexible piezoelectric nanogenerator could also be utilized as an electrical source for various implantable medical devices,” Prof. Lee said.

The article can be found at: Hwang et al. (2014) Self-Powered Cardiac Pacemaker Enabled by Flexible Single Crystalline PMN-PT Piezoelectric Energy Harvester.

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Source: KAIST.
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