Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology are getting to the
heart of the matter, developing nanowire generators which could power medical devices inside a patient that are powered by the patient's own heart. The team -- led by Zhong Lin Wang --first demonstrated working
nanowires back in 2005, and have
since demo'd the wired generators being powered by a running hamster, tapping fingers, and piezoelectric solar cells. In the most recent and interesting turn of events Zhong and company have just demonstrated the nanowires functioning inside of a living animal (in this case, a rat). These zinc oxide nanogenerators could be ideally suited to as the power source for things like glucose level monitors and blood pressure in the somewhat near future. The ultimate goal, Zhong says, is to make what are essentially self-powered medical devices. Sounds a little creepy, if you ask us, but it's probably better than a hamster running in a wheel powering your pacemaker, right?
posted June 9th 2010 8:29PM
"I can't figure out why this guy's sensor isn't getting any power. Oh! He's dead."
@zangetsu2. A medbot once said to me
"I can't figure out why his sensor isn't getting any power. Oh! He doesn't have a heart."
I was deeply hurt
Although a little robocop-esque, I'd prefer it to being sliced open every couple of years just to replace a battery... but that's just me.
@websterb
Speaking as someone who has just had their first ICD fitted, the idea of not having to be cut open every four years for the next fifty years of my life to have the unit replaced because the battery is flat is a rather appealing. I'm sure if you had the operation you might feel the same :P I'm also guessing that the unit could be reduced in size somewhat given that you wouldn't need to hold several years' worth of charge.
@Rickets187
As someone who's had his *second* ICD fitted last July (welcome to the club, my friend - enjoy your 5-minute government-sponsored massages by TSA each time you fly), at least the recovery from surgery isn't that bad. I hope this thing will be able to keep a battery fully charged, since if the heart isn't working, then what's generating the kinetic energy to charge the device?
Another thought - as much as it would be nice to extend the replacement interval from 4 years (or...ahem...3.5 years in my case), one wonders: if the battery is no longer the weak link requiring replacement of the device, what is, and is it as predictable?
But yes...a step in the right direction, certainly.
What if you get extremely cold? lol Loosing power......
@sycohnda209x First off I don't see how heat has anything to do with this. Second, batteries perform better when cold. And third, you core temp will increase the colder you get. You sir can visit oblivion.
"...powered by a running hamster..."
The thought of a pacemaker powered by a hamster both frightens and intrigues me.
And thus the terminator age has begun.
Sounds like a great step, but if it were me, I'd take some backup batteries, just in case something fails.
It's an interesting idea, but I doubt it would be practically useful for powering pacemakers and such. The current pacemakers have batteries that run for 8+ years. The technology and the research studies are changing so much, that something that is 8 years old may no longer be the standard of care. So, not having an everlasting pacemaker is in fact, not a bad thing. (They tried nuclear powered pacemakers in the 70s... they came to the conclusion I mention above).
Sweet, I can't wait to have a USB port in my hip. Power on the go!
This is how the Borg got started.
What is kind of nifty about this is that you don't have to be worried about conservation of energy. If it were a zero sum game then there would be no way a pacemaker could be powered by the heart that it is forcing to beat. But since the heart is powered by energy in the blood plus an electrical impulse it all works.
What I would like is a machine that would siphon off energy from walking, breathing, and using my arms. The body would have to work harder to overcome that resistance but if ramped up slowly it could build muscle and endurance at the cost of excess calories. Then when it comes to game time you turn off the resistance and it would be like picking up empty suitcases.
@Octantis - Slight logic flaw. A pacemaker doesn't actually power the pumping of the heart. It sends an electrical impulse to the heart which triggers the heartbeat.
So, kinetic energy of heartbeat > electrical impulse to trigger it.
But, as you point out, if it uses the kinetic energy of the bloodflow, then it's a moot -- if academic -- point, anyway.
Powered by a hamster? Who's got room for a hamster in their chest?
@wineman - Well, if I've got room for a gerbil in my....
Omg nano wire generated electricity :beast