A team of British scientists announced today they’ve discovered a way to create pacemakers that draw power from the heart according to Rueters.  Using a microgenerator powered by heartbeats, the team produced nearly 17 percent of the electricity needed to run an artificial pacemaker.
A new generation of pacemakers using the technology could result in longer-lasting pacemakers that offer more functionality.
“This was a proof-of-concept study, and we provided the concept,” Paul Roberts at Southampton University Hospital in Britain said in a statement.
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“Harvesting surplus energy might be a major transition in implantable pacemakers and defibrillators because engineers will have more energy to work with.”
A pacemaker sends electrical impulses to the heart to speed up or slow cardiac rhythm while an implantable cardioverter defibrillator signals the heart to normalize its rhythm if it gets too fast or slow.
There is one drawback. These next generation pacemakers would be larger than their current counterparts due to the new technology.  This could make them uncomfortable and cosmetically less appealing, the researchers said.
“The small devices now are really very good, but power consumption must increase if we want to take them to the next level,” Roberts said.
The device uses two compressible bladders and a microgenerator mounted on the lead of a pacemaker or defibrillator, the wire that connects the device to the heart.
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This lead is attached to the end of the right ventricle, and the bladders relay the energy from the pressure of each heartbeat to the microgenerator, which transforms it into electricity for use by the battery, the researchers said.
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The researchers are now working with different materials in the microgenerator, which they believe will produce significantly more power in their next-generation device.
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“While at the moment we see about 20 percent harvesting, we’re anticipating that will be significantly more in the next iteration of the device,” Roberts said.
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