<p>From pacemakers to neurostimulators, implantable medical devices rely on batteries to keep the heart on beat and dampen pain. But batteries eventually run low and require invasive surgeries to replace. To address these challenges, researchers in China devised an implantable battery that runs on o...
I'm down for technology making use of otherwise-unused energy is great. But that prompts the question -- is the oxygen it's pulling from unused energy? Could this negatively affect the oxygenation of blood?
Probably. But if it means that you can have a lifetime heart pacemaker without ever changing batteries or external charging ports, that may be convenient. I mean, the tradeoff here is probably for people that are worried about more severe things than being a bit slower when jogging.
Doesn't a pacemaker last like 10 years now? It would still need battery I guess even though it charges by blood oxygen. Imagine having carbon monoxide poisoning but what killed the patient was the pacemaker that died.
I like your thinking but I doubt it will work in its current state.
The researchers then implanted the battery under the skin on the backs of rats and measured its electricity output. Two weeks later, they found that the battery can produce stable voltages between 1.3 V and 1.4 V, with a maximum power density of 2.6 µW/cm2. Although the output is insufficient to power medical devices, the design shows that harnessing oxygen in the body for energy is possible.