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A New Milestone in the Implantable Medical Systems Industry

Batteries for implantable medical devices become unnecessary.

Professor Kim Sang-woo's research team at Sungkyunkwan University announced on the 2nd that they have developed a new energy harvesting technology that continuously charges implantable medical devices using frictional electricity generated within the body without periodic procedures for battery replacement.

The results of this study, which was carried out as a support project for mid-career researchers by the Ministry of Science and ICT, were published in the international academic journal 'Science' on the 2nd under the title 'Transcutaneous ultrasound energy harvesting using capacitive triboelectric technology'.

In order to wirelessly transmit a significant amount of external power into the body to power implantable medical devices such as pacemakers and insulin pumps, the bio-influence aspect had to be taken into consideration.
/> Research on energy harvesting to convert mechanical energy within the body, such as heartbeat, blood flow, and muscle movement, into electrical energy has continued, but it has been difficult to achieve sufficient power generation effect because the mechanical energy generated within the body is small.

The research team found hints in harmless ultrasound used in actual examinations and treatments.

It has been demonstrated that external ultrasound can cause deformation of specific materials inserted into the body, and that high levels of electrical energy can be generated by using the frictional electricity induced by the vibrations resulting from the deformation.

There have been cases where frictional electricity was used to convert the heartbeats of rats or pigs into electrical energy, but the amount of power generated was so small that it was difficult to use it as an actual power source.

In this study, ultrasound, which can penetrate living organisms, was used as an external mechanical energy source to increase the output current by more than a thousand times.

The research team actually demonstrated that power generation through energy harvesting is possible in a real biological environment by inserting a triboelectric generator into the skin of a rat and a pig and inducing triboelectricity from the outside using ultrasound.

The output power (voltage of 0.91 V, 52.5 μm) from the power plant inserted into the 1 cm deep layer of pig fat can drive a pacemaker or a neurostimulator.A) was obtained.

The developed triboelectric generator was also successful in charging a thin-film lithium-ion battery (0.7 mAh, a capacity that can continuously operate a wireless temperature sensor for IoT) and a commercial capacitor (4.7 mF) under optimal conditions.

Professor Kim Sang-woo said, “We have presented a new concept of energy harvesting in the body using frictional electricity generated by ultrasound passing through the skin layer,” and added, “We expect this to set a new milestone in the implantable medical system industry.”