Heartbeats Powering Pacemakers (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- There are
about 3 million people worldwide with pacemakers, and each year
600,000 pacemakers are implanted. Now researchers are using an
experimental device to convert energy from a beating heart to
provide enough electricity to power a pacemaker. In a
preliminary study, researchers tested an energy-harvesting
device that uses piezoelectricity (electrical charge generated
from motion). The findings suggest that patients could power
their pacemakers, eliminating the need for replacements when
batteries are spent. “The approach is a promising technological
solution for pacemakers, because they require only small amounts
of power to operate,” M. Amin Karami, Ph.D., lead author of the
study and research fellow in the Department of Aerospace
Engineering at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor was
quoted saying. “Today’s pacemakers must be replaced every five
to seven years when their batteries run out, which is costly and
inconvenient. Many of the patients ar