Energy Harvesting for Biomedical Devices and Health Care Intelligent Infrastructure

Future biomedical implants with extended wireless connectivity will form the bottom layer of a future intelligent health care delivery infrastructure. In addition to providing therapy through electrical stimulation and drug delivery, implants will provide uploading diagnostic information to clinicians and downloading of customized therapeutic algorithms to enable personalized medicine. Currently, batteries provide all of the energy needs for implants, but batteries inherently limit operating lifetime due to their fixed energy density and the strict volume and weight constraints imposed by implantable devices. We plan to develop a miniaturized rechargeable power supply for biomedical implants which harvests energy from the movement and body temperature of the patient, stores the energy in printed batteries and capacitors, and regulates this energy into a stable voltage for running a number of diverse electronic subsystems. This effort is multidisciplinary, bringing together mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, and clinicians to synthesize an integrated reliable and biocompatible power supply solution which can extend the lifetime and functionality of current implants and enable a new generation of biomedical devices.