Possible future pacemakers and internally produced indefinite energy from a mechanical harvester.

Get a load of the article I've linked to below.

I know I initially questioned why my pacemaker doesn't have a rechargeable battery, and of course the answer comes back with references to medical advancements, and hoped for or assumed better reasons for the reimplantation than the new battery alone. That's a valid point, but in the case of a given PM being fully functional, serving all my technical needs, as well as allowing me to pursue the preferred lifestyle my mechanical soundness and level of fitness permits, then I could see choosing to stick with whatever current model I've got, unless some major technological improvements came down the road which would unmistakeably make similar improvements to my functionality and longevity.

https://techxplore.com/news/2014-01-team-implantable-piezoelectric-nanoribbon-devices.html

2 Comments

that seems very promising technology

by quikjraw - 2021-08-16 09:53:53

I know people will say that new technology in pacemakers means that after 10 years or so you would want a new one but if you do not need any of the new features of pacemakers then this sounds a great solution.

It could save lots of money and in times of things like pandemics it would enable a temporary pausing of replacements when batteries are running low.

 

 

 

Mechanical harvester

by AgentX86 - 2021-08-16 19:59:43

It's not going to happen in our lifetime. Primary batteries aren't perfect but they're a well known commodity, with low failure rates and well known failure modes. The medical market, like the military and space markets (and even automotive to a lesser degree) are very conservative and won't lead the pack in any new technology. Rightly so. Lives are at stake. You don't see any mechanical harvesting other than "self-winding" watches, today, and no one makes the watches anymore. Expect to see a harvesting FitBit a decade or three before a pacemaker.

Grand stuff of science fiction but at this point that's all it is, a story. Like nuclear fusion (forget the frauds like CNF), it's always a decade away from reality and always will be.

You know you're wired when...

You forecast electrical storms better than the weather network.

Member Quotes

I had a pacemaker when I was 11. I never once thought I wasn't a 'normal kid' nor was I ever treated differently because of it. I could do everything all my friends were doing; I just happened to have a battery attached to my heart to help it work.