Powering Pacemakers from Heart Pressure Variation with Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters

Present project consists in a study and a development
of piezoelectric devices for supplying power to new generation
pacemakers. They are miniaturized leadless implants without battery
placed directly in right ventricle. Amongst different acceptable
energy sources in cardiac environment, we choose the solution of a
device based on conversion of the energy produced by pressure
variation inside the heart into electrical energy. The proposed energy
harvesters can meet the power requirements of pacemakers, and can
be a good solution to solve the problem of regular surgical operation.
With further development, proposed device should provide enough
energy to allow pacemakers autonomy, and could be good candidate
for next pacemaker generation.

Authors:

• A. Mathieu
• B. Aubry
• E. Chhim
• M. Jobe
• M. Arnaud

Keywords:

• Energy harvester
• heart
• leadless pacemaker
• piezoelectric cells
• pressure variation.

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