Product category:
Analogue and Mixed Signal ICs
News Release from: Zarlink Semiconductor
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 21 December 2006
Consortium to create implantable
microgenerator
A UK-based consortium of companies is developing an in-body microgenerator that will convert energy from human body movement into power for implanted medical devices.
A UK-based consortium of companies is developing an in-body microgenerator that will convert energy from human body movement into power for implanted medical devices, including pacemakers, electrical stimulators, instrumented joints and body area network applications The project, led by Zarlink Semiconductor, has received GBP 500,000 in funding from the UK Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), which will be match-funded by the consortium
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 7 Feb 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Today, batteries in implanted medical devices have a limited lifespan, some needing replacement within seven to 10 years depending on use.
Increasing clinical applications, for example wireless monitoring of cardiac pacemakers, and the continuous drive to design less obtrusive implanted devices, is placing further strains on battery operating lifetimes.
Although some implanted device batteries can be externally recharged, more commonly the patient must undergo a time-consuming and costly surgical replacement of the entire device.
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It is estimated that surgical replacement of a cardiac pacemaker can cost up to GBP 10,000.
The two-year SIMM (self-energising implantable medical microsystem) project will prototype a device capable of harvesting energy from movement in or on the body, including joint movement and heartbeats.
Body energy will be harvested by means of a microgenerator manufactured as a MEMS (microelectricalmechanical system).
This prototype design is expected to achieve 10-100x more power than previous attempts to harvest human energy.
Welcoming the new partnership, Science and Innovation Minister, Malcolm Wicks said: "This project has amazing potential to help huge numbers of people worldwide who have pacemakers and other medical implants".
"It's exactly this sort of research we're looking for with the Technology Programme - working with industry to develop marketable products we'll need in the future".
"This partnership could not only help boost the UK's economy, but make an enormous difference to the quality of people's lives".
"The ability to fit and forget implantable devices in terms of their power supply is groundbreaking with significant clinical and quality of life advances", said David Hatherall, External Project Leader at Zarlink's Caldicot facility and SIMM project co-ordinator.
"The operating life and size requirements of the battery are a chief concern in the design of implanted medical devices".
"Providing an in-body power supply will reduce the dependence on batteries for implantable devices, and facilitate the design of new self-powered devices for applications currently not feasible due to battery life and space restrictions".
According to industry research, there is great demand for improved power supply technology in many emerging medical applications, including neurostimulation, activity monitoring, bladder control valves, drug delivery systems, medical telemetry and cochlear and retinal implants.
Perpetuum is the technical lead for the SIMM project.
"This is an exciting and potentially huge market for us to be exploring", said Perpetuum CEO Roy Freeland.
"We are thrilled to be involved with this project, which is a natural extension of our proven industrial energy harvesting technology".
The multidisciplinary consortium is made up of six companies chosen for their core engineering skill, product exploitation potential and clinical excellence.
The group consists of: Finsbury Orthopaedics - a leading UK specialist in the design, development, manufacture and supply of advanced joint replacement products; Innos - the UK's leading research and development company for innovations in nanoscale technology will manage silicon fabrication of the device; InVivo Technology - will help establish the clinical acceptability and feasibility of a number of proposed energy capture mechanisms; Odstock Medical - will utilise the technology developed in the FES (functional electrical stimulation) marketplace; Perpetuum - will provide kinetic energy-harvesting microgenerator technology; And Zarlink Semiconductor - will provide advanced micro-packaging techniques at its microelectronics facility in Caldicot, South Wales.
A proof of concept prototype as a result of the project is expected to be released in 2007.
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