Successful pacing using a batteryless sunlight-powered pacemaker
| Autor: | Joerg Wagner, Juerg Fuhrer, Andreas Haeberlin, Heinrich Haeberlin, Christoph Huber, Sébastien Walpen, Adrian Zurbuchen, Jakob Schaerer, Rolf Vogel |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2014 |
| Předmět: |
Pacemaker
Artificial Swine Skin flap Energy storage law.invention Pig skin Electric Power Supplies law Physiology (medical) Materials Testing Animals Medicine 610 Medicine & health Sunlight integumentary system business.industry Battery (vacuum tube) Equipment Design Feasibility Studies Artificial cardiac pacemaker 570 Life sciences biology Solar simulator Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine business Energy harvesting Biomedical engineering |
| DOI: | 10.7892/boris.63475 |
| Popis: | AIMS Today's cardiac pacemakers are powered by batteries with limited energy capacity. As the battery's lifetime ends, the pacemaker needs to be replaced. This surgical re-intervention is costly and bears the risk of complications. Thus, a pacemaker without primary batteries is desirable. The goal of this study was to test whether transcutaneous solar light could power a pacemaker. METHODS AND RESULTS We used a three-step approach to investigate the feasibility of sunlight-powered cardiac pacing. First, the harvestable power was estimated. Theoretically, a subcutaneously implanted 1 cm(2) solar module may harvest ∼2500 µW from sunlight (3 mm implantation depth). Secondly, ex vivo measurements were performed with solar cells placed under pig skin flaps exposed to a solar simulator and real sunlight. Ex vivo measurements under real sunlight resulted in a median output power of 4941 µW/cm(2) [interquartile range (IQR) 3767-5598 µW/cm(2), median skin flap thickness 3.0 mm (IQR 2.7-3.3 mm)]. The output power strongly depended on implantation depth (ρSpearman = -0.86, P < 0.001). Finally, a batteryless single-chamber pacemaker powered by a 3.24 cm(2) solar module was implanted in vivo in a pig to measure output power and to pace. In vivo measurements showed a median output power of >3500 µW/cm(2) (skin flap thickness 2.8-3.84 mm). Successful batteryless VVI pacing using a subcutaneously implanted solar module was performed. CONCLUSION Based on our results, we estimate that a few minutes of direct sunlight (irradiating an implanted solar module) allow powering a pacemaker for 24 h using a suitable energy storage. Thus, powering a pacemaker by sunlight is feasible and may be an alternative energy supply for tomorrow's pacemakers. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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