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Energy Harvesting from the Cardiovascular System, or How to Get a Little Help from Yourself

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Abstract

Human energy harvesting is envisioned as a remedy to the weight, the size, and the poor energy density of primary batteries in medical implants. The first implant to have necessarily raised the idea of a biological power supply was the pacemaker in the early 1960s. So far, review articles on human energy harvesting have been rather unspecific and no tribute has been given to the early role of the pacemaker and the cardiovascular system in triggering research in the field. The purpose of the present article is to provide an up-to-date review of research efforts targeting the cardiovascular system as an alternative energy source for active medical implants. To this end, a chronological survey of the last 14 most influential publications is proposed. They include experimental and/or theoretical studies based on electromagnetic, piezoelectric, or electrostatic transducers harnessing various forms of energy, such as heart motion, pressure gradients, and blood flow. Technical feasibility does not imply clinical applicability: although most of the reported devices were shown to harvest an interesting amount of energy from a physiological environment, none of them were tested in vivo for a longer period of time.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, University of Bern, Murtenstrasse 50, 3010, Bern, Switzerland

    Alois Pfenniger, Magnus Jonsson, Adrian Zurbuchen & Rolf Vogel

  2. Engineering and Information Technology, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Biel, Switzerland

    Alois Pfenniger & Volker M. Koch

  3. Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Alois Pfenniger & Adrian Zurbuchen

  4. Department of Cardiology, Solothurn Hospitals, Solothurn, Switzerland

    Rolf Vogel

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  1. Alois Pfenniger
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  2. Magnus Jonsson
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  4. Volker M. Koch
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Correspondence to Rolf Vogel.

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Associate Editor Peter E. McHugh oversaw the review of this article.

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Pfenniger, A., Jonsson, M., Zurbuchen, A. et al. Energy Harvesting from the Cardiovascular System, or How to Get a Little Help from Yourself. Ann Biomed Eng 41, 2248–2263 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-013-0887-2

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