The idea is simple: blood flow and pressure are a potential source of energy. Why not then take the good old principle of the dynamo or the water mill, and upon tweaking this idea, why not consider installing a micro-turbine in the body to produce electricity? Hmmm.
No, don not think that the energy produced by this "microturbine" will be enough to charge your iPod or advance your Prius Hybrid on the road, but the energy produced, up to about one milliwatt, can be enough to supply electricity amounting to an equivalent of ten pacemakers. Whoa. This looks promising. Very promising indeed. Imagine this, using a tiny turbine installed in a blood vessel, researchers could generate the microwatts needed to keep implanted medical devices ticking. With proper development, this could then provide a means for patients with pacemakers to get rid of constraints and batteries to become completely autonomous and self-sufficient in energy: How's that for innovation? :-) As the heart beats, it generates power for the patient's device, with its own energy. Potential uses of this energy may be for implanted medical devices like pacemakers, blood pressure sensors, drug-deliver pumps, glucose meters, or neurostimulators, all of which need just a tiny amount of juice to continue operating.
This fantastic concept was presented recently at the International Conference on Medicine and Biology Microctechnologies in Lucerne Switzerland by a team of researchers at the University of Bern. However, it is not without some risks, since its presence in the bloodstream can potentially cause blood clot coagulation. Ther work is not finished for its creators, and there will be many stages of development before the device will be safe and operational for public use.
(via ieee spectrum)
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