Future pacemakers could be charged by our heartbeats rather than batteries
Pacemakers can be adapted so they can be charged using energy from heartbeats.
Currently: About one million people a year worldwide have a pacemaker implanted to help keep their heart beating at a normal rhythm. However, they have limited battery life, so people who have them have to undergo surgery to replace the batteries on a five-to-ten-year basis.
Beating in time: A small device can modify pacemakers so that they use kinetic energy from the heart’s beating, converting it into electricity to keep the batteries charged. The researchers added a thin piece of polymer to existing pacemakers, which converts motion into electricity, they explain in Advanced Materials Technologies.
Next steps: The first round of animal studies has just been completed. The team hopes the pacemakers could be available for humans within the next five years.
This story first appeared in our newsletter The Download. Sign up here to get your daily dose of the latest in emerging tech.
Deep Dive
Biotechnology and health
This baby with a head camera helped teach an AI how kids learn language
A neural network trained on the experiences of a single young child managed to learn one of the core components of language: how to match words to the objects they represent.
An AI-driven “factory of drugs” claims to have hit a big milestone
Insilico is part of a wave of companies betting on AI as the "next amazing revolution" in biology
How scientists traced a mysterious covid case back to six toilets
When wastewater surveillance turns into a hunt for a single infected individual, the ethics get tricky.
The next generation of mRNA vaccines is on its way
Adding a photocopier gene to mRNA vaccines could make them last longer and curb side effects.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.