Human Powered Medical Devices

Michael McAlpine

Power

T. Starner, IBM Syst. J. 35, 618–629 (1996)

PVDF

E. Hasler, L. Stein, G. Harbauer, Ferroelectrics 60, 277-282 (1984)

4 cm

PZT

Dichotomy

Printing

Deflation

A. Concha, J. W. Melver III, P. Mellado, D. Clarke, O. Tchernyshyov, R. L. Leheny, Phys Rev E 75, 016609 (2007)

Buckling

50 µm

Stretchability

0% 10%

Biointerfacing

1 cm

P. C. Zhang, A. M. Keleshian, F. Sachs, Nature 413, 428-432 (2001)

Impact

Pow

er (n

W)

“I am a 75 year old man. I have had a pacemaker for 7 years. The batteries have worn out once, 3 years ago. I discovered that although the surgery is referred to as “replacing the battery" in fact, when the battery is failing the pacemaker itself must be replaced. Medical science is truly miraculous; many times the patient is not required to spend the night in the hospital for this. However, the dollar cost is high. If your work bears fruit I'm sure that it will be very attractive to anyone who is dependent on a cardiac pacemaker.”

Thanks

ARO | DARPA | DuPont | Project X

Prashant K. Purohit | Michael J. Berry