Implanted medical devices are increasingly popular for treating and monitoring diseases, including Parkinson’s, epilepsy, and cardiac arrhythmia. However, supplying power and exchanging data with these devices remains a significant practical limitation. Wired connections are cumbersome and present a constant risk of infection, while implanted batteries require periodic replacement via surgery. Other proposed solutions require patients to wear heavy, cumbersome transmitters.
Top: schematic of the energy pad, depicted together with a cranial implant; bottom: prototype of the wireless power transfer system designed to be used with wireless neurostimulation.
Description
Researchers have developed three wireless power transfer (WPT) technologies to supply power to medical devices without wired connections, risk of infection, regular surgery, or impractical demands on the patient. The first WPT system is an energy pad made up of three parts: an easily-replaceable coin battery, a battery holder/circuit board, and a flexible foam pad that attaches to the skin. The circuit board converts battery power to AC current or radio-frequency (RF) energy, which flows through the body until it reaches a super-capacitor or rechargeable battery affixed to the implant. The circuit board can also then exchange information with the implanted device. Experiments in vivo have verified that these signals traverse the scalp. The second and third WPT systems also transmit power and information via RF energy, but in these cases, magnetic resonance is leveraged to minimize energy dissipation over space and within the body. In the laboratory, signals successfully bridged a 14.5cm air gap between the transmitter and receiver.
Applications
• Water capture
• Water purification
Advantages
• The absorption process is completely passive and does not require external energy, special equipment, or any particular environmental conditions in order to absorb water.
• The composite works well under a variety of environmental conditions.
• The process to manufacture and process the composite is simple, not energy-intensive, and easy to scale to industrial quantities.
• There is great potential for this technique to be modified in order to be utilized for the adsorption of other condensable vapors.
Invention Readiness
Prototype
IP Status
https://patents.google.com/patent/US8922065B2
