Abstract
Life expectancy of contemporary cardiac pacemakers is limited due to the use of an internal primary battery. Repeated device replacement interventions are necessary, which leads to an elevated risk for patients and an increase of health care costs. The aim of our study is to investigate the feasibility of powering an endocardial pacemaker by converting a minimal amount of the heart’s kinetic energy into electric energy. The intrinsic cardiac muscle activity makes it an ideal candidate as continuous source of energy for endocardial pacemakers. For this reason, we developed a prototype able to generate enough power to supply a pacing circuit at different heart rates. The prototype consists of a mass imbalance that drives an electromagnetic generator while oscillating. We developed a mathematical model to estimate the amount of energy harvested from the right ventricle. Finally, the implemented prototype was successfully tested during in-vitro and in-vivo experiments.
Highlights
Over the last decades, the number of pacemaker (PM) implantations constantly increased and exceeded 1.5 million implantations annually worldwide [1]
The harvester was developed to be implanted in the same way as contemporary leadless endocardial pacemakers–by a trans-catheter implantation approach
The device was miniaturized to feature a volume of 1.2 cm3, which favours a catheter-based implantation in the right ventricle
Summary
The number of pacemaker (PM) implantations constantly increased and exceeded 1.5 million implantations annually worldwide [1]. Even though PM therapy is wellestablished, patients are often forced to undergo repeated surgical interventions due to PM battery depletion [2]. Re-interventions increase the risks of complications and pose an economic burden. To avoid lead-related system failures, leadless intracardial PMs have been introduced [3]. According to the manufacturer’s manual, they have an estimated autonomy of 8 to 10 years and a power consumption of ~4 μW at a 100% pacing rate of 60 beats per minute (bpm). Revolutionizing the world of PMs, the dependency of leadless systems on batteries is a major problem: once these devices are overgrown by tissue, they cannot be explanted anymore. The battery’s volume and its capacity is strongly limited
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