Near-field Wireless Power Transfer is a promising approach to Power-up Active Implants

Abstract

Since the 20th century, portable electronic devices such as laptops, cell phones, tablets and medical implants have emerged our daily life. All these devices require energy to operate properly. Batteries' short lifetimes that supply these devices are the major disadvantage for their good use. The problem becomes even more delicate when it comes to medical implants, caused by the surgical operations necessity to replace battery. Therefore, Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) has been considered as a promising solution to overcome any health or side complications. Implants provide substantial improvement in healthcare by helping to manage diseases and save innumerable lives of patients anywhere, anytime over the word. In particular, active implants (AI) are power hungry, so they need electrical energy to operate properly and efficiently. By inspecting the literature, it is clear that near-field magnetic WPT approach dominates transcutaneous applications. For that, this paper explains the general concept of implants and it illustrates selected applications of WPT in AI.