Researchers are studying and developing new technologies to make new battery-free pacemakers.
The innovation is based on a piezoelectric system that converts vibrational energy–created within the chest by each heartbeat–into electricity to power the pacemaker itself.
The implanted pacemaker, a marvel of medical research that has provided a way to prolong millions of lives for at least 60 years , is being renewed in the 21st century.
First came a wireless version; pacemakers, which are the size of a AAA battery and placed inside the heart by means of a catheter introduced through the leg, are being tested on humans in the United States, Canada, and Australia.
Source: University at Buffalo
