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Implantable Cardiac Kirigami‐Inspired Lead‐Based Energy Harvester Fabricated by Enhanced Piezoelectric Composite Film
Author(s) -
Xu Zhe,
Jin Congran,
Cabe Andrew,
Escobedo Danny,
Gruslova Aleksandra,
Jenney Scott,
Closson Andrew B.,
Dong Lin,
Chen Zi,
Feldman Marc D.,
Zhang John X. J.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
advanced healthcare materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.288
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 2192-2659
pISSN - 2192-2640
DOI - 10.1002/adhm.202002100
Subject(s) - energy harvesting , flexibility (engineering) , finite element method , piezoelectricity , voltage , electronics , materials science , lead (geology) , power (physics) , mechanical energy , electrical engineering , mechanical engineering , biomedical engineering , computer science , engineering , structural engineering , statistics , physics , mathematics , quantum mechanics , geomorphology , geology
Abstract Harvesting biomechanical energy to power implantable electronics such as pacemakers has been attracting great attention in recent years because it replaces conventional batteries and provides a sustainable energy solution. However, current energy harvesting technologies that directly interact with internal organs often lack flexibility and conformability, and they usually require additional implantation surgeries that impose extra burden to patients. To address this issue, here a Kirigami inspired energy harvester, seamlessly incorporated into the pacemaker lead using piezoelectric composite films is reported, which not only possesses great flexibility but also requires no additional implantation surgeries. This lead‐based device allows for harvesting energy from the complex motion of the lead caused by the expansion‐contraction of the heart. The device's Kirigami pattern has been designed and optimized to attain greatly improved flexibility which is validated via finite element method (FEM) simulations, mechanical tensile tests, and energy output tests where the device shows a power output of 2.4 µW. Finally, an in vivo test using a porcine model reveals that the device can be implanted into the heart straightforwardly and generates voltages up to ≈0.7 V. This work offers a new strategy for designing flexible energy harvesters that power implantable electronics.