Bereuter, Lukas David; Williner, Sebastian; Pianezzi, Fabian; Bissig, Benjamin; Buecheler, Stephan; Burger, Jürgen; Vogel, Rolf; Zurbuchen, Adrian; Haeberlin, A. (2017). Energy Harvesting by Subcutaneous Solar Cells: A Long-Term Study on Achievable Energy Output. Annals of biomedical engineering, 45(5), pp. 1172-1180. Springer 10.1007/s10439-016-1774-4
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Energy Harvesting by Subcutaneous Solar Cells A Long-Term Study on Achievable Energy Output.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY). Download (1MB) | Preview |
Active electronic implants are powered by primary
batteries, which induces the necessity of implant replacement
after battery depletion. This causes repeated interventions in
a patients’ life, which bears the risk of complications and is
costly. By using energy harvesting devices to power the
implant, device replacements may be avoided and the device
size may be reduced dramatically. Recently, several groups
presented prototypes of implants powered by subcutaneous
solar cells. However, data about the expected real-life power
output of subcutaneously implanted solar cells was lacking so
far. In this study, we report the first real-life validation data
of energy harvesting by subcutaneous solar cells.
Portable light measurement devices that feature solar cells
(cell area = 3.6 cm2) and continuously measure a subcutaneous
solar cell’s output power were built. The measurement
devices were worn by volunteers in their daily routine in
summer, autumn and winter. In addition to the measured
output power, influences such as season, weather and human
activity were analyzed. The obtained mean power over the
whole study period was 67 uW (=19 uW cm-2), which is
sufficient to power e.g. a cardiac pacemaker.
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