Photograph by: Handout, Frank Wojciechowski
Researchers at Princeton University have created tiny silicon implants that could one day power pacemakers, cell phones or any device requiring small amounts of power. The implants consist of ceramic strips which, when folded, produce electricity. The device is then sealed in silicone which makes it safe for implantation.
These mini power plants can be placed anywhere your body generates movement. For example a implant placed on your lung could generate electricity for a pacemaker simply by breathing in and out.
“The new electricity-harvesting devices could be implanted in the body to perpetually power medical devices, and the body wouldn’t reject them,” lead researcher Michael McAlpine
In the future these implants could power nearly anything, perhaps receivers used to monitor vitals, advanced prosthesis such as an eye that moves, the limit is the imagination. [Nano Letters via Canwest]
