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Design Considerations for an Implantable, Muscle Powered Piezoelectric System for Generating Electrical Power

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Abstract

A totally implantable piezoelectric generator system able to harness power from electrically activated muscle would augment the power systems of implanted functional electrical stimulation devices by reducing the number of battery replacement surgeries or by allowing periods of untethered functionality. The generator design contains no moving parts and uses a portion of the generated power for system operation. A software model of the system was developed and simulations performed to predict the output power as the system parameters were varied within their constraints. Mechanical forces that mimic muscle forces were experimentally applied to a piezoelectric generator to verify the accuracy of the simulations and to explore losses due to mechanical coupling. Depending on the selection of system parameters, software simulations predict that this generator concept can generate up to 690 μW of power, which is greater than the power necessary to drive the generator, conservatively estimated to be 46 μW. These results suggest that this concept has the potential to be an implantable, self-replenishing power source and warrants further investigation.

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Acknowledgements

This project is funded by NASA Glenn Research Center’s Alternate Energy Foundational Technologies Project, which is part of the NASA Vehicle System Program of the Aeronautics Research Enterprise, NIH HD40298 and The State of Ohio BRTT 03–10. The NASA Glenn Research Center’s Mechanics and Lifing Branch of the Structures Division is acknowledged for their generous support of this project by conducting the mechanical test in their Fatigue Lab. William Brown (Sierra Lobo) is particularly recognized for conducting the mechanical tests. Katie Hallahan (Case Western Reserve University Biomedical Engineering student) is acknowledged for her contribution to the design of the mechanical holder and to the experimental design of the mechanical tests.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bioscience and Technology Branch, NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH, 44135, USA

    B. E. Lewandowski

  2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Neural Engineering Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA

    B. E. Lewandowski, K. L. Kilgore & K. J. Gustafson

  3. Metro Health Medical Center, Cleveland, OH, 44109, USA

    K. L. Kilgore

  4. Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA

    K. L. Kilgore & K. J. Gustafson

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  1. B. E. Lewandowski
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  2. K. L. Kilgore
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  3. K. J. Gustafson
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Correspondence to K. J. Gustafson.

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Lewandowski, B.E., Kilgore, K.L. & Gustafson, K.J. Design Considerations for an Implantable, Muscle Powered Piezoelectric System for Generating Electrical Power. Ann Biomed Eng 35, 631–641 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-007-9261-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-007-9261-6

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