Battery-Free Future? Mesh Grown with Human Cells Makes Its Own Power
The lab-grown mesh produced 10 times more power density than centralized systems and could help replace bulky batteries in implantable devices.
- Engineers at UMass Amherst, led by Jun Yao, designed an ultrathin, flexible "biohybrid mesh harvester" that seamlessly integrates electronics with human cells, with findings published in Science Advances.
- Unfortunately, traditional batteries are bulky and eventually fail; lead author Siqi Wang, a Ph.D. student in UMass Amherst's Riccio College of Engineering, noted, "Our bodies are 24/7 power plants."
- The team used ribbons of PZT on a polymer platform, seeding them with cardiac cells; Yao says the result generated 10 times more power density than centralized energy systems.
- Yao explained that the device's cellular-level existence improves biocompatibility, preventing the body from rejecting systems with bulk batteries and potentially transforming pacemakers and defibrillators.
- Because the films are ultrathin, they can be stacked in layers to increase power output; Yao pointed out the research currently exists only in the lab, limiting immediate commercial deployment.
34 Articles
34 Articles
Heart pacemakers and other implants need energy. A new biohybrid network could use the body as a power plant – and in the future, it could make operations unnecessary for battery replacement.
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Battery-free future? Mesh grown with human cells makes its own power
Could the "biohybrid mesh harvester" replace batteries for wearable and implantable electronics?
Flexible mesh could power implantable electronics without batteries
A team of engineers led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst has designed an ultrathin, flexible mesh that seamlessly integrates electronics with human cells to provide a continuous, reliable, powerful electrical supply.
Ultrathin mesh harvests energy from human heart cells to generate electricity
A team of engineers led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst has designed an ultrathin, flexible mesh that seamlessly integrates electronics with human cells to provide a continuous, reliable, powerful electrical supply. ...
Scientists Turn Beating Heart Cells Into a Tiny Power Source
Scientists have developed an extremely thin mesh that collects electrical energy from the movement of human heart cells grown in a laboratory. The approach could help researchers design small electronic devices that draw power from living tissue. The work addresses a practical problem with devices worn on or implanted inside the body: batteries take up […]
Medical implants need reliable power. A new system uses the natural movement of muscle cells to gain electrical energy. The approach could make risky interventions for battery changes permanently superfluous in the future. read more on t3n.de
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