NANO GENERATORS FOR MEDICAL IMPLANTS

Abinayah.R (abinayah.93@gmail.com),Krithika.K(kathash93@gmail.com)
Contact: 7708994974
Abstract:
Nanotechnology has huge potential. But nano size machines will need a power source
that is better than batteries and measures just billionths of a meter. The good news is that the
waste energy, produced by our body in the form of vibrations or even the human pulse, could
provide sufficient power to run such tiny gadgets. Arrays of piezoelectric nanowires could
capture and transmit that waste energy to nanodevices. These power plants are called
nanogenerators. The human body is a source of power in the form of mechanical energy, heat
energy, vibration energy, chemical energy (in the form of glucose) and hydraulic energy of the
circulatory system. Just a small fraction of this energy when converted in to electricity, is
sufficient to power many types of nanodevices, as nanodevices consume very little power in the
range of nanowatts to microwatts. Other than body movement, various routes are being tried by
researchers for power generation on mini scale. Some of these are random vibrations or
motions near a road way, temperature gradient (ground temperature several meters below the
surface is fairly constant where as ambient temperature varies), biochemistry and external
energy sources such as ultrasonic waves and audible noises

Introduction:
Batteries Are used in medical
devices implanted in a human body, such
as an artificial heart and a pacemaker. In
the case of an artificial heart, its battery
should be continuously charged by a
transformer through the skin. On the other
hand, a battery of a pacemaker does not
need continuous charging because of its
small power consumption, however, it
should be periodically replaced with a
new one by a surgical operation which a
patient should bear physically, mentally and
economically. In order to remove the
sufferings of patients, we propose here a
novel electric power supply system to
the batteries connected to
low power
consumption devices implanted, without
the periodical operations. The battery
charging is carried out with
a low
frequency rotating magnetic field.
In
addition, the magnetic ~ field intensity

necessary for charging

pacemaker is computed.

a battery of a

Today's portable electronics (except for

self-winding watches and crank radios)
depend on batteries for power. Now
researchers have demonstrated that easy-tomake, inexpensive nanowires can harvest
mechanical energy, possibly leading to such
advances as medical implants that run on
electricity generated from pulsing blood
vessels and cell phones powered by
nanowires in the soles of shoes.

"When you walk, you generate 67 watts.

Your finger movement is 0.1 watt. Your
breathing is one watt. If you can convert a
zinc oxide nanowires will show a powerful
piezoelectric effect, which is the production
of electricity in response to mechanical
pressure. Ordinarily the positive and
negative charges of zinc and oxygen ions in
these crystalline nanowires cancel each
other out. But when the wires, which are
chemically grown to stand on end on top of
an electrode, bend in response to, say, a
vibration, the ions are displaced. This
unbalances the charges and creates an
electric field that produces a current when
the nanowire is connected to a circuit.
Although each nanowire alone produces
very little power, "with simultaneous output
from many nanowires, we can generate high
power," enough to run a small medical
implant.
the chemical process by which the wires
can be grown is inexpensive, at some point
it may be practical to produce large arrays
that are capable of providing enough power
for consumer electronics. "We can grow
these on polymer substrates at very low
cost," "Our goal is to one day put these into
people's shoes so you can generate
electricity when you're walking."
Before any devices powered by nanowires
can be developed, though, researchers will
need to find ways to connect all the
nanowires to circuits.
One early application of the
"nanogenerators" is providing power for a
glucose sensor implanted under the skin of
the arm. Such a sensor would transmit blood
sugar readings to a wrist watch and, says
Cui says, one day the sensor implant could
automatically releases insulin when needed.

Much of the buzz surrounding

nanotech has been centered around the
prospect of nanoscale devices. Nanotech
pundits theorize that these devices will serve
as
"smart
molecules",

building nanostructures and treating

diseases on their own power. Before these
nanodevices can be used on a mass scale,
however, a nanoscale power source must be
developed.
There
are
two
major
requirements that this power source must
fulfill. First, it must be small enough that it
maintains the nanoscale size advantage of
the device after it is coupled with that
device. Second, these devices must be able
to generate power from their immediate
surroundings.
capable of generating power from
environmental phenomena such as ultrasonic
waves, mechanical vibrations, and even
blood flow. These generators consist of zincoxide nanowires (nanowires are nanotubes
made out of elements other than carbon)
which create charges based on their
movements in relation to a jagged silicon
electrode
plate

Plastic Substrates as Flexible PowerSource",

Adv. Mater., 19 (2007) 67-72.
[3] Jinhui Song, Jun Zhou, Zhong
Lin Wang "Piezoelectricand semiconducting
dual-property coupled powergenerating
process of a single ZnO belt/wire - a
technologyfor harvesting electricity from the
environment", NanoLetters, 6 (2006) 16561662.

The nanowires are moved by

environmental forces such as waves or
vibrations, which cause charge to be
transfered from the wires to the electrode.
This transfer of charge can create a current
on the level of nano-Amps which, with
further optimization, could lead to up to 4
watts of power delivered per square
centimeter.
These nanogenerators are non-toxic
and represent a large step in the
development
of
nanoscale
"smart
molecules". Imagine drugs that live in your
body and work to not only cure ailments, but
maintain the body and prevent potential
ailments as well. These generators could
provide the power necessary for such long
term pharmaceutical action.

References
[1] Z.L. Wang and J.H. Song
"Piezoelectric
Nanogenerators Based on Zinc
Oxide Nanowire Arrays",Science, 312
(2006) 242-246.
[2] P.X. Gao, J.H. Song, J. Liu and
Z.L. Wang "NanowireNanogenerators on

[4] Yifan Gao and Z.L. Wang

"Electrostatic
Potential
in
aBent
Piezoelectric Nanowire - The Fundamental
Theory
of
Nanogenerator
and
Nanopiezotronics",
[5] X.D. Wang, J.H. Song J. Liu,
and Z.L. Wang "Directcurrent nanogenerator
driven by ultrasonic wave", Science
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Song,
Zhong
Lin
Wang"Integrated
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