Someday, folks with artificial hearts might have to take long, daily
walks to stay alive -- not because exercise is good for their health,
but because those walks literally power their synthetic organ. A team of
students from Rice University called "Farmers" are
developing
a device that can generate energy and feed it back into the body to be
used by an artificial heart. Their creation? A modified medical leg
brace with a motor attached right on the joint, so it can
produce energy
every time the user bends his knee. An earlier prototype for the same
project -- it's a multi-year endeavor, and the current model is the
brainchild of the third batch of students -- could also generate power
by walking. However, that wasn't a brace, but
a shoe with a pedal attached to the sole.
According to the team, it was a real challenge making the brace
lighter and more wearable. Their main tester said the current version's
"comfortable enough to wear for long periods," though, so it sounds like
they succeeded. They also managed to add a system that converts energy
into electricity that goes straight into storage -- a lithium-ion
battery, to be specific -- at the beginning of 2015.
As you might have guessed, it's not exactly capable of powering
implantable medical devices yet. But the Farmers are hoping that future
iterations will be able to wirelessly transmit electricity to
artificial hearts.
Find video :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRMzuJc3kvE&feature=youtu.be
No comments:
Post a Comment