> artificial hearts had massive battery and battery needs, while this
> heart is
> charged by placing coils on the skin. As we get closer to creating
So, basically, it uses a simple inductive charging system. Not a
difficult thing to do, though certainly a clever solution.
> artificial body parts, the issues of batteries, much like powering
> laptops for
> longer times become more critical and the solutions become more
> intrinsically interesting.
Well, I have a feeling that we'll need an entirely new solution (body
is electrochemical with an electrical control system, but self-powering,
maybe an artificial "muscle" that responds to nerve impulses, and
is powered off body fluids and nutrients?) for long term replacement
parts.
I can tell you right now, I wouldn't want to have to recharge my heart
batteries every night.
-- Chuck Knight
P.S. Most of the body's fluids can act as electrolytes, and the
heart doesn't need a continuous charge, but only "pulses." Might
it be possible to do something like the BEAM guys do, storing up
a charge and then "pulsing" it through an impeller pump?
Let's see, a healthy heartbeat is anywhere from 30bpm to 80bpm,
roughly. At 30bpm, we'd have 2 seconds to store up the charge,
and at 60bpm we'd have 1 second. Dump the accumulated
charge into the mechanism, and we have a "beat."
What're the technical problems here, people? Other than the
obvious ones of reliability and rejection...
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