[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/6111\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EHarnessing vibrational energy can mean heartbeat-powered pacemakers\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJust as solar panels provide a free supply of low-carbon renewable energy from the sun, harvesting vibrations from the environment can be an ecologically and financially friendly way to power sensors in remote areas or charge gadgets wirelessly.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENew engineering techniques are helping scientists to gather power from even the smallest tremors, as tiny as the beating of a human heart.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Vibrations from the body in movement, from muscles or organs such as the heart or the lungs, share a common feature: a higher energy density in the low frequencies, well below 30 Hertz,\u2019 said Dr Renzo Dal Molin, Director of Advanced Research for French pacemaker manufacturer Sorin Cardiac Rhythmic Management.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThose are deep tones. Human hearing bottoms out at around 20 Hertz.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr Dal Molin is part of an EU team working to create a pacemaker that can store such energy to shock the heart back into action if it stops beating, rather than using conventional batteries. The device would be the first medical implant capable of being powered by the body\u0027s own vibrations.\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018Energy harvesting is going to be quite huge.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EDr Cian O\u2019Murch\u00fa, University College Cork, Ireland \u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe low frequency makes gathering the energy a challenge. Dr Cian O\u2019Murch\u00fa at University College Cork\u0027s Tyndall National Institute in Ireland is coordinating the EUR 6 million Manpower project to build the pacemaker. Experts on the team are working with new materials like polymers that can be tailored for individual patients to best capture vibrations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We can tune it using different types of parameters, for example using light we can stiffen the polymer,\u2019 Dr O\u0027Murch\u00fa said. \u2018Depending on the frequency of your heartbeat, we want to tune it so it matches that.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team is experimenting with electrostatic and pressure-sensitive piezoelectric materials to harvest the energy, generating the microwatts of electricity needed by a pacemaker. The electrostatic materials generate power through shifts in capacitance as tiny finger-like structures are moved back and forth by the vibrations. Piezoelectric materials create energy as the device material is flexed, in the same way squeezed quartz powers wristwatches.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe end result could mean better lives for heart patients. Current pacemaker batteries are non-rechargeable and must be swapped out roughly every four to 12 years. The devices are commonly implanted in the shoulder for easy access, with wires leading down to the heart. Every time a battery runs dry or a wire breaks, it means another trip to the operating table for a cardiac patient.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPacemakers that use vibrational energy harvesters could function for a much longer period, perhaps 40 years. They are also small enough to be implanted directly into the heart wall. That means patients receiving the devices are much less likely to need invasive operations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers hope the devices will be ready for human trials after the project concludes in late 2016.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGood vibrations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPacemakers are not the only technology that could benefit from harvesting vibrational energy. As technology enables more electricity to be generated from materials, such techniques could be used to power other devices.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We can imagine that in the next 10 years with new materials and processes this type of use could be extended to other medical devices with power consumption in the milliwatt range such as cochlear or retinal implants,\u2019 Sorin Group\u2019s Dr Dal Molin said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOutside of the body, vibrations have the potential to charge objects like mobile phones or torches. Energy harvesting can also work on a larger scale to provide remote systems with power.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EScientists in the Spanish-led SWAP project created a prototype sensor that could run off vibrations as well as other forms of ambient energy, and successfully tested the device this year.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe EU-funded research could prove lucrative, spurred by the growth of the so-called internet of things \u2013 where devices wirelessly communicate with each other.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe global market for semiconductor wireless sensor networks was EUR 2.3 billion last year, and could grow to EUR 10 billion by 2020, according to a report published this year by WinterGreen, a US-based research company focussed on sectors such as the internet, nanotechnology and telecommunications.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESelf-powered devices could monitor the status and send back data along remote engineering projects or hard-to-get places where maintenance is difficult. Sensors located along shaking pipelines gushing with oil or rocking ship\u2019s hulls could be potential targets.\u0026nbsp;Traffic along streets implanted with vibrational energy harvesters could, for example, power town sensor networks, providing big data that could help city officials monitor weather, the environment, and prevent crime.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr O\u2019Murch\u00fa is optimistic. \u2018All these sensors that will be put everywhere all need power, and a lot of the time it might be difficult to change the battery, so energy harvesting is going to be quite huge.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-du-lfvhpm3zkdzzg0yec5w6r-1lmfvtruvz6p2usxo\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-dU__LFvhpM3ZKdzzg0yec5w6r-1LmFvTRuVz6p2USxo\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]