Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
TV (30 cm)
Personal computer
DVD player
Notebook computer
Video 8 camera
Philips Windows CE mini-noteboo
Philips cordless phone Xalio (1997)
Halogen flashlight
Motorola 130 (during transmission)
Incandescent flashlight
Philips Velo 1 PDA
Motorola Iridium satellite phone
Philips MP3 player (2000)
Philips CD player ACT 7582
Philips CD player ACT 6688
Philips MP3 player (2000)
Philips cordless FM headphone
Freeplay FPR1 radio
LED flashlight
Philips Fizz cell phone (1996)
Sony ICF-B200 radio
Philips portable radio AE6545
Philips Genie cell phone (1997)
Motorola Startac 130 cell phone (1999)
Nokia 6185 cell phone (1999)
Volvo S80 remote
LED pointers
Philips pager Fiori (1998)
Tamagotchi
Cardiac pacemaker
Hearing aid
Travel clock
Electric wristwatch
0.001
0.01
0.1
1
10
100
1,000
10,000
100,000
Power (mW)
Figure 1.3 Comparison of power consumption (horizontal bars) against power generation (vertical lines) for
some electronic devices. Chart adapted from Flipsen (2005).
clear that energy harvesting from body motion has the potential to
power some biomedical applications and other low-power devices.
1.2 ENERGY HARVESTING
Energy harvesting is the process in which energy is produced from exter-
nal sources, such as air or water flow, vibrations or motion, solar
energy, or thermal gradients. The term is usually applied to power gen-
eration for small, portable, wearable, or autonomous devices. In recent
times, energy harvesting is a research area that is gaining relevance for
powering electronic devices because of the almost infinite lifetime poten-
tial. Energy generation from motion, solar light, and temperature
changes has proven to be a viable alternative to batteries for commercial
products, such as hand-cranking radios and flashlights, solar-powered
calculators, and thermal-powered wristwatches. Energy scavenging also
