Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Romero et al. (2011), show promise for powering some IMDs.
Considering an average volume of 20 mL (20 cm
3
) for pacemakers, or
a volume of about 10 cm
3
for the battery volume, there are also inter-
esting options for small generators. Although this review has not found
a large number of prototypes that could power some of the biomedical
devices, it shows that this area is evolving rapidly compared to a
decade ago.
Thus, the list should keep growing until more generators can satisfy
the need of actual devices or new applications are developed around
actual approaches. One interesting generator is the one presented by
Platt et al. (2005a) for knee implants. One possible outcome for the
Platt et al. (2005a) work is that in the near future, knee replacements
could be instrumented to determine if misalignment happens at early
stages. This way, knee-braces, physical therapy, or minor surgeries
would eliminate some of the revision surgeries that are performed
(Romero and Rincon, 2012). Many other new applications could also
arise from today
s active
monitoring devices, let it be for physiological responses or develop-
ment. The future will tell.
'
s passive biomedical devices to tomorrow
'
