A comparative analysis of different vibration based energy harvesting techniques for implantables

Energy harvesting is the process of scavenging electrical energy from energy sources available in the environment. A wide variety of energy sources can be exploited here. Some of the sources include kinetic energy, thermal energy, solar energy etc. With the progress in low power design, the concept of harvesting energy to power electronic circuits has also gained relevance. Electrical energy/power can be harvested by exploiting the human body motion. Different types of transducers can be used for this. Piezoelectric materials, variable capacitors, and inductive generators can be employed here according to the type of harvester. An important and vast area of application of energy harvesting can be the medical implants field. Energy harvesting for the powering of a new generation of medical implants, miniaturized implants (functioning without battery) such as a pacemaker is discussed. Various potential techniques for this energy transduction are studied, surveyed and compared. Also the different types of mechanical energy sources in the implant environment are explored.