On getting energy for medical equipment from human body

This paper presents a new design of Micro Thermoelectric Generator (μTEG) for human energy conversion. The proposed μTEG uses the body heat for energy generation. Thus, it can be used to convert the temperature difference between the human body and the surrounding environment into an electrical energy to power a rechargeable battery of any medical equipment with lower power. The proposed μTEG uses a bismuth telluride (Bi₂Te₃) thermoelectric material which has an optimum figure of merit at 300°k. The dimensions of the proposed μTEG are 36μm × 20μm × 41μm. It generates an electrical voltage of 9.689μV. Also, it provides 0.01346μv/μm² (1.3VCm^-2) and 28.5 μWcm^-2 electrical voltage/area and power/area, respectively.