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Harvesting Energy from the Human Body

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the thats-nothing-compared-to-what-i-harvest-from-mine dept.

Late-Eight writes "Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology are working on a new type of nanogenerator that could draw necessary energy from flowing blood in the human body. The hope is to incorporate the new nanogenerator into biosensors, environmental monitoring devices and even personal electronics that will require no fuel source, internal or external. Once completed, this new cellular engine could find various applications, even beyond medicine."

10 of 160 comments (clear)

  1. Where is it Coming From? by Eddi3 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    In the end, this isn't just harvesting unused energy; There's no such thing. It has to come from somewhere. In this case, doesn't it come from the energy the heart is exerting to pump blood? Is it possible that this could have some long term side effects, due to slightly more stress on the heart?

    1. Re:Where is it Coming From? by dido · · Score: 3, Informative

      They're talking microamperes and like 0.5 volts so that makes it about microwatts of power; one microwatt of power over the course of one day is something 0.0864 joules, or 0.021 calories, and those are normal calories, not the food calories (which are really kilocalories). Doesn't look like a whole lot, compared to the energy an average person consumes in a day (2000 kcal, that's two million calories!).

      --
      Qu'on me donne six lignes écrites de la main du plus honnête homme, j'y trouverai de quoi le faire pendre.
    2. Re:Where is it Coming From? by ookabooka · · Score: 4, Informative

      Ugh, fine. . make me RTF :-p Yes I'd call it negligible, they say that their current design can do a few nanoamps at below 0.5v but hope to get a design that can pump out a microamp at 0.5v. Lets assume they perfected their "high-power" design and look at what it does. 0.000000001A is 1 microAmp, multiply that by 0.5v and you get 0.0000000005W or 0.5 microWatts. Having this thing run for 24 hours would give us 12 microwatt-hours which according to google is 0.0103250478 calories. So if it were 1% efficient (I'd be sure its quite a bit higher) it would draw about 1 calorie a day. . .or about 1/4 of a gram of sugar.

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      If you are about to mod me down, keep in mind that this post was most likely sarcastic.
  2. Cue the Matrix comments... by dfetter · · Score: 4, Funny

    coppertop ;)

    --
    What part of "A well regulated militia" do you not understand?
  3. Porn perputual motion machine by antifoidulus · · Score: 4, Funny

    think about, you have a portable video player loaded up with some porn. The user starts watching, the heart starts pumping faster allowing for more porn to be viewed. Repeat ad naseum(or until the user needs a towel)

    --
    Monstar L
  4. Likely Medical problems of this device by G4from128k · · Score: 5, Interesting

    As much as I love new medical R&D, I think this on is probably a non-starter.

    First, we'll ignore the risk of infection on the assumption that we're implanting a device anyway and its just a matter of what power source we pick for the implant. The most serious general problem would be blood clots that form on surfaces of the device. These pose a sever risk if they break-off, migrate downstream and cause heart attacks, strokes, or blockages in the lungs or extremities. Even drug-eluting stents (which are coated with anti-clotting drugs) have now been found to cause clotting after the drugs dissipate from the coating.

    Then there are the mechanical/hydraulic problems associated with impaired blood flow (the upstream blood pressure will need to be higher that the downstream pressue -- that pressure differential times the flow rate defines the amount of power extracted). If implanted in an artery this device will increase the back pressure on the heart (leading to an enlarged, inefficient heart) and impair circulation on downstream side (increasing problems with infections and function). If implanted in an vein this device will impair circulation on upstream side and probably lead to fluid build-up on the upstream side.

    Cool idea, but I doubt it's compatible with the human body.

    --
    Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
    1. Re:Likely Medical problems of this device by E++99 · · Score: 4, Informative

      According to TFA, this should not be impairing blood flow, regardless of where it is installed. It is not some sort of hydroelectric... er, vitroelectric dam, rather, if I understand correctly, it is powered by harnessing the vibrations of the pulse itself, that are otherwise just absorbed by the vein walls.

  5. Skin Contact by notanatheist · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Surely this can be done from outside the body. A couple pods taped to the right places and wired to a charger of some sort should be adequate. I used to have issues with my bicycle computer (cyclometer) when I kept in in my pocket. Typically the material in the pocket isn't that thick and the contact points on the bottom of the unit would be close to my leg. Occasionally I'd pull it out and it'd be giving me erratic reading like I was going 70mph though I wasn't on my bike. Since then I no longer keep the cyclometer in my pocket so as not to skew my averages when I'm tracking my rides.

  6. They are having a major problem though by LM741N · · Score: 3, Funny

    Sex tends to burn out the electronics.

  7. Re:Next step - feeding on human blood ... by Walt+Dismal · · Score: 4, Funny

    Here at the Transylvania Institute of Technology we have ... pioneered new ways of ... extracting ... energy from .. blood. The blood ... is the life. We have few nuclear electric energy generating plants, but many .. peasants. Although .. fewer than before. Pardon me, I must go now, and ... sleep. Visit me at the university. My office hours are 9PM to 5AM. Welcome. Bring beautiful girls.