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Microchip Powered by Body Heat

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the i-couldn't-power-an-8088 dept.

An anonymous reader writes "MIT and Texas Instruments researchers have designed a chip that they say could be up to 10 times more energy efficient than current technology. The chip's power consumption is so low that devices with the chip may even be able to be recharged using the owner's body heat." The intent is to use these in medical applications like pacemakers where one would expect to have the free power source.

13 of 73 comments (clear)

  1. Powered by heat? by Bazman · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Two things spring to mind:

      1. If it's powered by your body heat, it's going to make you colder...

      2. Don't you need a temperature _gradient_ to get useful power out of heat?

    1. Re:Powered by heat? by masshuu · · Score: 3, Informative

      answer to number 1: No, about 60-70% of the energy we produce is heat energy. Much of it is excess that is lost through the skin. A small chip that doesn't need much power won't steal your body heat and make you cold.

      --
      O.o
    2. Re:Powered by heat? by EaglemanBSA · · Score: 2, Interesting

      1.) Yes, it will indeed take heat from your body, but it would do nothing more than force the heart to pump a little more blood to maintain your body temperature. Many people don't know that one of the many functions your cardiovascular system performs is temperature control - it's one of the world's most complex heat exchangers. You introduce a small enough cold sink, and it will heat that area of the body up to make up for it. 2.) That depends on how they're getting power from the heat - if it's powering a heat engine and runs off heat flux, then yes, they would need a temperature gradient (which isn't that hard to get anyhow - put the cold sink near the epidermis and the hot sink near your heart/brain/etc.). If they're using the heat to run a small chemical reaction, then no, they probably wouldn't need a temperature gradient (e.g.: when using two dissimilar metals to generate a charge, the absolute temperature is directly proportional to the reaction rate). I'm currently studying the thermodynamics of the body for my master's, it's a very interesting subject.

      --
      Quiz: True or False -- On a scale of 1 to 10, what is your middle name?
    3. Re:Powered by heat? by MrNaz · · Score: 3, Insightful

      1. Having skin exposed to anything less than 37oC makes you colder. Losing a few extra W of thermal energy to power a microchip will not make a difference, it's trivial compared to the amount of energy you lose just by being exposed to air.
      2. No, chemical reactions that are endothermic will occur at any temperature that supplies the necessary activation energy to the physical reagents.

      Hope I didn't sound like an elitist snob...

      --
      I hate printers.
    4. Re:Powered by heat? by exploder · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Parent is right--you might as well say that putting a teakettle on your gas range makes the flame get colder. It doesn't. It's just dissipating (part of) the heat through something useful instead of out into the environment at large.

      --
      Yo dawg, I heard you like the Ackermann function, so OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD
  2. But i am a cold hearted bastard by Timesprout · · Score: 5, Funny

    you insensitive clod!

    --
    Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
    What truth?
    There is no dupe
  3. Dupe! by Clazzy · · Score: 5, Informative

    We know. It did seem like a familiar read.

    --
    If we can hit that bull's-eye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards... Checkmate.
  4. It might work... by hyades1 · · Score: 4, Funny

    "The chip's power consumption is so low that devices with the chip may even be able to be recharged using the owner's body heat."

    Except, probably, my ex. She'd have to to crawl up onto a rock and bask for a couple of hours before something like that would work for her.

    --
    I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
  5. cochlear implants ... by constantnormal · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ... would seem to be a much more likely implanted medical device than pacemakers to use this technology. Having a pair of fully-implanted, self-powered devices that independently provide sound to each ear would seem to be a huge step forward, and readily achievable with this sort of technology.

    And with a generation rapidly driving themselves deaf via iPods, a technological solution like this would seem to be appropriate and is arriving just in time.

    While I don't know what kind of voltages and currents a pacemaker uses to regulate heart activity, it would seem a lot more likely that a cochlear implant would use less. Plus, there's a lot less downside risk if the device malfunctions.

    1. Re:cochlear implants ... by gomiam · · Score: 2, Funny
      Until the device (probably the battery) explodes in your skull.

      ... and its residue mixes with your brain (whatever was left) and makes you search for spare parts (braaaaiiiiinnnnssss...).

    2. Re:cochlear implants ... by InterGuru · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I have a pacemaker. The manufacturer ( St. Jude ) claims that the battery will last 6-8 years.

      In the old days pacemakers used a plutonium powered thermoelectric battery. This lasted forever, or about 25,000 years to be precise. They are now banned in the US because of the danger that the plutonium could be released in some way, such as a plane crash, a gunshot wound, or crematorium . They actually had to dig up some bodies because the undertaker did not remove the battery.

  6. Haven't we all seen this movie? by Snarkhunter · · Score: 5, Funny

    I think we have. Except that in the movies, the humans weren't dumb enough to TEACH the robots to feed of body heat. Oh well. I for one would like to offer our slightly peckish robotic overlords a light brunch.

  7. Wow, a dupe of the dupe... Grand-dupe? by Katatsumuri · · Score: 3, Informative

    This research has been covered at least twice on Slashdot recently:

    Researchers Design Microchip Ten Times More Efficient

    Low Voltage Is Key To Energy-Efficient Chip

    Maybe those should be included as related articles in the summary, or something...