Communications of the ACM
Wireless Power Could Cut Cord For Patients With Implanted Heart Pumps
Researchers envision a future where patients would install transmission coils in their homes and workplaces to create zones where the implant would receive uninterrupted power.
Courtesy of Pramod Bonde, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Researchers at the universities of Washington and Pittsburgh have developed a wireless power system for ventricular assist devices, which are implanted in people whose hearts are failing.
The researchers, led by Washington professor Joshua Smith, developed an inductive system that adjusts the frequency of the signal as the orientation between the transmitter and receiver changes, which results in efficient wireless power over medium distances. Smith says the researchers discovered a "magic regime" in which power stays constant over distances about the same as the diameter of the coil, which enables the wireless power system to work.
"With wireless technology patients can be free and they can have a chance to move around and exercise like normal human beings," says the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's Pramod Bonde.
The researchers envision more power transmitters placed under a patient's bed or chair, enabling them to sleep and work more freely. The system can currently power a commercial heart pump running underwater using a receiver coil as small as 4.3 centimeters across.
Bonde says the technology also "can be leveraged to simplify sensor systems, to power medical implants, and reduce electrical wiring in day-to-day care of the patients."
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