Development of an electrostatic generator for a cardiac pacemaker that harnesses the ventricular wall motion

A variable-capacitance-type electrostatic (VCES) generator that harnesses ventricular motion was developed with the aim of driving a cardiac pacemaker permanently without a battery. The developed model of the VCES generator was handmade, but it was too large to implant into the thoracic cavity of a laboratory animal. For this reason, to demonstrate its feasibility, a somewhat complicated method that measured the left ventricular wall motion by means of the accelerometer module put on the free wall and reproduced the motion in real time with a vibration mode simulator was used. The VCES generator was vibrated on the simulator, and its generated power was supplied to the cardiac pacemaker, which then stimulated the heart. A mean power of approximately 36 μW was generated, which was enough to drive the cardiac pacemaker. Continuous electric generation and cardiac pacing were performed successfully for more than 2h in the animal experiment.