Prolonged energy harvesting for ingestible devices

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Gastroenterology
• Wearable Technology

Background:

• Ingestible electronics offer advanced patient monitoring but face limitations in power capacity and duration.
• Existing in vivo power harvesting systems provide only short bursts of energy, limiting prolonged use.
• The gastrointestinal tract presents unique challenges for long-term electronic device power supply.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and evaluate a novel energy-harvesting galvanic cell for continuous in vivo power supply.
• To assess the device's capacity for prolonged operation throughout the gastrointestinal tract.
• To enable continuous temperature sensing and wireless communication for ingestible electronic devices.

Main Methods:

• Development of a biocompatible galvanic cell for energy harvesting.
• In vivo testing in porcine models to evaluate device performance.
• Continuous monitoring of power output and device operation duration.

Main Results:

• The galvanic cell achieved an average power output of 0.23 μW/mm².
• Continuous power delivery was sustained for an average of 6.1 days.
• The device successfully powered in vivo temperature measurements.

Conclusions:

• The developed energy-harvesting galvanic cell provides a viable solution for prolonged powering of ingestible electronics.
• This technology can support the next generation of long-term gastrointestinal monitoring systems.
• The findings pave the way for broader deployment of ingestible devices in healthcare.