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Updated: Jul 5, 2025
Sterile Pericarditis in Aachener Minipigs As a Model for Atrial Myopathy and Atrial Fibrillation
Published on: September 24, 2021
A self-powered intracardiac pacemaker in swine model
Zhuo Liu1,2, Yiran Hu3,4, Xuecheng Qu1,5
1Beijing Key Laboratory of Micro-nano Energy and Sensor, Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 101400, Beijing, China.
Abstract:
Harvesting biomechanical energy from cardiac motion is an attractive power source for implantable bioelectronic devices. Here, we report a battery-free, transcatheter, self-powered intracardiac pacemaker based on the coupled effect of triboelectrification and electrostatic induction for the treatment of arrhythmia in large animal models. We show that the capsule-shaped device (1.75 g, 1.52 cc) can be integrated with a delivery catheter for implanting in the right ventricle of a swine through the intravenous route, which effectively converts cardiac motion energy to electricity and maintains endocardial pacing function during the three-week follow-up period. We measure in vivo open circuit voltage and short circuit current of the self-powered intracardiac pacemaker of about 6.0 V and 0.2 μA, respectively. This approach exhibits up-to-date progress in self-powered medical devices and it may overcome the inherent energy shortcomings of implantable pacemakers and other bioelectronic devices for therapy and sensing.
