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The Race to Put Brain Implants in People Is Heating Up

thesuperbigfrog 3y ago
Is there any tech to power electronics using carbohydrates dissolved in blood or something similar to how human cells get their power? Implants will need power: either an external power source, their own power source, or a way to derive power from the body they are implanted in. Solving the implant power problem would be a big step toward implantable components for myraid use cases.
- samstave 3y ago
  I suggest a piezoelectric hexagonal mesh that would be effectively grafted to the external dermus - or ideally one that could be incorporated within, or around a muscle. an interesting question would be if one could augment the myocardial membrane surrounding the heart in a piezoelectric harness that is perfectly printed to the size and shape of the heart in a slightly smaller position when its between pumps such that the beating of the heart deforms the membrane and creates the power required for the implants. A bonus test would be to see if such a heart-sheath could be used as a (de)fibrillator where an external electrical input could contract and release the sheath. The risk is to prevent unwanted external electrical stimulation, even by EM/RF waves such that the heart couldn't be remotely attacked, or be subject to external interference (prolly couldn't ever get an MRI again. Maybe you'd have to wear faraday vests/garments if you go full cyberpunk. Cyberpunk Couture is going to be lit! (I already want Faraday garments (already have a wallet) Yeah - there are a lot of studies on it: Piezoelectric materials can generate electricity under mechanical stress without requiring an external power supply. This property makes them a promising candidate for powering implantable medical devices 123. Researchers have developed bio-compatible generators that create electrical pulses when compressed by body motions. These generators are made up of self-assembling “piezoelectric wafers” which can be made rapidly and inexpensively to enable broad use of muscle-powered electro-mechanical therapies 4. Another study describes a piezoelectric energy generator that is driven by stimulated muscle and is break implantable into the human body. The generator concept includes connecting a piezoelectric stack generator in series with a muscle tendon unit 2.
  - sgbeal 3y ago
    > ... such a heart-sheath could be used as a (de)fibrillator It would be only a matter of time before ransomware became a topic very near and dear to our hearts, quite literally.
    - samstave 3y ago
      Do you recall Barnaby Jack - he was going to announce at defcon about hacking certain medical equipment.... a couple of weeks prior to his tech talk he didnt killhimself OD'd in an apartment in SF.

Is there any tech to power electronics using carbohydrates dissolved in blood or something similar to how human cells get their power? Implants will need power: either an external power source, their own power source, or a way to derive power from the body they are implanted in. Solving the implant power problem would be a big step toward implantable components for myraid use cases.

samstave 3y ago
I suggest a piezoelectric hexagonal mesh that would be effectively grafted to the external dermus - or ideally one that could be incorporated within, or around a muscle. an interesting question would be if one could augment the myocardial membrane surrounding the heart in a piezoelectric harness that is perfectly printed to the size and shape of the heart in a slightly smaller position when its between pumps such that the beating of the heart deforms the membrane and creates the power required for the implants. A bonus test would be to see if such a heart-sheath could be used as a (de)fibrillator where an external electrical input could contract and release the sheath. The risk is to prevent unwanted external electrical stimulation, even by EM/RF waves such that the heart couldn't be remotely attacked, or be subject to external interference (prolly couldn't ever get an MRI again. Maybe you'd have to wear faraday vests/garments if you go full cyberpunk. Cyberpunk Couture is going to be lit! (I already want Faraday garments (already have a wallet) Yeah - there are a lot of studies on it: Piezoelectric materials can generate electricity under mechanical stress without requiring an external power supply. This property makes them a promising candidate for powering implantable medical devices 123. Researchers have developed bio-compatible generators that create electrical pulses when compressed by body motions. These generators are made up of self-assembling “piezoelectric wafers” which can be made rapidly and inexpensively to enable broad use of muscle-powered electro-mechanical therapies 4. Another study describes a piezoelectric energy generator that is driven by stimulated muscle and is break implantable into the human body. The generator concept includes connecting a piezoelectric stack generator in series with a muscle tendon unit 2.
- sgbeal 3y ago
  > ... such a heart-sheath could be used as a (de)fibrillator It would be only a matter of time before ransomware became a topic very near and dear to our hearts, quite literally.
  - samstave 3y ago
    Do you recall Barnaby Jack - he was going to announce at defcon about hacking certain medical equipment.... a couple of weeks prior to his tech talk he didnt killhimself OD'd in an apartment in SF.