Magnetic-Resonance-Coupling-Based Wireless Power Transfer System for Battery-free Miniaturized Medical Implants (2023)
Undergraduate: Sicheng Xing
Faculty Advisor: Wubin Bai
Department: Applied Physical Sciences, Biomedical Engineering
Miniaturized medical implants that perform localized sensing, electrical therapy, or drug delivery functions hold great potential to innovate treatment and improve patient outcomes. However, traditional tethered implants create risks of infections, and battery power devices come with increased weight, a limited life span, and reduced overall device flexibility, all of which may lead to bulky devices and potential complications. Therefore, better means of power delivery are needed for implants to improve overall patient outcomes.
Here, we present a flexible, wireless power transfer (WPT) system based on magnetic resonance coupling (MRC) made of commercially available materials that can be integrated with medical implants to eliminate the need for batteries or wiring to an external power supply, thereby reducing potential complications, as well as improving patient comfort and overall quality of life. This device is characterized by the following features:
- Lightweight with size at the centimeter scale
- Delivery of high power up to 1.3W at the efficiency of 80% with Minimal heat dissipation in coils
- Minimal changes in resonance frequency due to distortion, bending, or twisting