Apparatus for in vivo energy harvesting
AssigneeVeryst Engineering LLC
InventorsStuart B. Brown, Brian S. Hendrickson
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Abstract
An energy harvesting mechanism creates electrical energy from in vivo physiological motion, transforming low frequency, physiological excitation into high frequencies for producing electricity and harvesting energy using an energy collector is deformed from variation of physiologic forces or motion with an input displacement, then captured, and then released to allow the energy collector to move with an output displacement being either faster or has a higher frequency, or both, when compared to the input displacement.
Claims20
An energy harvester implantable in an animal comprising:
- a biocompatible and deformable cavity that deforms under physiologic force or motion;
- a solid coupling between the cavity and a collector for accepting energy from the input force or motion;
- and
- a converter for transforming the motion of the energy collector into electric energy.
An energy harvester implantable in an animal at least partially contained within a deformable cavity that uses physiologic motion to produce electric power based on a receiver for receiving an input force or displacement and displacing an energy collector to a catch position according to the input force;
- said energy collector having an inherent release speed and an inherent release frequency;
- a holder for temporarily holding said energy collector in said catch position and releasing said energy collector from said catch position, so that said energy collector moves with an output displacement in which the speed, frequency, or both is greater than the corresponding input displacement speed, frequency, or both, that output displacement speed or frequency change, or both, being governed primarily by said collector's inherent release speed and frequency, and a converter for transforming the motion of the energy collector into electric energy.
An energy harvester implantable in an animal comprising:
- a biocompatible and deformable cavity that deforms under physiologic force or motion;
- a fluid coupling between the cavity and a collector for accepting energy from the input force or motion;
- and
- a converter for transforming the motion of the energy collector into electric energy.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.