Leadless pacemakers including a piezoelectric device
AssigneeUniversity of Washington
InventorsBabak Nazer, Mohammad Malakooti
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An example leadless pacemaker includes a housing including at least one outer surface and at least one energy storage device. The leadless pacemaker also includes at least one electrode coupled to the at least one energy storage device and configured to generate electrical pulses that are delivered to one or more chambers of the heat. The leadless pacemaker further includes at least one piezoelectric device disposed on at least a portion of the outer surface of the housing. The piezoelectric device is electrically coupled to the energy storage device. The piezoelectric device is configured to be generate electrical energy responsive to pressure changes in the heart.
Claims22
An energy-harvesting leadless pacemaker, comprising:
- a housing including at least one outer surface, the housing including at least one energy storage device;
- at least one electrode coupled to the at least one energy storage device, the at least one electrode configured to generate electrical pulses that are delivered to one or more chambers of a heart;
- and
- at least one piezoelectric device disposed on at least a portion of the at least one outer surface of the housing, the at least one piezoelectric device electrically coupled to the at least one energy storage device, the at least one piezoelectric device configured to generate electrical energy responsive to pressure changes in the heart.
A method of using an energy-harvesting leadless pacemaker, the method comprising:
- disposing the energy-harvesting leadless pacemaker in a heart, the energy-harvesting leadless pacemaker including:
- a housing including at least one outer surface, the housing including at least one energy storage device;
- at least one electrode coupled to the at least one energy storage device, the at least one electrode configured to generate electrical pulses that are delivered to one or more chambers of the heart;
- and
- at least one piezoelectric device disposed on at least a portion of the at least one outer surface of the housing, the at least one piezoelectric device electrically coupled to the at least one energy storage device, the at least one piezoelectric device configured to generate electrical energy responsive to pressure changes in the heart;
- and
- generating the electrical energy with the at least one piezoelectric device as the heart beats.
A method of making an energy-harvesting leadless pacemaker, the method comprising:
- disposing at least one piezoelectric device on at least one outer surface of a housing, the housing including at least one energy storage device;
- wherein the energy-harvesting leadless pacemaker further includes:
- at least one electrode coupled to the at least one energy storage device, the at least one electrode configured to generate electrical pulses that are delivered to one or more chambers of a heart;
- and
- at least one piezoelectric device disposed on at least a portion of the at least one outer surface of the housing, the at least one piezoelectric device electrically coupled to the at least one energy storage device, the at least one piezoelectric device configured to generate electrical energy responsive to pressure changes in the heart.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.