Body motion for powering biomedical devices

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

1-1-2009

Abstract

Kinetic energy harvesting has been demonstrated as a useful technique for powering portable electronic devices. Body motion can be used to generate energy to power small electronic devices for biomedical applications. These scavengers can recharge batteries, extending their operation lifetime or even replace them. This paper addresses the generation of energy from human activities. An axial flux generator is presented using body motion for powering miniature biomedical devices. This generator presents a gear-shaped planar coil and a multipole NdFeB permanent magnet (PM) ring with an attached eccentric weight. The device generates energy by electromagnetic induction on the planar coil when subject to a changing magnetic flux due to the generator oscillations produced by body motion. A 1.5 cm3 prototype has generated 3.9 μW of power while walking with the generator placed laterally on the ankle. ©2009 IEEE.

Publication Title

Proceedings of the 31st Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society: Engineering the Future of Biomedicine, EMBC 2009

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