Active photonic wireless power transfer into live tissues

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2002201117
• Publication Date: 2020-07-07T00:26:04Z
• Authors: Juho Kim; Jimin Seo; Dongwuk Jung; Taeyeon Lee; Hunpyo Ju; Junkyu Han; Namyun Kim; Jinmo Jeong; Sungbum Cho; Jae Hun Seol; Jongho Lee
• Keywords: Photons; Transducers; 02 engineering and technology; 7. Clean energy; Mice; Wearable Electronic Devices; Heart Rate; Skin Physiological Phenomena; Animals; Heart-Assist Devices; 0210 nano-technology; Wireless Technology

Significance

One of the highest demands in biomedical electronic implants is to provide a sustainable electrical power for extended healthy life without battery replacement surgeries. The reported technology enables providing sustainable power wirelessly through live tissues as demonstrated by a key biomedical function, i.e., electrical stimulation, of implantable medical electronics at the level of a full system. The approach capable of providing enough power (74.1 μW/cm 2 , active photovoltaic area: 11.1 mm 2 ) indoor or outdoor during day and night should lead to developments of numerous medical electronic implants with advanced and diverse functions that are currently limited by a limited electrical power in live bodies.