Tyndall scientists reveal self-powered pacemakers

Smaller pacemakers could be available in the next few years thanks to revolutionary research in Cork to replace batteries with power generated by a patient’s own heartbeat.

Instead of batteries, which require surgery to replace them every few years, the technology being developed at the Tyndall National Institute would harness the energy of vibrations from the heart and turn it into an autonomous generator.

Scientists at the institute have developed a material more flexible than any other designed globally that can be used at the kind of nano-scale needed. It is planned to use this material to create a vibrating cantilever that would respond to the tiny motion of a beating heart.