[HN Gopher] Pacemaker powered by light: new research
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       Pacemaker powered by light: new research
        
       Author : thunderbong
       Score  : 18 points
       Date   : 2024-03-31 03:09 UTC (19 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.torringtontelegram.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.torringtontelegram.com)
        
       | joelhaasnoot wrote:
       | "Dont turn off the light, I might die!"
        
       | smusamashah wrote:
       | It's not clear from the article how the light will be passed to
       | this device under the skin?
        
         | bookofjoe wrote:
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39759873
        
         | conradev wrote:
         | From the article:
         | 
         | > We are exploring enhancements to make the device compatible
         | as a wearable pacemaker. This involves integrating a wireless
         | light-emitting diode, or LED, beneath the skin that is
         | connected to the device via an optical fiber.
        
       | sgtnoodle wrote:
       | As an embedded engineer with about 12 years of battery life, I've
       | thought about this topic a fair amount. It would be neat to
       | somehow integrate a super capacitor capable of powering the
       | device for a day or two, and an inductive charger able to top it
       | off in just a few seconds. This could ideally be done via a
       | standard smart phone inductive charger. Then, reduce the size of
       | the primary cell to cover just a couple years as a backup. For a
       | younger person looking at many decades of pacemaker operation,
       | that could save them from a number of surgeries, as relatively
       | minor as they are.
        
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       (page generated 2024-03-31 23:01 UTC)