Platinum-based biological fuel cells that derive their energy from glucose and oxygen in the body could replace traditional batteries in pacemakers.

German scientists have been working on a system that can create an inexhaustible supply of power, negating the need for surgery to replace batteries in medical implants.

Dr Sven Kerzenmacher from the University of Freiburg has been awarded the 2011 FAM Research Prize for his work on the technology by the Forum for Applied Microsystems Technology (FAM).

Announcing the prize, the university explained that researchers have yet to find the best way of supplying implantable medical microsystems with electrical energy.

As an example, the batteries of a pacemaker need to be replaced after approximately eight years.

One alternative is a rechargeable battery, but this greatly reduces the patient's quality of life.

Dr Kerzenmacher's research, on the other hand, looks at using glucose fuel cells on the basis of noble metal catalysts, including platinum.

Such catalysts, the university explained, are particularly well suited for use in implant systems due to their long-term stability and the fact that they can be sterilised.

"In the future, systems equipped with these fuel cells could be supplied with power by way of a continuous electrochemical reaction between glucose and oxygen from the tissue fluid," the researchers claim.

The other advantage of the technology is that platinum electrodes are not sensitive to chemical reactions like hydrolysis and oxidation.

Source:

Electricity from Blood Sugar (15/07/11) 

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