Microbattery Technologies for Miniaturized Implantable Medical Devices

Abstract

Implanted medical devices (IMDs), in particular neuro-stimulators, drug delivery chips and cochlear implants are undergoing miniaturization. Some of these miniaturized IMDs are "active" in the sense that they require a power source for operation. In most cases, the ideal power source needs to be an implanted battery of dimensions similar to that of the device. The state-of-the-art of battery miniaturization is reviewed with emphasis on novel Li and Li-ion two- and three-dimensional thin-film microbatteries. It is shown that three-dimensional thin-film batteries may provide a solution to the power requirements of miniaturized IMDs.

Power Approaches for Implantable Medical Devices

“…Typically, Li batteries were developed and appeared in the forms of Li metal anodes with cathode systems including iodine (Li/I 2 ) [ 2 , 6 , 24 , 63 , 64 ], manganese oxide (Li/MnO 2 ) [ 7 , 12 , 65 , 66 ], carbon mono fluoride (Li/CF x ) [ 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 ], silver vanadium oxide (Li/SVO) [ 71 , 72 , 73 ] or hybrid cathodes (Li/CF x -SVO) [ 29 , 32 , 64 , 74 , 75 ]. As reliable sources for long-term applications such as cochlear implants, pacemakers, cardiac defibrillators or drug delivery, these Li batteries have been widely employed to provide appropriate power levels ranging from microamperes to amperes, as demanded by different types of IMDs [ 26 , 29 , 32 ].…”

“…Since the first medical implant, the pacemaker, was introduced in 1972 using batteries [ 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ], various types of batteries have been developed and deployed for IMDs [ 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ]. Among those, lithium-based (Li) batteries have been the most popular power source owing to their high volumetric energy density as well as comparatively compact sizes [ 28 , 34 , 35 ].…”

Integrated Energy-Harvesting Photodiodes With Diffractive Storage Capacitance

“…Implantable biomedical devices as well as low-power wireless sensor nodes have been demonstrated to function with power consumption in the microwatt range [1], [48], [49]. With the current energy density limits of the lithium-ion battery, a device with 5-μW average power consumption over a 10-year period would require a volume of at least 1 cm 3 [50]. Batteries typically occupy 25 to 60% of the entire device volume [51].…”

Approaches and Challenges of Engineering Implantable Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) Drug Delivery Systems for in Vitro and in Vivo Applications

“…Recent advancements in power supplies for BioMEMS systems demonstrate that it is possible to minimize the power supply components. Conventional methods of supplying electrical power utilize internal Li-ion microbatteries [31]. However, these microbatteries usually occupy a large space in the device, leaving limited space for integrating the other parts into the device.…”

“…Recently, several novel approaches have been used to power BioMEMS devices for biological applications. These approaches involve the use of thin film batteries as discussed by Nathan et al [31], wireless power transmission as proposed by Smith et al [49] and battery recharging through the drug refill port as reported by Evans et al [29]. Wireless power transmission has been demonstrated successfully and has a strong potential for powering implantable BioMEMS to increase operation time.…”