Design and Analysis of Piezo-Electric Energy Harvester for Powering Cardiac Pacemaker

This paper proposed the development of a bimorph L- shaped cantilever energy harvester intended for powering pacemakers. The primary aim is to propose an innovative method for pacemaker power supply through energy harvesting. The study emphasizes mathematical modeling, as well as the careful selection of optimal geometry and materials for the harvester. Various geometries such as V, <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$T$</tex>, I, trigonometric, square, and cantilever, along with different piezoelectric materials, are investigated. Among the piezoelectric materials analyzed, PZT -5H and poled BaTi0<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</inf> are chosen as active components, with gold serving as the supportive material. Designs are subsequently crafted and simulated using COMSOL Multiphysics software. After assessing multiple designs, an L-shaped energy harvester with dimensions of 20mm length, 6mm width, and 0.3mm thickness is identified as optimal. The resonant frequencies are determined to be 41.25 Hz for PZT-5H and 44.17 Hz for BaTi0<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</inf>, resulting in output voltages of 17V and 21V, and electric powers of 7.5mW and 11mW for PZT-5H and BaTi0<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</inf> respectively. The results obtained from COMSOL simulations are validated analytically. These findings contribute to prolonging battery life in pacemakers, thereby potentially eliminating the need for device replacement surgeries in patients.