Blood as energy source to power smart cardiac devices

Introduction

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death globally, taking 18.6 million lives per year. Most CVD are associated with blockage of blood vessels. Grafts play a vital role, replacing or bypassing these vessels, but have failure rates of up to 50% due to thrombosis or infection.

Future of Vascular Grafts

Vascular grafts of the future would ideally sense and monitor their performance, and telemetrically emit data and alerts to the healthcare system so that medical actions can be performed to avoid graft failure. Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) has taken its first steps, but is still far from full potential and development, especially in implantable systems which are limited by the use of batteries to power them.

Project Overview

The BLOOD2POWER project aims to contribute to this paradigm shift by proposing the development of a new way to harvest energy from the body, and using it to create the next generation vascular grafts: the iGraft.

Technology Development

To achieve this pioneering technology, new triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) will be developed, converting mechanical energy from the body into electrical energy.

1. A miniaturized ultra-low energy consumption power management unit will be developed.
2. This unit will be coupled to the vascular graft together with a wireless system.
3. The system will allow for the storage of generated energy, and the collection and wireless transmission of TENG outputs to an external electronic device (e.g., smartphone or watch).

These systems will be validated in vitro and in vivo.

Team Composition

Driven by these challenges, this international team led by a young researcher gathers renowned institutions and researchers with unique and complementary backgrounds in biomaterials, energy harvesting, electronics, and medicine.