I friend of mine has recently received a spinal stimulator for pain relief in his back & legs. He is healing well and amazed at the relief it brings.
I wanted to be informed on his procedure etc so did a search on the medtronic website and found to my amazement that some models are rechargable.

My question is this: if they can make these spinal stimulators rechargable why can't we have rechargable pacemakers?

 

 

That is really cool. I bet soon they will be. I am getting my pacemaker wednesday maybe by the time i need a new battery ill be abl to get a new pacemaker that is rechargable.

 

Several companies are working on a pacemaker with a rechargeable battery, but they do not have one perfected yet. Johns Hopkins University says theirs is best, but I can't find any details on how the recharging is accomplished.

The one I like best uses two small liquid-filled balloons placed at separate locations WITHIN THE HEART and connected by a silicone tube containing a moveable magnet. As the heart beats, it squeezes each balloon in turn, pushing liquid through the tube and forcing the magnet to move back and forth past a coil embedded in the tube. This generates electricity that can be used to recharge the battery. They say this one has been tested in pigs hearts and it does work, but they need to improve the liquid used to move the magnet.

Let me try to put the balloon squeezing in a little better perspective. A heart that beats 70 time a minute will squeeze those balloons 100.8 thousand times in a day and 36.8 billion times in a year.

Thank you, but I think I'll pass.

Smitty

 

And in this world of quickly advancing technology, maybe they could invent a wireless one while they're at it. (Considering almost everything is wireless now). Just think, maybe one day a PM could only be the size of hearing aid battery. WOW!!!!!

 

I did hear that there is some research being done on this, am sure in the next few years that it will happen.

HH

 

I think medtronic had some sort of atomic battery they called it, dont remember, a little before my first pacer. Supposed to last 80 years. I think they have all been removed due to problems. During my first pacer this was not an uncommon topic to think about. I was 19 knowing I would have one of these things for a long long time. but now on number three, each one is noticeably smaller, each one has a bunch of cool features. At this point I would rather have the surgery every 7 years or so to get another than to have one that lasted for the rest of my life.

The magnet through the coil charger thing sounds cool, but I will pass on that. Your other choice is subjecting a coil in your body to an EM field generated from outside your body. Sure we have tons of EM passing through us every day, all the time, radio, television, cell phones, cordless phones, wireless internet, sat nav and sat radio. I will pass on the high EM field just the same.

They are talking about doing this for cell phones, a phone charger that you dont have to plug in. We are going to have a lot of wiped out credit cards and laptop hard drives before they figure out that was a bad idea.

Cool technology but I will pass. Now if they take a pump thing or magnet in the coil thing and add that to the blinky lights that little kids have in their shoes, but make then for grown ups, that would be cool. They didnt have the blinky light shoes when i was a kid, I feel left out. Or maybe if my next pacer had an led that blinked with my heart beat that you could see through the skin, that would be a conversation starter, might be hard to sleep though with that thing going off. Or maybe an rfid tag in the next pacer, like the detectors at airport security, I could set of the alarms at walmart going in and out. Sir could you empty your pockets, sure no problem, but you are not going find anything....

 

I read this a few years back, and thought it sounded a great developement. I mentioned it to the PM technician and her reply was - "great idea, but you would not be up to date with other technology changes / developments within the PM

 

hahahah...i always make a joke to my friends wishing if i only have a rechargeable PM like cell phones would be great...even f i stay home for one whole day for it..bwuahaha...I KNOW THIS IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE for all the new technologies and inventions out there, soon might be possible to invent one:) but the only thing that s negative about it is what scottish tom said n i quote:::"great idea, but you would not be up to date with other technology changes / developments within the PM"....truly would be if u have a rechargeable one. it only means that ur obsolete PM will b the one u will be using for the rest of ur life:) and what is bad about it is that if the world keeps changing n become more hi-tech nothing of ur obsolete PM will suit when it needs to be done(repaired)..how horrible:) good n bad always comes together though...i prefer be updated ....i only wish that a permanent PM would at least last longer...like 20years:).....less expenses for our side:P:P:P heheheh especially those who have no health insurances which will cover the operation and d hospitalization.