Technology has always been closely related to the human body. From sharpened meteorites to smart phones, we carry thousands of years of development culture. But this kind of relationship between people and technology is about to shrink further - the next generation of electronic devices may not only be so close to our bodies, they can be powered by the human body.
People are actually very energy-consuming to live. In order to keep us alive, our body needs to consume 2,000 to 2,500 calories a day, which is enough to drive a moderately used smart phone. Therefore, if a fraction of this energy can be siphoned, our body can theoretically power most electronic devices—from medical implants to electronic contact lenses—without requiring any one battery. Recently, researchers have moved in this direction - unraveling the mystery of this potential and taking an important step.
Unexploited potential
The first thing to say is that we have energy in various forms in our bodies. Most of these energy needs only a few operations, and they can be used to power electronic devices. But not all energy is available. The biological organism is a conductive volume conductor. When an electrical change occurs on some cell or tissue, an electric field will be generated within this volume of conductor. Therefore, the potential change of the electric field can be induced in different parts of the electric field, and its size and waveform are different.
For example, a tiny voltage known as the "endocochlear potential" (EP) is contained within the ear of a mammal. The so-called potential (EP) is referred to in this article as the animal's cells or tissues, especially nerves and muscles, which undergo electrical changes when stimulated.
People discovered long ago in the cochlea—there is a spiral cavity in the inner ear, where the human body hears by converting pressure waves into electrical impulses (in the case of a strong stimuli approaching the threshold of excitatory impulses, the cathode’s Potential change is greater than the anode, there is a stress response), and generates a local potential (this potential change is only confined to the stimulation area and its adjacent parts, that is, the inner ear, does not spread outward, so it is called the local reaction, the potential Called local potential). This EP is difficult to detect, only one tenth of a volt, but in theory the power is enough to power hearing aids such as hearing aids.
For a long time, due to the extreme sensitivity of the inner ear, it has been considered unthinkable to obtain such EP inside the human body. But what if we combine solid surgical capabilities with pioneering technological innovations? Researchers in Massachusetts in the United States managed to do this successfully in 2012.
The team developed an "energy harvesting chip" that has only one nail size and its purpose is to extract electrical energy directly from the EP. They used guinea pigs to test the chips. The researchers implanted it in guinea pigs and eventually succeeded in producing enough electricity to drive the radio transmitters in the guinea pig's inner ear. However, only about one nanowatt of power (one-billionth of a watt) produced by the chip is too low compared to the amount of power required by the electronic implant to supply power to it.
Even so, the generation of a nanowatt of electricity has made considerable progress compared to before, which is enough to prove that this theory is achievable. If the power output prototype can be enhanced in the future, the natural potential of the inner ear will surely be able to be used in hearing aids one day. If it is a bit more bold, it could even theoretically allow implants to help prevent and treat diseases such as Meniere's disease.
However, in addition to the cochlea, the electrical energy that is freely flowing in our bodies is relatively rare (fortunately, it may still be found). Most bioenergy is locked into other forms. Of course, recycling is also a good way to release it.
movement
We walk every day. The energy in our bodies, apart from the need to provide for the cells in our body, most of the energy is used to supply muscle movements, heart beats, and body breaths (I believe you will certainly agree with this view because these Are very important things).
The inventions of bicycle generators or clockwork flashlights are all converting this kinetic energy into electricity. It seems that there is no new idea similar to this, but in fact things are slowly becoming more complicated.
In the past few years, researchers have begun to develop materials whose principles are called piezoelectricity that can generate electricity from human motion. Piezoelectric materials come in contact with stress when they spontaneously generate electrical charges (Greek piezoelectric means squeeze or press).
These materials have been used in myriad industrial applications, even the humble cigarette lighter (in the "click", the electronic-like sound you hear is actually the sound of the piezoelectric crystal being hit). . And now, their next area of ​​application may be to develop fabrics that generate energy.
The most advanced of these is a synthetic rubber-based piezoelectric fiber invented by the Sino-US cooperative research team in 2013. This material can generate electricity using only the kinetic energy generated by human motion. When volunteers walk on a piece of insole made of this fabric, the generated electricity is enough to light up 30 LEDs. Even more exciting is that when this fabric is put on a shirt and walks, the electricity generated can even charge a lithium-ion battery for an hour!
The potential of piezoelectric materials is more excavated. These materials are also used to obtain energy from internal organs. Last year, the United States succeeded in obtaining the kinetic energy from the beating of the heart and the expansion and contraction of the lungs of cattle and goats that had been given tranquilizers, and successfully converted it into electricity, thanks to the diaphragm--the researchers in the body. The organ is attached to an ultra-thin piezoelectric material.
Impressively, the implanted fabric has a power of approximately one microwatt (millionths of a watt), which is roughly equal to the power needed to run a pacemaker.
Heat
If you don't have much energy to walk and don't like to have something wrapped around your organs, don't worry, you'll have plenty of heat to generate electricity! Smart fabrics are now being developed, and the included "thermoelectric" materials can generate electrical charges through thermal differences.
This year, for the first time, researchers from Australia and China have successfully synthesized new fabrics that convert heat energy into electricity. It is not integrated into clothing, but during heating chamber testing, the material can generate current through the body's temperature.
It produces only about one nanowatt of electricity, and although this is not as much as piezo fabrics, it has been able to compete with the EP collection chip, which is the world's first material to convert thermal energy into electrical energy. This type of thermoelectric fabric is absolutely There is a lot of room for development.
Renewable energy in our bodies can provide power for electronic devices, which we already know. However, our skin actually has a richer source of energy and has greater development potential. It can even be said that this is a godsend chemical fuel...
blood
In order to work properly, our cells need a continuous supply of chemical energy. Therefore, we are full of it in our body. Researchers are currently studying this chemical energy source that is mysterious and not mysterious, and research on this internal fuel supply may soon yield results. This chemical energy conversion will soon no longer be just a metabolic one. There are ways.
In fact, it may have taken the biggest step in the research exploration process. In the past few decades, enzyme-based biofuel cells (EFCS) have been studied.
Battery-powered electronic devices can use this type of battery to decompose energy-rich chemical components in the body fluids to generate power. The technology of EFCS has been invented for more than a decade, and in the last five years, researchers have begun to conduct experimental tests on living things.
When it comes to energy-rich body fluids, blood seems to be the undisputed king. Plasma, the fluid component of blood, contains glucose, which is continuously ubiquitously dissolved, and it is also a major source of energy for our cells.
For the first time in 2010, people discovered that EFC can extract energy from the blood of living things.
At that time, French developers implanted a device into a living mouse. The device successfully operated in the abdomen for 11 days and the mouse did not appear to have any discomfort. In the meantime, it produced about two microwatts of power without interruption, and this power was theoretically enough to power the pacemaker.
By 2012, a more powerful glucose EFC was invented. Another French team (including researchers who have been working hard since 2010) has made some improvements to it—the development of carbon nanotube-based EFC.
When this device is implanted in the rat's abdomen, it can generate about 40 microwatts of power, which is enough to be able to power LED lights and digital thermometers.
Blood glucose powered EFCS has not been tested in the human body. But based on the fact that they have been successfully tested in animals (except for rats, EFCS has also been shown to work properly in rabbits, lobsters, and quails), these self-supplying fuel cells can certainly be used in medical implants in the future without having to Using traditional batteries, it is also much less risky to replace batteries with surgery.
Although this project has many potential advantages, there is still a serious problem with the use of blood to generate electricity - that is, you still need to open surgery.
In order to ensure that the EFC can function properly in the blood, multiple implants of the device will be required. Disposable surgical implants may be acceptable to some patients, but if this requires multiple implants like this, it may cause fear. Moreover, the device itself is also dangerous and inconvenient, so finding a way to obtain chemical energy in the body with less invasiveness is once again put forward. Fortunately, we have been able to see some hope.
Sweat
One of the ways to dig out the chemical fuel in the body without using a scalpel is through our pores. Human sweat is rich in substances known as lactic acid compounds. It can also be used to generate electricity for EFCS and can be used as a fuel to replace their glucose.
Researchers have been able to test the effects of human sweating power supply EFCS (more sweating will be easier to enter), and the final result is really gratifying.
The first device capable of generating electricity from sweat was invented in 2013 by researchers from the University of California, San Diego. It takes the form of an adhesive patch, much like a temporary transfer tattoo. This device is embedded with lactate-clearing EFC.
To test this project, a group of volunteers put this device on their arms and began strenuous exercise for 20 minutes. When the subject began to sweat, the fuel cell began to produce electricity. Since the current generated by sweat is not stable, normal operation of power electronics cannot be guaranteed, but this has clearly demonstrated the potential of this technology.
One year later, strong evidence finally emerged. Another group of researchers from the University of California, San Diego, came up with a way to incorporate EFC into a wear-resistant textile sweatband. Volunteers wore it to ride a bicycle to exercise, and the cyclist's sweat successfully passed the device to let the fuel cell generate electricity. At this point, the sweat generated enough power to run two electronic devices at the same time—LED lights and digital watches—for tens of seconds.
It may take some time before sweat-powered EFCS can run electronic products like smart watches, but this technology has rapidly developed in recent years. Now we have good reason to think that the sweat we don't like very much will be used very quickly.
Compared with blood electricity, using sweat as a power source has one obvious flaw: Most people don't sweat very much and don't sweat very often. Smart headbands can be a great way to charge your watch during exercise.
But for the sources of chemical energy outside our skin, scientists need special treatment. Fortunately, there is another body fluid that is rich in energy, and it can be all-weather. All you need to do is close your eyes.
Tears
At first glance, tears seem to be a less reliable source of energy than sweat. However, regardless of our emotional state, we will always have tears on the eye. Everyone has a thin film of "basal" tears that flow out to maintain the moist state of the cornea (rather than the kind of tears that go down when we cry).
Tears are mostly used to lubricate and moisturize the eyes, but they are also full of energy. In addition to other chemicals, base tears also contain glucose, lactate, and ascorbic acid (a compound that is similar to vitamin C). Any one of them can be used as a good source of fuel for EFCS. .
One of the advantages of using tears to generate electricity is that you don't have to worry about holding this device, because now there is a perfect carrying device: contact lenses.
If a self-contained fuel cell can be integrated into a contact lens, the application of this potential technology can be said to be a technological revolution. Such a device can monitor the vital signs of people by analyzing the chemical composition of tears, and at the same time perform dynamic vision correction - to sense the different positions of the eyes and change the focal length of the part of the lens that the eye is touching, even directly. Dynamic information, just like Google Glass.
"All these applications can change people's lives. But this really inspired people's imagination. In addition to gamers, I'm thinking about how to use VR contact lenses to train military personnel."
——Russ Reid, Bioengineering Researcher, University of Utah, Salt Lake City
This kind of scenario is just like in science fiction, but Reid and his colleagues are step by step to turn them into reality. In July of this year, researchers in Utah developed for the first time the integration of EFC contact lenses that can turn people’s tears into electricity.
Their experimental prototype, first reported last year, is that the future of mobile power will be “inseparable†from you. Although it has not yet been tested on the human body, Reid and colleagues have already tried to bathe this contact lens in synthetic tears. It also successfully maintained more than one microwatt of output power in three hours.
This device is more tricky than the current blood or sweat-driven EFCS. Its current electrical output is only enough to make the LED flash light intermittently, and it is not enough to supply electronic equipment such as glucose sensor, so its performance must be further improved.
Despite these problems, the Utah team's experiments have shown that tears are practical for contact lenses in practice. They plan to experiment on rabbits later this year.
Although we have seen these promises, biodynamic fuel cells are still an emerging technology with uncertainties.
Even the most complex equipment has only a few months of operating life. In order to make EFCS a viable alternative battery, researchers must overcome many obstacles, such as trying to prevent the natural degradation of enzymes inside the device (which is a serious problem for EFCS) and improve the corrosion resistance of their electrodes.
Therefore, these technologies may still take a long time to be perfected before they can become our little helpers, such as helping us regulate heart rhythms or as medical hearing aids.
Evgeny Katz, professor of biotechnology at Clarkson University in New York, stated that he envisions future EFCS or will ultimately power prosthetics or other "biological computer systems."
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