Energy harvesting from cerebrospinal fluid pressure fluctuations for self-powered neural implants

Authors

Levent Beker, Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Berkeley Sensor Actuator Center, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. lbeker@berkeley.edu.
Arnau Benet, Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Ali Tayebi Meybodi, Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Ben Eovino, Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Berkeley Sensor Actuator Center, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.
Albert P. Pisano, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA.
Liwei Lin, Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Berkeley Sensor Actuator Center, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.

Document Type

Article

Abstract

In this paper, a novel method to generate electrical energy by converting available mechanical energy from pressure fluctuations of the cerebrospinal fluid within lateral ventricles of the brain is presented. The generated electrical power can be supplied to the neural implants and either eliminate their battery need or extend the battery lifespan. A diaphragm type harvester comprised of piezoelectric material is utilized to convert the pressure fluctuations to electrical energy. The pressure fluctuations cause the diaphragm to bend, and the strained piezoelectric materials generate electricity. In the framework of this study, an energy harvesting structure having a diameter of 2.5 mm was designed and fabricated using microfabrication techniques. A 1:1 model of lateral ventricles was 3D-printed from raw MRI images to characterize the harvester. Experimental results show that a maximum power of 0.62 nW can be generated from the harvester under similar physical conditions in lateral ventricles which corresponds to energy density of 12.6 nW/cm. Considering the available area within the lateral ventricles and the size of harvesters that can be built using microfabrication techniques it is possible to amplify to power up to 26 nW. As such, the idea of generating electrical energy by making use of pressure fluctuations within brain is demonstrated in this work via the 3D-printed model system.

Medical Subject Headings

Brain (diagnostic imaging, physiology); Cerebrospinal Fluid Pressure; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Micro-Electrical-Mechanical Systems (instrumentation); Prostheses and Implants

Publication Date

6-1-2017

Publication Title

Biomedical microdevices

E-ISSN

1572-8781

Volume

19

Issue

2

First Page

32

PubMed ID

28425028

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1007/s10544-017-0176-1

Recommended Citation

Beker, Levent; Benet, Arnau; Meybodi, Ali Tayebi; Eovino, Ben; Pisano, Albert P.; and Lin, Liwei, "Energy harvesting from cerebrospinal fluid pressure fluctuations for self-powered neural implants" (2017). Neurosurgery. 2127.
https://scholar.barrowneuro.org/neurosurgery/2127