Innos, a U.K.-based research and development company for innovations in nanoscale technology, is part of a consortium that has won funding from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to research the medical applications of a MEMs microgenerator. The two-year Self-Energising Implantable Medical Micro Systems (SIMM) project will prototype a device capable of harvesting energy from movement in or on the body. It will provide power and prolong the life of electronic medical implant devices such as cardiac pacemakers, prosthetic joint wear monitors and nerve stimulation.

“Typically, medical implant devices will fall short of their required lifespan due to the degradation over time of batteries and inductive power loops used to power them,” says Alec Reader, Business Development Director of Innos. “This DTI funded project will deliver the prototype of a commercially viable microgenerator that will prolong the life of a medical implant, reducing the number of costly and distressing replacement surgical procedures currently required.”

Innos will execute the silicon-based development and fabrication of the device, from the vibration energy-harvesting microgenerator technology provided by Perpetuum, completing the prototype for Finsbury Orthopaedics Ltd. to comprehensively test. InVivo Technology will be establishing the clinical acceptability and feasibility of the energy capture mechanisms and Odstock Medical will use the technology developed in the FES marketplace. Project leader Zarlink Semiconductor is responsible for the advanced micro-packaging techniques.