Investigation of devices of in-vivo energy harvesting through blood-flow-like excitation

Abstract

Test structures for energy harvesting through piezoelectric materials are designed using FEM. The results of the modelling are compared to those for fabricated devices which were tested using a perfusion machine to simulate blood flow. The results show considerable accuracy between measured characteristics and simulated ones which only differed by approximately 4%. The modelling also established the best design for energy harvesting using aluminium nitride (AlN) in blood flow.