Ultrasound Mediated Wireless Power Transfer Technology

Wireless energy transfer (WET) is the transmission of electric power without any physical connections such as wires. Currently, inductive coupling mediated by electromagnetic (EM) waves is the most common method of WET and is widely used to charge portable devices such as smartphones, Bluetooth earphones, electric shavers, and visual prostheses. However, its application is still limited due to a number of issues including low efficiency, short charging distance, heating problem, and limited choice of transmission medium. Due to these issues, EM-based WET cannot be applied to implantable medical devices, marine cable operation sensors, and electronic devices with electromagnetic interference shielding. Recently, as an alternative to EM-based WET, acoustic energy transfer mediated by sound waves becomes more attractive. Ultrasound offers advantages for transmission in dense media such as liquids or solids and is regardless of electromagnetic shielding. In this review, we investigate recent progress in acoustic power transfer technology in terms of acoustic energy conversion mechanism and provide the future research direction of acoustic power transfer technology.