Power from the heart

The piezoelectric effect explains how zinc oxide nanowires can produce an electric current during mechanical stress.  Knowing this, materials science engineers at Georgia Tech have devised a zinc oxide nanogenerator and demonstrated in animal studies that diaphragm movement in breathing is sufficient to generate a current.  They suppose the beating heart could do the same.  If so, this kind of nanogenerator might be developed to power implanted nano-sensors that monitor blood pressure and glucose levels in people.   MORE

Image Credit:  Guang Zhu, Georgia Tech  Power from the Heart and Technology Review