JP2000037463A - Power source unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To drastically mitigate the physical and mental pain of a patient by eliminating the necessity of a re-operation for battery replacement that is inevitable in the case of conventional in-vivo embedded equipment. SOLUTION: In the power source unit, a structural body having a structure generating a magnetic field in an in-vivo blood flow generating part and an electrode structure installed to generally orthogonally intersect the structure and the direction of blood flow, and performing so-called MHD power generation, is formed as the power source of the structure buried in a living body. Therefore, the need for a re-operation for battery replacement that is inevitable in the case of conventional in-vivo embedded equipment is eliminated and the physical and mental burden of the patient can be mitigated drastically.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a structure of a power supply device for a structure, such as a cardiac pacemaker and an insulin supply structure, which is embedded in a living body for medical purposes and acts on the living body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Artificial organs for various medical purposes, such as artificial hearts and artificial kidneys, have been developed and studied in the past. Among them, a cardiac pacemaker, which is a structure to be implanted in a living body, is used to control almost every patient's behavior. It is a medical technique that has become quite popular at present as a method frequently used for patients with remarkable ventricular fibrillation because of features such as no restriction.

[0003]

A general cardiac pacemaker uses a built-in battery as a power supply source, and its life is generally limited to five years. There was a problem that it was necessary regularly. In particular, cardiac pacemakers have no moving parts in their main parts, so their reliability as a device is sufficiently high, and their performance is guaranteed for more than 10 years. As a result, the physical and mental burden on the patient may not be small.

In order to solve such a problem, it is only necessary to simply extend the life of the battery used for the power supply. However, it is difficult to produce a battery satisfying the demand due to technical problems. There was a situation where he could not find a sufficient breakthrough.

[0005] For example, the method of providing a power supply outside has a problem that erosion is likely to occur on a skin surface portion where a power supply line or the like is guided outside the living body, and there is a high possibility of bacterial infection.

[0006] When an in-vivo coil and an ex-vivo coil are installed facing each other using an electromagnetic induction technique and used as a power source, the above-mentioned problem of bacterial infection is unlikely to occur, but the behavior given to the patient is difficult. It can be said that practical use is difficult because the restrictions are large and the induced magnetic field used may disrupt the operation of the in-vivo device.

[0007]

A power supply device according to the present invention comprises a structure for generating a magnetic field at a blood flow generation site in a living body, and an electrode structure provided so as to be substantially perpendicular to the structure and the blood flow direction. The structure for performing so-called MHD power generation is configured as a power source for a structure that is used by being embedded in a living body.

[0008]

The MHD power generation is a power generation method applying the well-known Fleming's right-hand rule, in which a magnetic field is applied in a direction perpendicular to the flow of a fluid through which an electric current flows, and electrodes are set in a direction perpendicular to both. It is a power generation method that obtains electric power. According to the present invention, a power source can be obtained by using blood flowing in a blood vessel as a fluid for passing an electric current and placing permanent magnets and electrodes around the blood vessel. This is a very effective power generation method for use as a power source for equipment that does not require much power, such as a pacemaker.

Further, by using a blood vessel having a relatively large blood flow for the mechanism, there is also a feature that defects due to magnetic and electrical influences are less likely to occur in blood vessel tissue and blood.

[0010]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a power generation device according to the present invention.

Aorta 1 at an appropriate distance from heart 101
02, the permanent magnets 103 and 103 ′, the electrode 10
4, 104 'are installed. Permanent magnets 103 and 10
3 ′, the electrodes 104 and 104 ′ are placed in such a positional relationship as to sandwich the aorta 102, and the permanent magnet 10
The line connecting the centers of 3 and 103 ', the line connecting the centers of the electrodes 104 and 104', and the direction of the blood flow of the blood vessel are arranged so as to form substantially right angles with each other. Of course, the permanent magnet 10
Numerals 3 and 103 'are arranged so that the N pole and the S pole face each other, so that a strong magnetic field is formed therebetween. Further, since the electrode 104 'is actually located on the back side of the aorta 102, it is indicated by a dotted line in the figure.

The electromotive force from the electrodes 104 and 104 'is used as a power supply for the pacemaker, and a high-capacity capacitor is connected to the power supply system of the pacemaker via a charge control circuit to stabilize the supply potential. .

As described above, MHD is performed using the blood flow of the aorta.
There is a feature that an extremely large electromotive force can be obtained by performing power generation.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the power generator according to the present invention.

The vena cava 2 at an appropriate distance from the heart 101
01, the permanent magnets 103 and 103 ', the electrode 10
4, 104 'are installed. Permanent magnets 103 and 10
3 ′, the electrodes 104 and 104 ′ are arranged in such a positional relationship as to sandwich the vena cava 201, and the permanent magnet 10
The line connecting the centers of 3 and 103 ', the line connecting the centers of the electrodes 104 and 104', and the direction of the blood flow of the blood vessel are arranged so as to form substantially right angles with each other. Of course, the permanent magnet 10
Numerals 3 and 103 'are arranged such that the N pole and the S pole face each other, so that a strong magnetic field is formed between the two. Since the electrode 104 'is actually located on the back side of the vena cava 201, it is indicated by a dotted line in the figure.

The electromotive force from the electrodes 104 and 104 'is used as a power supply for the pacemaker, and a high-capacity capacitor is connected to the power supply system of the pacemaker via a charge control circuit to stabilize the supply potential. .

As described above, MHD is performed using the blood flow of the vena cava.
When power is generated, it is difficult to obtain an electromotive force as in the embodiment of FIG. 1 using the blood flow of the aorta, but it is characterized by less vibration and less failure than when the aorta is used.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the power generator according to the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a cross section cut along a plane that cuts a section of the aorta 102 in which the power generation device of FIG. 1 is installed.

Permanent magnets 103 and 103 'are provided on both sides of a blood vessel wall 102' of the aorta 102 such that the N pole and the S pole face each other. Further, the permanent magnets 103 and 10
The arrangement is almost perpendicular to the direction of the magnetic field lines made by 3 '
The electrodes 104, 104 'are connected to the vascular wall 102' of the aorta 102.
It is set up in contact with. The structure is entirely covered with a fluororesin 301 so that a stable behavior is maintained without causing any physiological obstacle in a living body.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the power generator according to the present invention.

Inside the blood vessel 401, permanent magnets 103, 1
03 ′, electrodes 104 and 104 ′ are permanent magnets 103 and 1
The line connecting the center of 03 ', the line connecting the centers of the electrodes 104 and 104', and the direction of the blood flow of the blood vessel are arranged so as to form substantially right angles with each other. Of course, the permanent magnets 103 and 1
Numeral 03 'is arranged so that the N pole and the S pole face each other, so that a strong magnetic field is formed between them.

The electromotive force from the electrodes 104 and 104 'is connected so as to be used as a power source for a micro robot 402 which runs in a blood vessel.

In the embodiment according to the present invention, the aorta and the vena cava are used as blood vessels constituting a part of the power generating apparatus. However, other main blood vessels such as the pulmonary artery, the pulmonary vein, and the portal vein may be used. Obviously, similar effects can be obtained, which also belong to the scope of the present invention.

Similarly, in the embodiment according to the present invention, an example in which a fluorine compound is used as a biostable material has been described.
It is clear that similar effects can be obtained by using other biostable materials, such as polyethylene, bioglass, zirconia, and alumina.

[0025]

By using the power supply device according to the present invention,
This makes it possible to construct a completely implantable artificial organ without regular battery replacement, and to drastically reduce the physical and mental burden on patients.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing one embodiment of a power generator according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing one embodiment of a power generation device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the power generation device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing one embodiment of a power generator according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 101 heart 102 aorta 103, 103 'permanent magnet 104, 104' electrode 201 vena cava 301 fluorine resin 401 blood vessel 402 micro robot

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A power supply device comprising: a structure for generating a magnetic field at a blood flow generation site in a living body; and an electrode structure installed so as to be substantially perpendicular to the structure and the direction of blood flow. 2. The power supply device according to claim 1, wherein an artery is used as a blood flow generation site in the living body. 3. The power supply device according to claim 1, wherein a vein is used as a blood flow generating part in the living body. 4. A structure for generating a magnetic field installed in or near a blood vessel, and an electrode structure installed in the blood vessel so as to be substantially perpendicular to the structure and the direction of blood flow. Power supply. 5. A region capable of covering an in-vivo implant structure, such as a structure for generating a magnetic field or an electrode structure, is covered with a material having high in-vivo stability. The power supply according to any one of claims 2, 3, and 4.