Harnessing Cardiac Power: Heart Kinetic Motion Analysis for Energy Harvesters

Accurately estimating the complex motion of the heart can unlock enormouspotential for kinetic energy harvesting. This paper presents a foundationaldataset for heart kinetic motion through in-vivo tests and investigates themost influential factors in heart kinetic motion. In-vivo tests on a livingpig's heart, with signal processing, were carried out to study the heartmovement by heart beating and respiration motions. A network of nine points onthe heart was employed for in vivo measurements. These measurements illustratedthe kinetic energy signals in displacement, velocity, and acceleration. Theresults indicated that the motion level varies in distinct locations overepicardium. The statistical features and autocorrelations were reported forthese points, illustrating the highest displacement and acceleration. Eachheartbeat generated an energy of 14.35 mJ and a power of 1.03 W. However, thisavailable energy is not uniformly distributed. The results illustrated that notonly is cardiac movement location-dependent, but the speed of cardiacdisplacement cycles is also location-dependent. The right atrium has thehighest cardiac kinetic movement with an amplitude of 16.19 mm displacement and16.3 m/s2 acceleration. To evaluate the energy harvesting possibility from theheart's motion, a piezoelectric energy harvester was simulated by the finiteelement method, implying that the energy harvesting level significantly dependson implant location over epicardium. The results of this study open thepotential of designing novel energy harvesters based on accurate heartmovements and provide a foundation for future investigations of energyharvesting for leadless pacemaker energy systems.