I am curious to see if any research is currently being done to investigate the possibility of producing a technique for acquiring energy from the body via biological means to power a neuroprosthetic. I am a senior mechanical engineering student and am looking for biomedical research opportunities for graduate school. I am under the opinion that for any advanced prosthetics to be fully integrated into a person’s life, they must eventually be powered by the user via a natural process. Any thoughts or comments on this subject would be quite helpful.
You could have a look at the work of Max Donelan http://www.sfu.ca/locomotionlab/people/max-donelan/ who is generating power from movement. This could be used to reduce the power demands on a neuroprosthetic.
The site, and type of stimulation will greatly impact the power demands as well. DBS for instance requires battery changes only every few years. Stimulation of many muscles will require battery changes maybe every few hours.
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