Development of new battery technology for wearable and implantable medical devices to improve the detection of health conditions

Assessment, monitoring and treatment of a person's medical health has become a key goal for medical practitioners in recent years owing to an aging population and their complex medical conditions. In several instances electronic devices both wearable and implantable have been seen as the solution to monitor and treat various ailments, due to the prior success and proven capability of devices such as the cardiac pacemaker. Over recent years, new innovative devices have continued to be developed at a rapid pace primarily due to improvements in both sensor technology allowing better diagnosis and the introduction of IOT technology allowing greater real time monitoring. However, current devices are not perfect and there are still several challenges with the current technology that need to be overcome, where one of the biggest challenges being the method used to store the electrical power needed to operate these devices. Currently many devices use standard lithium-ion technology as the preferred chemistry due to the high energy density capabilities while remaining lightweight, which are desirable traits for wearable and implantable devices. However, these battery cells still rely on liquid electrolytes that can be toxic if ruptured within the body and can also suffer from other conditions such as thermal runaway. Therefore, to ensure the safety of an individual, next generation batteries need to use safer chemistries that are biocompatible with the human body but
also preserve or improve the high energy density that is currently seen.