Development of an Improved Micro Piezoelectric Power Generation/Actuation System for Biomedical and Bio-MEMS Applications

Micro Electro Mechanical Systems have become increasingly more diversified in their applications. This trend is expected to continue and one of the main areas of focus will be biomedical applications. Condition monitoring of biological structures and intelligent implants are being researched and developed with increasing levels of complexity. Although many of these devices are in the conceptual stage, in most cases, they assume that power will be provided by a built-in battery. This limits the practical applications of such devices when they are designed to work for very long periods of time.Copyright © 2006 by ASME