LONDON — A consortium of companies is developing an in-body energy microgenerator in the United Kingdom that will convert energy from human body movement into electrical energy for implanted medical devices.

Pacemakers and other medical aids powered by "two feet and a heartbeat" are the aim of the U.K. government-backed project. The project, led by Zarlink Semiconductor Inc. (Ottawa, Ontario), has received £500,000 (about $985,000) in funding from the U.K. Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), which will be match-funded by the consortium.

The consortium comprises Zarlink, Perpetuum Ltd., Innos Ltd., InVivo Technology Ltd., Odstock Medical and Finsbury Orthopedics.

Batteries in implanted medical devices have limited lifespan and can need replacing within seven to 10 years with potential health consequences for the patient and at tremendous cost. It is estimated that surgical replacement of a cardiac pacemaker can cost up to £10,000 (about $20,000).

The two-year SIMM (self-energizing implantable medical micro system) project has been set up to develop a prototype a device capable of harvesting energy from movement in or on the body, including joint movement and heartbeats. Body energy will be harvested by means of a microgenerator manufactured as a MEMS device (microelectricalmechanical system). This prototype design is expected to achieve 10 and 100 times more power than previous attempts to harvest human energy, Zarlink said.

According to industry research, there is great demand for improved power supply technology in many emerging medical applications, including neurostimulation, activity monitoring, bladder control valves, drug delivery systems, medical telemetry and cochlear and retinal implants.

"Providing an in-body power supply will reduce the dependence on batteries for implantable devices, and facilitate the design of new self-powered devices for applications currently not feasible due to battery life and space restrictions," said David Hatherall, external project leader at Zarlink’s Caldicot facility in Wales and SIMM project coordinator.