I-Corps: Mini Notched Turbine (MiNT)

微型缺口涡轮机（MiNT）适用于小型化能量收集发电机的新兴技术市场，可为植入式、传感或监测设备系统提供可靠且可持续的电源。 已经有一些研究工作和资源面向连续，可持续和高效的微型电源，用于植入式设备，微系统多系统（生物，化学，环境）传感器，以及可穿戴和便携式电子产品。 特别是对于植入式设备，这些举措旨在解决电池的替代品和/或更换的需求，这些电池的寿命有限，需要反复手术。 在美国，每年进行大约40万例植入手术，超过300万名患者植入心脏设备，许多患者需要某种类型的电源，该电源提供持续的电力，并且几乎不需要维护即可工作。所提出的系统通过更换植入式医疗设备的电池提供了一种重要的解决方案，否则平均每5年必须移除一次。 该解决方案最终将使受当前系统影响最大的最终用户或患者受益。 拟议创新的典型客户将是生物医学设备公司、医疗保健提供商（医院、医生/外科医生）、医疗患者和/或微型发电机制造商。 微型缺口涡轮机技术有可能解决可重复植入式医疗器械（IMD）手术的频率问题，为多个IMD供电，并在满足持续发电/输送需求的同时影响患者的生活质量。该项目的目标是设计、生产和测试一种能量收集设备的原型，该设备能够通过使用电磁感应将流体流动动能转换为电能。 这种能量收集系统具有广泛的范围，因为它可以从气体流动管线、燃料管线、水管甚至高等哺乳动物的血流或从存在流体流动能量的任何环境中提取能量。 所提出的系统的潜在贡献是，在制造和使用植入式医疗器械方面产生范式转变，这将最终降低医院、保险公司和最终患者的成本负担。 这也将降低植入救生设备的患者重复手术，焦虑和疼痛的风险。

The Mini Notched Turbine (MiNT) is suited to address the emerging technology market for miniaturized energy harvesting generators, which can offer a reliable and sustainable source of power to implantable, sensing or monitoring device systems. There have been several research efforts and resources geared toward continuous, sustainable, and efficient miniaturized power sources for implantable devices, micro systems multisystem (bio, chemical, environmental) sensors, and wearable and portable electronics. Particularly for implantable devices, these initiatives seek to address the need for an alternative and/or replacement for batteries, which have limited lifetime and require repeated surgeries. In the United States there are approximately 400,000 implants performed per year and more than 3 million patients with implanted cardiac devices, many requiring some type of power source that supplies a continuous power and requires little maintenance to work. The proposed system presents an important solution by replacing the battery of an implantable medical device that would otherwise have to be removed every 5 years on average. This solution will ultimately benefit the end-users or patients who are most affected by the current system. A profile of the typical customer of the proposed innovation would be biomedical device companies, healthcare providers (hospitals, doctors/surgeons), medical patients, and/or manufacturers of miniature generators. The mini notched turbine technology has the potential to address the frequency of repeatable implantable medical device (IMD) surgeries, power multiple IMDs, and impact the quality of life for patients while addressing the need for continuous power generation/delivery. The goal of the project is to design, produce and test a prototype of an energy harvesting device capable of converting fluid flow kinetic energy to electrical energy by use of electromagnetic induction. This energy harvesting system has a wide scope since it can extract energy from gas flow lines, fuel lines, water pipes and even the blood stream in a higher mammal or from any environment where there is fluid flow energy present. The potential contribution of the proposed system is, to produce a paradigm shift in the manufacture and use implantable medical devices which will eventually reduce the cost burden to hospitals, insurance companies and ultimately patients. This will also reduce the risk of repeated surgeries, anxiety and pain to patients that have been implanted with a life-saving device.