Chinese researchers develop capsule-sized self-powered micro pacemaker

BEIJING -- A Chinese research team has successfully developed a miniature self-powered cardiac pacemaker, paving a new way for the advancement of implantable electronic devices.

This achievement resulted from nearly seven years of collaborative research involving multiple institutions, including the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tsinghua University, Peking University, and several hospitals. The related study has been published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering.

This technological breakthrough may extend the pacemaker's service life to match that of the natural heart, thereby addressing the critical issue of repeat replacement surgeries and opening a new path toward lifetime maintenance-free and human-machine symbiotic implantable electronics, said Ouyang Han, the paper's first author and an associate professor at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Implantable cardiac pacemakers are vital devices for restoring normal heart rhythms in patients. Beyond regulating cardiac activity, such bioelectronic implants are also widely used to restore motor, visual, and auditory functions, as well as for pain management and disease diagnosis, offering crucial support for early intervention, precise treatment, and long-term management of serious conditions.

However, a persistent challenge remains: once the battery is depleted, patients must undergo another surgery to replace the device, which carries additional risks and financial burdens. Achieving lifetime maintenance-free operation has thus become a central goal in the field, with sustainable energy supply representing a core hurdle.

The key innovation of this capsule-sized pacemaker lies in its integrated energy regeneration module, which captures kinetic energy from the heart's motion via electromagnetic induction and converts it into electrical energy.

Tests show that its output power exceeds the critical threshold required for lifelong operation, allowing it to reliably power the pacing circuit and precisely regulate heart rhythm.

The device also features a miniaturized design with excellent biocompatibility and hemocompatibility, enabling minimally invasive transcatheter implantation and significantly reducing surgical trauma.

Additionally, the team developed a simplified magnetic levitation energy buffer structure. This design minimizes energy loss and mechanical friction while achieving near-zero activation thresholds, high energy conversion efficiency, and stable intracardiac power output. It also simplifies system architecture and enhances long-term operational stability.

In animal trials lasting one month, the pacemaker operated autonomously and consistently regulated heart rhythm, demonstrating promising feasibility for clinical translation.