Device: Researchers have for the first time harvested the energy of the inner ear to power a small sensing device. The electric potential of the cochlea operates like a biological battery and is critical for transforming sound pressure waves into the electrical signals sent to the brain. Now, scientists have developed a chip that can harness this electrical energy without interfering with normal hearing, according to their report, published today (November 11) in Nature Biotechnology.
The strategy is “original,” said Michael Holzinger, a chemist at Université Joseph Fourier in France, who was not involved in the project. Many other devices designed to extract power from living organisms use enzymes to convert catalytic energy into electrical energy, but the new chip “just steals a little bit of energy the body produces itself.”
To read the full, original article click on this link: Next Generation: Ear-Powered Batteries | The Scientist Magazine®
