WiTricity technology enables a host of innovative, new applications with the potential to dramatically improve the patient experience and quality of life:
- Sealed, sterilized
- Implantable medical devices – increasing freedom and mobility for patients
- Revolutionize existing therapies and enable new treatments
- Safely charge through body
- Eliminate wires, a source of infection
WiTricity’s magnetic resonance technology enables much greater distance between the source and capture devices and much greater energy efficiency when compared to traditional magnetic induction. This is of importance for applications ranging from implanted medical devices to portable medical devices and surgical tools. For example, with WiTricity technology, it is possible to provide substantial levels of power, at high efficiency and with positional freedom. In contrast, traditional magnetic induction systems are bulky, require extremely accurate positioning over the skin, and can result in excessive tissue heating from inefficient energy transfer.
WiTricity’s technology expands what is possible. As the use of electrical devices to deliver chemical or electrical therapy to patients increases, wireless charging will play a major role in enhancing the quality of life of patients.
With WiTricity technology, the power capture device can be implanted deeply within the body cavity, several centimeters from the skin. Likewise, the power source can be several centimeters away from the skin surface. This degree of physical separation, while still maintaining high efficiency, is possible due to patented WiTricity technology. WiTricity wireless power can be applied to medical devices that need both mobility and a simplified charging experience, offering a host of benefits:
- Direct wireless charging for implantable medical devices – ventricular assist devices, pacemakers, defibrilators and more.
- Implantable therapies that require substantial power to operate (up to 10s of watts) become simpler as they no longer require drive lines that penetrate the skin. In addition to being uncomfortable for the patient, these drive lines present a very real infection risk and require a great deal of cleaning and care.
- Neurostimulator devices can be charged wirelessly, enabling a more comfortable charging experience for patients – sitting in a chair or lying on a bed for example – than traditional inductive charging solutions which require charging coils to be strapped to the body in precise alignment with implanted coils.
- Handheld medical instruments and power tools can be equipped with wireless charging to eliminate the sterilization challenges associated with removable batteries and to hermetically seal the device by removing charging ports.
- Medical carts carrying computers and other diagnostic instruments can be recharged and powered wirelessly from sources embedded throughout a hospital, eliminating the need for cables and stationary battery recharging.
