Piezoelectric energy harvester utilizing mandibular deformation to power implantable biosystems: A feasibility study

This study explores the feasibility of energy harvesting from the deformation of a piezoelectric material attached on the human mandible to power an implantable medical device such as deep brain stimulator. A finite element (FE) model of the human mandible was developed and verified experimentally. A piezoelectric energy harvesting device was designed and fixed onto a synthetic mandible to compare its experimental power output to the simulation results. A novel mandibular loading apparatus was designed to imitate the forces exerted on a mandible during mastication in a lab environment. The peak-to-peak voltages from finite element analysis (FEA) and experiment were 1.7 and 1.0 V. Despite the discrepancy in magnitude, similar voltage waveforms were obtained. A method to maximize the electrical efficiency of the proposed harvesting device was discussed.