A user's view of compact batteries [biomedical applications]

A future partnership of microengineering and telecommunications is envisaged in a particular area of medical diagnostic and remedial technology. In this proposal, a patient with a particular medical condition has implanted in the body a device which combines the functions of sensor, FM transmitter, receiver and actuator. The sensor picks up some particular warning signal, and transmits the information to a low power transmitter. The signal from this is relayed to a higher power device for communication to a doctor's surgery or hospital via the cellular network. At the receiving end, the signal can be analysed, symptoms diagnosed and appropriate remedial action relayed back to the implanted device. From here a course of remedial action, such as the release of drugs, can take place. This paper looks at progress that has been made in one of the separate areas of microengineering necessary to realise a complete device; batteries.