Swiss engineers have developed a pacemaker that replaces the need for batteries and is powered by the heart's own beats.

Pacemakers are devices that stimulate and keep a heart beating regularly using a small electric charge. People with heart diseases, heart blocks or heart rhythm problems usually rely on pacemakers to aid them.

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A major limiting factor in pacemaker use, however, is the battery. Batteries within the device will inevitably run out of power, requiring another surgery to keep the pacemaker running.

Adrian Zurbuchen of the cardiovascular group at the University of Bern has found a workaround that will do away with batteries.

He came up with a pacemaker that uses the heartbeats to power-up the pacemaker and keep the heart beating.

This concept was taken from Swiss watches that don't have batteries. These watches are self-winding, taking power and energy from the movement of a person's arm.

Automatic watches have weights that pivot constantly with the movement of the wearer. A spring is, therefore, wound-up until the watch has enough power to operate.

This spring is also present in the new pacemaker, which spins an electrical micro generator.

While the research is promising, Zurbuchen and his team have only tested the pacemakers on pigs.

During an annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology in Barcelona, Zuruchen reported the pacemakers were successful at regulating the pig's heartbeats to 130 beats per minute.

He said the experiments showed the possibility of a battery-less pacemaker. He has not said when trials on people will begin.Swiss engineers have developed a pacemaker that replaces the need for batteries and is powered by the heart's own beats.

Pacemakers are devices that stimulate and keep a heart beating regularly using a small electric charge. People with heart diseases, heart blocks or heart rhythm problems usually rely on pacemakers to aid them.

A major limiting factor in pacemaker use, however, is the battery. Batteries within the device will inevitably run out of power, requiring another surgery to keep the pacemaker running.

Adrian Zurbuchen of the cardiovascular group at the University of Bern has found a workaround that will do away with batteries.

He came up with a pacemaker that uses the heartbeats to power-up the pacemaker and keep the heart beating.

This concept was taken from Swiss watches that don't have batteries. These watches are self-winding, taking power and energy from the movement of a person's arm.

Automatic watches have weights that pivot constantly with the movement of the wearer. A spring is, therefore, wound-up until the watch has enough power to operate.

This spring is also present in the new pacemaker, which spins an electrical micro generator.

While the research is promising, Zurbuchen and his team have only tested the pacemakers on pigs.

During an annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology in Barcelona, Zuruchen reported the pacemakers were successful at regulating the pig's heartbeats to 130 beats per minute.

He said the experiments showed the possibility of a battery-less pacemaker. He has not said when trials on people will begin.

TagsPacemakers, Adrian Zurbuchen