Power Sources – The World of Implantable Devices

History: Mennen Medical and the First Israeli Pacemakers 1976-1980

Posted on January 4, 2025 by David Prutchi Posted in Bradycardia, Cardiac Pacing, Greatbatch Medical (Power), History, Mennen Medical (1976-1980), Museum, Omikron Scientific (1979-1985)

Mennen Medical’s Model 801 pacemaker. From: https://www.makash.org.il/sy/jerusa_book.pdf

Mennen Medical’s Model 801 pacemaker. From: Dr. Shmuel Yerushalmi’s memoir at www.makash.org.il/sy/jerusa_book.pdf

I spent the year-end holidays in Israel and had the pleasure of speaking with some of Mennen Medical’s and Omikron Scientific’s first employees regarding the efforts that these companies made in the late 1970s and early 1980s towards the development and manufacture of pacemakers in Israel.

Benny Kiron, who joined Mennen Medical in 1976 as a product designer, referred me to Dr. Shmuel Yerushalmi’s memoir at www.makash.org.il/sy/jerusa_book.pdf, from which I was finally able to understand the origin of Mennen Medical’s pacemaker project, as well as its relationship with Omikron Scientific.

Dr. Shmuel Yerushalmi was born in Brasil and emigrated to Israel in 1956. In 1976, while still pursuing his doctorate at the prestigious Weizmann Institute, he started working at the Israeli subsidiary of Mennen-Greatbatch of Clarence, NY.

The Mennen-Greatbatch partnership was dissolved when Wilson Greatbatch decided to concentrate on lithium battery development, and the Israeli company became a subsidiary of Mennen Medical, where an implantable pacemaker project was started.

RF-powered pacemaker developed by the Weizmann Institute and meant for production by Elta. From: https://www.makash.org.il/sy/jerusa_book.pdf

RF-powered pacemaker developed by the Weizmann Institute and meant for production by Elta. From: Dr. Shmuel Yerushalmi’s memoir at www.makash.org.il/sy/jerusa_book.pdf

Shmuel Yerushalmi had worked on the development of an RF-powered pacemaker while still a technician at the Weizmann institute, so his experience was tapped at Mennen Medical to lead the development of a VVI pacemaker powered by a Greatbatch lithium battery. The project was supported by Israel’s Chief Scientist Office and the BIRD (Israel-US Binational Industrial Research and Development) Foundation .

PCBA of Mennen Medical’s Model 801 pacemaker. Device was kindly gifted to me by Koby Kamin. ©2025 David Prutchi.

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Resonetics buys EaglePicher’s medical battery division

Posted on April 12, 2022 by David Prutchi Posted in AIMD Business, Eagle Pitcher, Resonetics

Image Credit: Resonetics

Resonetics announced that it has acquired EaglePicher Technologies’ Medical Power business, a leading manufacturer of implantable batteries for critical medical devices based near Vancouver, British Columbia.

Resonetics was founded in 1987 as a provider of engineering and manufacturing solutions for the life sciences industry. Resonetics offers laser processing, centerless grinding, nitinol processing, thin-wall stainless steel & precious metal tubing, photochemical machining, microfluidics manufacturing, and sensor technology. The acquisition of EaglePicher’s medical battery division expands on the components that it can provide to the AIMD industry.

From the announcement:

“EaglePicher Medical Power has been designing and manufacturing batteries for medical devices for over 25 years and produced one of the first lithium-ion cells for an implantable medical device. The Vancouver site features a modern 60,000 square foot facility with extensive application engineering resources and manufacturing expertise. Chris Huntington, President, EaglePicher Medical Power, will join Resonetics as its Chief Commercial Officer.”

Pacesetter’s 1973 Rechargeable Pacemaker

Posted on April 3, 2014 by David Prutchi Posted in Alfred E. Mann, Cardiac Pacing, Dr. Robert Fischell, History, Museum, Pacesetter, Power Sources, Rechargeable Batteries, Wireless Power Transmission

Demo of a rechargeable Pacesetter pacemaker at the Udvar-Hazy Center. www.implantable-device.com, David Prutchi PhD

Yesterday I visited the Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Chantilly, VA. There I found this demo rechargeable pacemaker being displayed as a spinoff of NASA’s technology with the following explanation:

Demo of a rechargeable Pacesetter pacemaker at the Udvar-Hazy Center. www.implantable-device.com, David Prutchi PhD

Pacesetter model BD102 VVI rechargeable pacemaker www.implantable-devices.com David Prutchi PhD I can’t remember exactly where I found the picture of a Pacesetter model BD102 VVI, but the story behind it is documented by Kirk Jeffrey in “Machines in our Hearts”:

“In 1968, Robert Fischell, of the Applied Physics LOaboratory at Johns Hopkins University, and cardiologist Kenneth B. Lewis had begun a collaboration that led in 1973 to a new kind of Ni-Cad battery able to function more effectively at body temperature and hermetically sealable. Alfred E. Mann, a California entrepreneur with background in the aerospace industry, had provided some financial support to the Hopkins group. Eventually Mann founded a small company to develop a pacemaker for the rechargeable battery; this was the origin of Pacesetter Systems. The rechargeable pacemaker reached the market in the summer of 1973, just as CPI introduced its lithium pacer.”

Microbattery Fabricated by 3D Printing May Power Implantable Devices

Posted on November 27, 2013 by David Prutchi Posted in Power Sources

MIT 3D Printed Microbattery www.implantable-device.com David Prutchi PhD

Researchers at Harvard University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have created and tested 3D printing inks that are electrochemically active, and with which microbatteries can be fabricated.

The ink for the anode incorporates nanoparticles of one lithium metal oxide compound, while the ink for the cathode has another type of nanoparticles. A 3D printer laid the ink onto the teeth of two gold combs to create tightly interlaced stack of anodes and cathodes. The whole setup gets packaged into a tiny container and filled with an electrolyte solution to complete the battery.

Harvard engineering professor Jennifer Lewis said: “Not only did we demonstrate for the first time that we can 3D-print a battery; we demonstrated it in the most rigorous way.” Lewis is the senior author of a study on the batteries published online in the journal Advanced Materials. The researchers say their tiny batteries have electrochemical performance is comparable to commercial batteries in terms of charge and discharge rate.

httpv://youtu.be/olQn2iklQmw

Quallion Being Acquired by EnerSys. Medical Battery Technology Said to be Key Strategic Priority.

Posted on October 30, 2013 by David Prutchi Posted in AIMD Business, Power Sources, Quallion, Rechargeable Batteries

Quallion logo

EnerSys, a global leader in stored energy solutions for industrial applications, announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Quallion LLC, a manufacturer of lithium ion cells and batteries for high integrity applications for $30 million. Quallion’s innovative cells – especially rechargeable Zero-Volt ™ lithium-ion batteries – are used in quite a few implantable devices.

According to the press release:

Headquartered in Sylmar, CA, Quallion’s products include lithium ion cells and batteries for diverse applications including medical devices, defense, aviation and space. The closing of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.

Continue reading→

Increase in Temperature from AIMDs Dissipating Endogenous Heat

Posted on September 26, 2013 by David Prutchi Posted in Impulse Dynamics, MetaCure, My Portfolio, Rechargeable Batteries, Wireless Power Transmission

Active Implantable Medical Devices generate heat as a result of resistive losses in their circuitry, exothermic reaction in their batteries, eddy-current heating due to inductive recharge, friction between mechanical components, etc. The European Standard which regulates AIMDs limits the heating of the outer surface of an AIMD to 2ºC above normal body temperature. Despite the rapid growth in the use of AIMDs, the relationship between AIMD endogenous heat generation and tissue temperature has not been quantified. In the attached paper we aimed at determining the limit of endogenous heat that can be dissipated in-vivo by the surface area of an AIMD to remain compliant with the 2ºC temperature increase limit. In our study, four Sinclair mini-pigs underwent implantation of AIMD simulants instrumented to dissipate heat and measure temperature internally, as well as the device/tissue interface temperature.

We found that for a device with the surface area and geometry that we used, approximately 1W can be dissipated before reaching the 2ºC temperature increase limit.

Click here for a preprint of this paper

WiTricity Developing Long-Range Transcutaneous Energy Transfer Solutions for AIMDs

Posted on July 18, 2013 by David Prutchi Posted in Rechargeable Batteries, Thoratec, WiTricity

This month’s Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry (MD+DI) magazine carried an interesting article by David Schatz – WiTricity’s VP Sales – on their efforts to develop highly resonant wireless power transfer technology for use in AIMDs. The article is available online at http://www.mddionline.com/article/wireless-power-medical-devices.

The article mentions the work that WiTricity has been doing with Thoratec to wirelessly power a HeartMate II® LVAD, and which was announced back in May 2011. David told me that for this project, WiTricity has been able to transfer 20 Watts over 20 cm, with SAR and temperature-rise compliance, and without the use of resonant repeaters.

If these levels scale well to small receiver units, I believe that this technology would enable not only the development of deep-implant AIMDs that are currently outside the range of classical resonant-inductive TET, but would also allow the development of more patient-friendly rechargeable AIMDs that don’t require dedicated recharge sessions, but rather receive their charge from a WiTricity transmitter under the patient’s bed while the patient sleeps. From the MD+DI article:

“A circulatory assist device like an LVAD is just one example of a medical device that can harness the benefits of highly resonant wireless power transfer. There is also promise for other implanted devices, including neurostimulators, implantable defibrillators and pacemakers, implantable drug-delivery pumps, electronic ophthalmic and cochlear implants, and rechargeable hearing aids.

In this broad range of implanted medical devices, high-resonance wireless power transfer can enable higher charge rates than would be possible with traditional magnetic induction. Higher charge rates allow for device implantation deeper within the body and enable more flexible charger configurations outside of the body.

For example, the wireless charger for ophthalmic or cochlear implants could be deployed in a pair of eyeglasses or a pillow. The wireless charger for a neurostimulator implanted in the lower back could be deployed in a chair or bed. Hearing aids could be recharged by simply placing them in a charging box on one’s nightstand, without requiring precise fixturing or galvanic contacts as do today’s rechargeable hearing aids.”

Algostim – Greatbatch’s Own Spinal Cord Stimulation System

Posted on July 15, 2013 by David Prutchi Posted in Greatbatch, Greatbatch Medical (Power), Pain, Spinal Cord Stimulation

Greatbatch Algostim System David Prutchi PhD www.implantable-device.com Greatbatch Medical, which moved its headquarters to the Dallas, TX area last year, announced that it has set a target of at least 5%/yr organic growth. To accomplish this growth, the Company recently announced consolidating operations of its various divisions in order to create efficiency.

In addition however, Greatbatch is diversifying from being strictly a developer of implantable-grade components into a firm capable of developing complete medical devices. Greatbatch’s CEO Thomas Hook announced in March 2013 that Greatbatch is internally developing its own spinal cord stimulation system. The device, called Algostim, is nearing completion of development and will be moving into the commercialization phase. The company is looking for a partner to take the Algostim device into the $1.4 billion spinal cord stimulation market, which has been growing at more than 10%/yr.

Click here for an extract describing Algostim from Greatbatch’s investor day of March 2013.

Greatbatch Reorganizes to Combine Greatbatch Medical and Electrochem Solutions

Posted on July 15, 2013 by David Prutchi Posted in Greatbatch Medical (Power), Implantable Components

Greatbatch logo www.implantable-device.com On June 5, 2013 Greatbatch, Inc. announced that it would combine Greatbatch Medical and Electrochem Solutions – which have been operating independent operations and sales & marketing groups – into singular sales & marketing and operations groups serving the entire Greatbatch organization. According to the press release:

“We’ve spent the past eight years successfully integrating and consolidating our organization. With that mission accomplished, we can set our sights squarely on our growth target to achieve 5 percent organic growth or better,” said Greatbatch President & Chief Executive Officer Thomas J. Hook. “As we shared with investors earlier this year, the company is progressing from strictly a developer of components and sub-assemblies to an organization capable of developing complete medical devices for OEM customers. Our realignment into a more unified Greatbatch will allow us to reinvest in both our core business as well as emerging platforms in pursuit of substantial growth.”

Continue reading→

Boston Scientific Defibrillators Receive CE Mark for 10-Year Longevity Projections

Posted on December 13, 2012 by David Prutchi Posted in AIMD Business, Boston Scientific, Bradycardia, Cardiac Pacing, Cardioversion/Defibrillation, Heart Failure (CHF), Power Sources, Tachycardia

Boston Scientific Incepta ICD with DF-4 connector

Image Credit: Boston Scientific

Boston Scientific has received CE Mark approval for increased longevity projections for the INCEPTA™, ENERGEN™, PUNCTUA™, COGNIS® and TELIGEN® implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) and cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators (CRT-Ds). The longevity projections are based on data submitted to the European authorities and vary for each device dependent on the model type and settings.

Projected device longevity exceeds 10 years for some models, approaches eight years for its CRT-D devices, and according to the press release is up to double that of comparable competitive device models. The company supports these devices with warranties of up to 10 years:

Warranties: INCEPTA and ENERGEN VR ICD: 10 years; INCEPTA and ENERGEN DR ICD: eight years; PUNCTUA and TELIGEN ICD: seven years; INCEPTA and ENERGEN CRT-D: six years; and PUNCTUA & COGNIS CRT-D: five years.

Continue reading→

Micro Systems Technologies Offers Active Implantable Medical Device Development/Manufacturing Services

Posted on February 8, 2012 by David Prutchi Posted in Biotronik, DYCONEX, LITRONIK Batterietechnologie, Micro Systems Engineering, Micro Systems Technologies

Micro Systems Technologies offers OEM services to AIMDs

Image Credit: Micro Systems Technologies

Micro Systems Technologies (MST) is the vertically-integrated supplier of microelectronics and implantable-grade components to Biotronik. It now offers its development and manufacturing services to others.

Through its companies, MST offers high-reliability microelectronic modules for implantable medical devices such as pacemakers, defibrillators, neurostimulators, and cochlear implants.

MST can provide integrated solutions encompassing everything from conceptual design through high-volume surface-mount (SMT) assembly of modules. Services include design development of customer-defined electronic modules, custom ASIC design and development, and high-density-interconnect (HDI) substrate and assembly design.

As a OEM, MST offers state-of-the-art automated SMT line, an ISO 13485–compliant process and component verification and validation methodology, a manufacturing execution system that automates data collection, analysis, and process control, and comprehensive supply-chain management and monitoring with 100% traceability. Continue reading→

Biophan’s Implantable Biothermal Power Source

Posted on January 23, 2012 by David Prutchi Posted in Biophan

Implantable biothermal power source generates electricity for implantable device from body heat

Image Credit: Biophan

Today I was going through some papers and found a 2005 brochure for Biophan’s implantable biothermal source – a 3 mm-thick power source for implantable devices capable of generating electricity from body heat. This power source was being developed by Biophan in collaboration with the NASA Ames Research Center for Nanotechnology.

The device is covered by U.S. Patent No. 6,640,137, “Biothermal power source for implantable devices” to Stuart G. MacDonald. It is a power source based on the Seebeck Effect, which allows electrical energy to be generated by heat crossing and array of n and p junctions of a specialized semiconductor. Biophan and NASA developed materials that matched the size, shape and number of semiconductor junctions to develop sufficient energy to power a pacemaker despite the very slight temperature difference between the body and the subcutaneous layer. Continue reading→

Original Datasheet for Arco’s Nuclear Pacemakers (ca. 1974)

Posted on January 11, 2012 by David Prutchi Posted in Arco Medical (1969-1980), Bradycardia, Cardiac Pacing, History, Museum, Nuclear Batteries

Original Arco Medical datasheet for NU5 plutonium-powered nuclear pacemaker

Some time ago, my friend and colleague Paul Spehr gave me a copy of Arco Medical’s product catalog. I scanned the original datasheets for Arco Medical’s nuclear fixed-rate and demand pacemakers models NU-5 and NU-6 and posted them here in pdf format: Arco_Nuclear_Datasheets

Click here for a color picture and more information on Arco Medical’s nuclear pacemakers.

Why Do So Many Novel Implantables Use a “Boxy” Enclosure?

Posted on December 27, 2011 by David Prutchi Posted in Enclosures, Greatbatch Medical (Power), Heraeus Medical Components, Hudson Technologies, National Manufacturing, Okay Industries

Deep drawn can for implantable medical devices

Active implantable medical devices are typically enclosed in a hermetically-sealed titanium housing which provides protection of the circuitry and other components.

Commonly, Grade 1 titanium is formed into the enclosure using stamping. The pretty, rounded shapes of modern pacemakers and ICDs are achieved by having two enclosure halves shallowly stamped from sheet stock material, and are then welded together to form the enclosure.

On the other hand, “boxy” enclosures that were popular in the 1970s are made by deeply drawing the titanium into a seamless can that is then capped by an ellipsoidal lid. However, many modern start-up companies still develop their early-generation implantable devices in this format because a number of off-the-shelf implantable-grade cells are available to fit in these deep-drawn enclosures, and the housings can be purchased off-the-shelf from various manufacturers. In addition, these enclosures provide sufficient volume for electronic assemblies manufactured using off-the-shelf packaged components and printed-circuit-board technology instead of more aggressive manufacturing methods (e.g. bare IC die on ceramic substrates) used by more established companies to miniaturize their mature implantable devices. Continue reading→

Nanostim’s Leadless Pacemaker

Posted on December 24, 2011 by David Prutchi Posted in BetaBatt, Bradycardia, Cardiac Pacing, EBR Systems, Medtronic, Nanostim, Nuclear Batteries

Nanostim is an early-stage AIMD company in Milpitas, CA that is developing a pacemaker that can be implanted inside the heart through a catheter. The tiny device is attached directly to the heart, eliminating the need for leads.

In May 2011 Nanostim announced that St. Jude Medical had made a substantial investment in the company.

The company is operating in stealth mode, but some details about the leadless pacemaker have emerged from Nanostim’s patents and patent applications. An interesting detail is about the possible use of a betavoltaic power source: Continue reading→

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