In Vitro Zinc-Air Battery Evaluation for Use in Intraoral Medical Devices

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2014

Authors

Amaral, M (Author) Other; do Vale, F (Author) Other; Silva, J (Author) Other; Caramelo, F (Author) Other; Germano Veiga (Author) Other

Journal

Title: Journal of Medical Devices, Transactions of the ASME

Vol. 8

Final page: 014509

ISSN: 1932-6181

Publisher: ASME

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 1 Citation

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00F-ZXK

DOI: 10.1115/1.4026450

Abstract (EN): The aim of the present work was to evaluate the possibility of using zinc-air batteries in intraoral medical devices. We analyzed the electrical behavior of zinc-air batteries when submitted to different levels of temperature, humidity, and limited quantities of air. The experimental setup was divided in three different parts. Firstly, a set of batteries were tested within a climatic chamber and subjected to discharging tests similar to those recommended by the manufacturer. The climatic chamber allowed an accurate variation of humidity and temperature. Secondly, the batteries were placed in a small prototype of intraoral medical device and tested in the absence of air. Lastly, we used a robot arm to repeatedly immerse the prototype in artificial saliva. The results obtained demonstrated the viability of zinc-air batteries as a power solution for intraoral medical devices, as they tolerate high levels of humidity and are capable of working with limited quantities of air. In addition, this kind of battery presents a volume to electrical capacity ratio more than three times higher than lithium batteries, which may open important improvement for powered medical devices.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 6