MODELING AND SIMULATION OF BIOHEAT POWERED SUBCUTANEOUS THERMOELECTRIC GENERATOR

Electrically active implants are gaining interest for an aging European population. The current generation of implants are powered by batteries that have limited lifetime; once depleted they require surgical reinterventions for their replacement. In this paper, we present a multi-physical model of a thermoelectric generator that utilizes the subcutaneous temperature gradient. The gained electrical power can be used to supply an electrically active implant. Furthermore, this paper studies various parameters that influence the temperature gradient. We implemented a simple human tissue model and a more detailed geometry model based on segmented magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data.