A new idea could solve any problems related to data lag in health trackers: charging through body heat. Researchers at Texas A&M University have discovered a way to power a tiny electronic fever detector with body heat without the need for bulk batteries, backup batteries or a large chassis to house the sensor.
While the project from Texas A&M University’s mechanical engineering department aims to improve public health by rapidly scanning large crowds for fever, potential applications of the technology go far beyond a simple fever detector, as it could also act as an energy harvesting device. Additionally, battery technology could reduce costs compared to existing health monitoring sensors.
The concept isn’t new – 2017 had a Matrix PowerWatch that charged by body heat – but this new project offers significantly longer battery life with a much smaller footprint than traditional health tracking solutions. Standard smartwatch displays and touchscreens require huge amounts of power, and to operate would require far more heat than the human body can easily expend, and thus the PowerWatch had to make significant compromises to usability by charging from body heat, resulting in a dim display and lack of touch functionality.
The Texas A&M University project takes advantage of steel electrodes to harness the thermal energy dissipated by the user. Given the typical corrosion rate of carbon steel, such a battery can last for more than a decade.
Granted, a decade is not “immortal”. And the project is still focused on very small, single-purpose trackers, not multi-use or consumer-facing devices like smart rings and fitness bands. But it’s still a step in the right direction and a sign of where wearable technology could go in the future. After all, an infallible health tracker could certainly be more useful than our current, limited-life model.
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