Development and in-vivo evaluation of a system for power transfer through intact skin for artificial hearth.

Purpose of the present study is to evaluate the possibility to transfer power from outside to inside of human body, in order to feed a long term implanted prosthesis as the artificial heart. The system adopted was the medium-low frequency electromagnetic coupling between a special primary coil to be placed on the patient's body for a relatively short period 8e.g 8 hours per night) and a permanent implanted coil for supplying an internal accumulator. The construction details of the implanted circuit are presented and the results about the in-vivo testing measurements, in particular the histological analyses of the skin after many energy transfer processes, are shown.