Energy extraction from the biologic battery in the inner ear

Endocochlear potential (EP) is a battery-like electrochemical gradient found in and actively maintained by the inner ear. Here we demonstrate that the mammalian EP can be used as a power source for electronic devices. We achieved this by designing an anatomically sized, ultra-low quiescent-power energy harvester chip integrated with a wireless sensor capable of monitoring the EP itself. Although other forms of in vivo energy harvesting have been...