The harvesting of energy from ambient environments is an emerging technology with potential for numerous applications, including portable electronic devices for renewable energy. Most of the current research activities refer to classical piezoelectric ceramic materials, but more recently the development of electrostrictive polymers has generated novel opportunities for high-strain actuators. At present, the investigation of using electrostrictive polymers for energy harvesting (a conversion of mechanical to electrical energy) is beginning to show potential for this application. This paper discusses the development of a model that is able to predict the energy harvesting capabilities of an electrostrictive polymer composite (EPC). An equivalent electrical scheme has been developed by using the model of current that was recently developed by our group. After the validation of the model on a macroscopic level, an empirical relationship was established to predict the value of power from the electrostriction coefficient, the dielectric permittivity, and the compliance of the material. Finally, results indicated that the dielectric permittivity was the crucial parameter for energy harvesting.

Climate change represents the biggest global health threat of the 21st century. Health care system is itself a large contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In cardiology, atrial fibrillation (AF) catheter ablation is an increasing activity using numerous non-reusable materials that could contribute to GHG emission. Determining a detailed carbon footprint analysis of an AF catheter ablation procedure allows the identification of the main polluting sources that give opportunities for reduction of environmental impact. To assess the carbon footprint of AF catheter ablation procedure. To determine priority actions to decrease pollution. An eco-audit method used to predict the GHG emission of an AF catheter ablation procedure was investigated. Two workstations were considered including surgery and anaesthesia. In the operating room, every waste produced by single-use medical devices, pharmaceutical drugs, and energy consumption during intervention were evaluated. All analyses were limited to the operating room. Thirty procedures were analysed over a period of 8 weeks: 18 pulmonary veins isolation RF ablations, 7 complex RF procedures including PVI, roof and mitral isthmus lines, ethanol infusion of the Marshall vein and cavo tricuspid isthmus line, and 5 pulmonary vein isolation with cryoballoon. The mean emission during AF catheter ablation procedures was 76.9 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂-e). The operating field accounted for 75.4% of the carbon footprint, while only 24.6% for the anaesthesia workstation. On one hand, material production and manufacturing were the most polluting phases of product life cycle which, respectively, represented 71.3% (54.8 kg of CO₂-e) and 17.0% (13.1 kg of CO₂-e) of total pollution. On the other hand, transport contributed in 10.6% (8.1 kg of CO₂-e), while product use resulted in 1.1% (0.9 kg of CO₂-e) of GHG production. Electrophysiology catheters were demonstrated to be the main contributors of environmental impact with 29.9 kg of CO₂-e (i.e. 38.8%). Three dimensional mapping system and electrocardiogram patches were accounting for 6.8 kg of CO₂-e (i.e. 8.8% of total). AF catheter ablation involves a mean of 76.9 kg of CO₂-e. With an estimated 600 000 annual worldwide procedures, the environmental impact of AF catheter ablation activity is estimated equal to 125 tons of CO₂ emission each day. It represents an equivalent of 700 000 km of car ride every day. Electrophysiology catheters and patches are the main contributors of the carbon footprint. The focus must be on reducing, reusing, and recycling these items to limit the impact of AF ablation on the environment. A road map of steps to implement in different time frames is proposed.

The development of steerable guide wire or catheter designs has been strongly limited by the lack of enabling actuator technologies. This paper presents the properties of an electrostrive actuator technology for steerable actuation. By carefully tailoring material properties and the actuator design, which can be integrated in devices, this technology should realistically make it possible to obtain a steerable guide wire design with considerable latitude. Electromechanical characteristics are described and their impact on a steerable design is discussed.

Due to the outstanding coupling between piezoelectric and semiconducting properties of zinc oxide nanowires, ZnO NW-based structures have been demonstrating promising potential with respect to their applicability in piezoelectric, piezotronic and piezo-phototronic devices. Particularly considering their biocompatibility and biosafety for applications regarding implantable medical detection, this paper proposed a new concept of piezoelectric composite, i.e., one consisting of vertically aligned ZnO NW arrays and an insulating polymer matrix. First, the finite element method (FEM) was employed to drive optimization strategies through adjustment of the key parameters such as Young’s modules and the dielectric constant of the dielectric constituents, together with the density and dimension of nanowire (NW) itself. Second, to investigate the functionality of each individual layer of composite, different designed structures were fabricated and characterized in terms of electrical and piezoelectric properties. Next, experimental and simulation tests were performed, indicating that the decreasing thickness of the top poly(methyl methacrylate) layer (PMMA) can substantially enhance the piezoelectric sensitivity of the ZnO NW composite. Besides the further benefit of no polarization being needed, our material has a comparable charge coefficient (d₃₃) with respect to other lead-free alternatives (e.g., BaTiO₃), confirming the high sensing abilities of the developed structure based on vertically aligned ZnO NW arrays. Finally, a time-varying model combining piezoelectricity and electric circuit modules was investigated in detail, giving rise to an estimation of the d₃₃ coefficient for ZnO NWs. Based on this study, the developed material is revealed to be highly promising in medical applications, particularly regarding the FFR technique, where coronary pressure can be measured through a piezoelectric sensor.