Inductive power Jumpsuit anyone?

Cyberdoc

Would it be possible to make some sort of inductive power 'suit' to provide continuous power to implants?  Picture the inductive mats used for cell phones, but worn on the body.  Also, does anyone know of a flexible photo voltaic material?  That way, the suit could be solar powered.  Any advice on construction, coil positioning, potential costs, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

ThomasEgi

you don't really need an entire jumpsuit. all you need is to place the charger coil as close as possible to the coil of the implant.
there are organic fotovoltaic panels. they tend to be a good bit more expensive than silicon based ones. they are widely available, flexible, but not quite as efficient.
costs on the circuit side (except the solar panel) are rather low. inductive charging only requires a resonating circuit. matter of cents.

TheMind

                  things we can use to power a suit_____________

mkabala

Solar power is DC and inductive power is AC, so some conversion is required there. Placement of the coils would need to be customizable to where the other half of the inductive charging circuit is placed. Maybe a good use of Velcro(TM) fasteners to position the coils. It should be possible to use any type of clothing item, from an armband all the way up to a jumpsuit, if necessary. This can all be done using today's technology.

Just a thought: if you can't find flexible solar panels, how about mounting them over the chest or back where they don't necessarily have to flex?

ThomasEgi

AC/DC conversion is not a problem. Inductive charging is simply more powerful than subdermal solar panels. positioning of the coils is not that critical either. you can make the charger coil rather big (5 to 10cm). that'll bring down the overall efficiency. but since the energy is wasted on the charger side, wasting a bit isn't much of a problem as power is easily available.