Primary batteries for implantable pacemakers and defibrillators

The lithium-iodine battery is established as the standard system for low-ra te implantable applications, namely pacemakers because of its excellent vol umetric energy density. Within defibrillators/cardioverters lithium-silver- oxovanadium (SVO) and lithium-manganese-dioxide (MDX) high-rate batteries a re in use. The concept of a hybrid system which makes use of a high-rate ba ttery and a low-rate battery within one application is described. Experimen tal results obtained from a MDX battery and a Lithium-iodine battery, both with the same dimensions, are showing that MDX batteries of that size are a ble to combine excellent volumetric energy density and medium power ratings . Energy densities of 650 mWh/cm(3) for the MDX battery with a lode of 30 k Omega to an end voltage of 2.5 V have been confirmed. These results show t he potential of lithium-manganese-dioxide batteries to be used as low-rate and medium-rate sources within implantable applications. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.