New life for lithium batteries

With the help of new silicon-based compounds, scientists - and patients - are getting a significant new charge out of the tiny lithium batteries used in implantable devices to help treat nervous system and other disorders.

Designed to be extraordinarily reliable and work continuously for years, the tiny batteries that power implantable devices are indispensable in everything from pacemakers to the electronic stimulators that help restore function in the brains of Parkinson's patients.

But lithium batteries don't last forever. New surgery is often required to maintain many devices seeded into the body, or to replace batteries and devices at the end of their lives. Moreover, a new generation of tiny electrical devices to stimulate the nervous system, treat incontinence and overcome muscular impairment is coming on line as scientists and engineers continue to shrink the components that make up the devices.

Central to that ability, according to University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor Emeritus of chemistry Robert West, is new lithium battery technology, technology capable of making batteries smaller, last longer and, soon, accept a charge from outside the body without the need for surgery.