--- title: Mesh Woven Into Heart Tissue Harvests Energy From Motion description: Researchers at UMass Amherst built an ultrathin, flexible mesh that integrates into living tissue and harvests energy from its motion, potentially powering... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/mesh-woven-into-heart-tissue-harvests-energy-from-motion-h3ldnkxyh twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Mesh Woven Into Heart Tissue Harvests Energy From Motion | daily.dev og:description: Researchers at UMass Amherst built an ultrathin, flexible mesh that integrates into living tissue and harvests energy from its motion, potentially powering... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/mesh-woven-into-heart-tissue-harvests-energy-from-motion-h3ldnkxyh og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/h3Ldnkxyh.png og:image:alt: Mesh Woven Into Heart Tissue Harvests Energy From Motion og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Mesh Woven Into Heart Tissue Harvests Energy From Motion **[IEEE Spectrum](https://daily.dev/sources/ieeespectrum)** · 6 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Researchers at UMass Amherst built an ultrathin, flexible mesh that integrates into living tissue and harvests energy from its motion, potentially powering medical implants without bulky batteries. The mesh is made of polymer ribbons about 20 micrometers wide, with a platinum wire running through them and 470-micrometer strips of lead zirconate titanate, a piezoelectric ceramic. A 7-by-8-millimeter prototype has 64 energy harvesting units and, when grown into lab cardiac tissue, reached an energy density of more than 10 microwatts per cubic centimeter, roughly an order of magnitude better than previous centralized designs. The lead-based ceramic raises toxicity concerns and will likely have to be replaced. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How much energy can a piezoelectric mesh woven into heart tissue generate? A prototype mesh developed at UMass Amherst achieved an energy harvesting density of more than 10 microwatts per cubic centimeter when grown into lab-cultured cardiac tissue. That is roughly ten times better than previous centralized energy-harvesting designs sutured onto organs. The mesh used 64 harvesting units made from lead zirconate titanate strips embedded in 20-micrometer-wide polymer ribbons. _Engineers tracking energy-harvesting implant breakthroughs can follow research like this on daily.dev._ ### What material is used in the UMass Amherst energy-harvesting mesh for implants? The mesh combines ultrathin polymer ribbons, roughly 20 micrometers wide, with a thin platinum wire and embedded 470-micrometer strips of lead zirconate titanate, a piezoelectric ceramic. The resulting 7-by-8-millimeter device has 64 energy harvesting units aligned in the same direction. Researchers note the lead-based ceramic raises toxicity concerns and will likely need to be replaced for clinical use. _Those evaluating biocompatible materials for implantable electronics can track developments like this on daily.dev._ ### Why do flexible mesh implants cause less immune rejection than rigid implants? Making implant ribbons smaller than a single cell and as mechanically soft as a cell greatly reduces the foreign body response. Rigid, bulky implanted components trigger inflammation and scar tissue that seals devices off from the body, while ribbons around 20 micrometers wide, about the size of cardiac muscle cells, let heart cells grow around the mesh into continuous tissue instead of rejecting it. _Developers following biocompatible implant design can keep up with findings like this on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [A new type of electrically driven artificial muscle fiber](https://daily.dev/posts/a-new-type-of-electrically-driven-artificial-muscle-fiber-9platcxrk) · MIT News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Soft Electronics Aid Stem Cell Therapy for Diabetes](https://daily.dev/posts/soft-electronics-aid-stem-cell-therapy-for-diabetes-9axsnpih1) · IEEE Spectrum · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Powered by muscle cells, a paper-thin robot swims through watery maze](https://daily.dev/posts/powered-by-muscle-cells-a-paper-thin-robot-swims-through-watery-maze-jiylmlum6) · Robohub · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Focused microwaves allow 3D printers to fuse circuits onto almost anything](https://daily.dev/posts/focused-microwaves-allow-3d-printers-to-fuse-circuits-onto-almost-anything-egi3pqqbj) · Hacker News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Scientists Grow Electronics Inside the Brains of Living Mice](https://daily.dev/posts/scientists-grow-electronics-inside-the-brains-of-living-mice-4u7b455pa) · Singularity Hub · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/mesh-woven-into-heart-tissue-harvests-energy-from-motion-h3ldnkxyh) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Mesh Woven Into Heart Tissue Harvests Energy From Motion","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/mesh-woven-into-heart-tissue-harvests-energy-from-motion-h3ldnkxyh","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/mesh-woven-into-heart-tissue-harvests-energy-from-motion-h3ldnkxyh"},"datePublished":"2026-10-29T12:02:27.075Z","dateModified":"2026-10-29T12:05:23.920Z","description":"Researchers at UMass Amherst built an ultrathin, flexible mesh that integrates into living tissue and harvests energy from its motion, potentially powering...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/790193446807b27a7284a90b168f769e?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/790193446807b27a7284a90b168f769e?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"IEEE Spectrum","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"IEEE Spectrum","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/b123f5e8420e492ab36f6adb30c1793a","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/ieeespectrum"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/mesh-woven-into-heart-tissue-harvests-energy-from-motion-h3ldnkxyh","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"","timeRequired":"PT6M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"IEEE Spectrum","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/ieeespectrum"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Mesh Woven Into Heart Tissue Harvests Energy From Motion"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/mesh-woven-into-heart-tissue-harvests-energy-from-motion-h3ldnkxyh#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How much energy can a piezoelectric mesh woven into heart tissue generate?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"A prototype mesh developed at UMass Amherst achieved an energy harvesting density of more than 10 microwatts per cubic centimeter when grown into lab-cultured cardiac tissue. That is roughly ten times better than previous centralized energy-harvesting designs sutured onto organs. The mesh used 64 harvesting units made from lead zirconate titanate strips embedded in 20-micrometer-wide polymer ribbons. Engineers tracking energy-harvesting implant breakthroughs can follow research like this on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What material is used in the UMass Amherst energy-harvesting mesh for implants?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"The mesh combines ultrathin polymer ribbons, roughly 20 micrometers wide, with a thin platinum wire and embedded 470-micrometer strips of lead zirconate titanate, a piezoelectric ceramic. The resulting 7-by-8-millimeter device has 64 energy harvesting units aligned in the same direction. Researchers note the lead-based ceramic raises toxicity concerns and will likely need to be replaced for clinical use. Those evaluating biocompatible materials for implantable electronics can track developments like this on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Why do flexible mesh implants cause less immune rejection than rigid implants?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Making implant ribbons smaller than a single cell and as mechanically soft as a cell greatly reduces the foreign body response. Rigid, bulky implanted components trigger inflammation and scar tissue that seals devices off from the body, while ribbons around 20 micrometers wide, about the size of cardiac muscle cells, let heart cells grow around the mesh into continuous tissue instead of rejecting it. Developers following biocompatible implant design can keep up with findings like this on daily.dev."}}]} ```