Autoclave Sterilization Powered Medical IoT Sensor Systems

The purpose of this study is to explore the possibilities of harvesting the thermal energy from steam sterilization process to power the IoT sensor node. Thermoelectrical generators based heat recovering have been used for powering IoT sensor nodes. The design process of the TEG based energy harvesting application is described in details. All vital parts of the system like choosing the suitable TEG module, heat storage material, power storage device, a power management system as well as insulation material to create the temperature gradient across the TEG were precisely described. The temperature-voltage characteristics of the module are analyzed within the test setup of standard steam sterilization. Power consumption of a CC2650 Bluetooth module is analyzed and optimized to maximize the power efficiency and the lifetime. During this study self powered Bluetooth IoT sensor node was developed. Power consumption software optimization have been applied resulting in the lifetime of over 10 days after single sterilization cycle.