Performance and reliability of the lithium/iodine battery

The lithium/iodine -polyvinylpyridine battery, used as a power source in cardiac pacemakers, is discussed.Because of the critical nature of the use of this cell, rather stringent reliability and quality assurance procedures are carried out during design, manufacturing, and testing of these cells. The construction of the cells is carried out under careful quality control supervision. An intensive reliability program is initiated in early design stages and carried out through the useful life of the cells. The cells currently produced show energy densities of approximately 0.75 W h/cc in a range of cell configurations with rated capacities from 1.3 – 3.0 A h. Since first implanted in late 1972, lithium-iodine cells have amassed an outstanding record of reliability in the clinical application. The construction, reliability procedures, and performance of the cells are discussed in this paper.