Just wondering why wireless charging isn’t used? A pacemaker seems to use little energy so one overnight charge cycle should last for months if not years?
Drop a magnet down through a copper or aluminum tube for a demonstration of the effect. (The induced current creates a magnetic field that opposes the magnet, slowing the fall.)
You also don't have to short it. Leaving it open circuit with a charging circuit that can withstand large voltages is a much better bet.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/65488...
The short of it is that pacemakers last years already, and there's definitely an economic incentive to being able to charge thousands of dollars for a new device/battery, regardless of what The Atlantic would like to have you believe. The complications associated with pacemaker placement are high enough to warrant the risk reduction of only placing one once. You might argue that most patients don't need a pacemaker replacement since they're most likely going to die before needing one. What about the younger patient population of kids and young adults that need them due to arrhythmias or congenital heart disease?
There's maybe an argument to be made towards inconsistent battery life and not being sure when the batteries will fail due to lower and lower charge capacities. But pacemakers all have variable battery life due to each person's need for pacing. If someone needs constant pacing, they will probably need a replacement sooner. If it's every once in a while that they have an arrhythmia, then it will last far longer.
(It causes all kinds of hallucinations - tingling body, seeing impossible shapes, a smell like something just died, and a feeling like you've just died)