Recent Techniques for Harvesting Energy from the Human Body

摘要

The human body contains a near-infinite supply of energy in chemical,thermal, and mechanical forms. However, the majority of implantable and wearabledevices are still operated by batteries, whose insufficient capacity and largesize limit their lifespan and increase the risk of hazardous material leakage. Suchenergy can be used to exceed the battery power limits of implantable and wearabledevices. Moreover, novel materials and fabrication methods can be used tocreate various medical therapies and life-enhancing technologies. This reviewpaper focuses on energy-harvesting technologies used in medical and health applications,primarily power collectors from the human body. Current approaches toenergy harvesting from the bodies of living subjects for self-powered electronicsare summarized. Using the human body as an energy source encompasses numeroustopics: thermoelectric generators, power harvesting by kinetic energy, cardiovascularenergy harvesting, and blood pressure. The review considers variousperspectives on future research, which can provide a new forum for advancingnew technologies for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases by integratingdifferent energy harvesters with advanced electronics.