review · Energy Strategy Reviews
Integrating advanced energy harvesting technologies into medical devices enables the capture of power directly from the human body and the surrounding environment. This approach reduces dependence on traditional energy sources such as batteries and external power packs. By generating their own operational power, medical tools can achieve extended lifespans and sustain continuous functioning while enhancing patient mobility and comfort. Various harvesting mechanisms exist to support these systems, including piezoelectric, thermal, solar, triboelectric, and electromagnetic methods. However, widespread clinical adoption requires overcoming notable engineering hurdles and assessing critical operational factors such as device biocompatibility. Further research and development remain necessary to optimise these energy-scavenging technologies and fully realise their transformative potential across healthcare monitoring and treatment systems.
Replacing conventional batteries with ambient and bodily power in medical equipment can reduce the need for frequent replacements and invasive procedures. This transition enhances patient comfort and mobility while ensuring uninterrupted clinical monitoring. Understanding current energy harvesting methods helps innovators design sustainable, dependable tools that improve health outcomes and reduce maintenance demands in modern healthcare environments.
The work targets clinical and remote medical devices used by healthcare practitioners and patients. Commercial applications include autonomous diagnostic and therapeutic equipment powered by ambient, thermal, or kinetic energy. Because the underlying technologies still require research and development to resolve performance limitations and biocompatibility factors, these systems appear to be at an applied research stage rather than near-market deployment.
AI-generated from the published abstract. Always read the original work before citing.
This paper reviews self-powered medical devices integrated with advanced energy harvesting technologies. This article aims to explain the advantages of integrating self-powered medical devices with advanced energy harvesting technologies, outlining the transformation in healthcare system and patient experience. In today's world, we focus more on consuming energy harnessed from the environment and human body. This approach lowers down our emphasis on conventional power sources like batteries, power packs etc. As a result, the devices used in the medical sector have a longer lifespan, maintain continuous functioning, and improve patient comfort and mobility. Integrating advanced energy harvesting technologies (i.e., piezoelectric, thermal, solar, and electromagnetic) with medical devices plays a pivotal role in revolutionizing the healthcare sector. But there is still some research and development needed to enhance these technologies. This paper will set out by introducing some self-powered medical devices commonly used in healthcare, followed by their advantages, benefits, and challenges that the healthcare practitioners face. This review also discusses their biocompatibility factor which is crucial to use. Then there are examples of a few advanced energy harvesting methods that are being used which include: piezoelectric, solar, thermal, triboelectric and electromagnetic. As we go further, we will come across a table consisting of a comparison between these advanced energy harvesting technologies and their examples in the healthcare sector. The last section is future perspective and the conclusion highlights the transformative potential of this integration, followed by a future recommendation for advancing this field.
This page summarises published work. The authoritative version sits with the publisher.
DOI: 10.1016/j.esr.2024.101328
Is something wrong with this record? Report it or request removal.
Discussion
Have you built on this work, tried to replicate it, or seen it applied in practice? Share what you know. Verified researchers and MARATTO™ domain experts can open a discussion, and any member can reply. Contributions are reviewed before they appear.
No discussion yet. Open the first thread.
New to MARATTO™? Create a free account.
