Triboelectric nanogenerators for clinical diagnosis and therapy: A report of recent progress
Yichang Quan, Xujie Wu, Simian Zhu, Xiangyu Zeng, Zhu Zeng, Qiang Zheng
Abstract
Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) are considered as an ideal platform for power harvesting for living organisms, thanks to their unique characteristics like flexibility, conversion efficient, and manufacturing cost. Recent advances in TENGs have brought innovative solutions for clinical healthcare. Particularly, TENGs offer novel solutions of continues power supply for wearable and implantable medical devices with lightweight, thinness, good biocompatibility, and excellent soft tissue conformability. In this review, we discuss (1) The working principle and representative structure of TENGs, (2) the material selection of TENGs, (3) the recent progression of application of TENG in the medical field of cardiovascular system, nervous system, respiratory system, microbial inactivation, antibiofouling, disinfection, and tissue repair, (4) challenges and future perspectives of TENG-based medical devices. The emerging TENGs and their applications in medicine cannot simply be seen as an alternative to conventional power supplies, it provides a revolutionary solution for wearable and implantable medical devices, and they will surely change the paradigm of disease diagnosis and treatment in the future.