Powering future body sensor network systems: A review of power sources

Abstract

Body sensor network is a promising medical technology to address the overwhelming global aging issue, which requires advanced micro power sources with high energy density, long lifetime, small form factor and good biocompatibility. Potential micro power technologies include batteries, fuel cells, energy harvesters and supercapacitors, each of which have their own merits and demerits when applied in the body sensor network. Batteries such as dry battery and Li ion battery are currently the most mature product which has been extensively employed in the body sensor network research, but the improvement of their energy density is relatively sluggish due to the cumbersome material storage. On the contrary, micro fuel cells can achieve much higher energy density because of their lightweight fuel and oxidant, which can be refueled instantly when applied in wearable sensors. For implanted devices, both abiotic and biotic fuel cells can utilize the dissolved glucose in the body fluid as the fuel. As for energy harvesters, they can receive energy from both the external environment such as solar and radiofrequency, and the human body itself such as body heat and motion. Finally, supercapacitor is an effective energy storage component especially for energy harvesters, which can achieve excellent cycle stability.In general, the selection of micro power sources for the body sensor network should consider the specific requirement from the specific sensor node, so that a body sensor network with hybrid power supply is much more reliable than that with single type of energy supply. With the continuous development of different power technologies, the body sensor network is expected to be more lightweight, unobtrusive and reliable, leading to a low-cost and ubiquitous healthcare in the near future.

Sensorization of Things Intelligent Technology for Sport Science to Develop an Athlete’s Physical Potential

“…Zhao and Li (2020) describe body composition and physiological functions as follows: organs i.e., external organs (arm, leg, elbow, knee, hand, foot, body), internal organs (heart, ligaments, joints, bones, backbone); organ and body functions i.e., circulatory system (i.e., heartbeat, heart rate, pulse measurement), and behavior (walking) (Zhao & Li, 2020). Yifei Wang et al (2020) describes body composition and physiological functions as follows: organs i.e., external organs (arm, leg, elbow, knee, hand, foot, eye, nose, mouth, ear, body, skin), internal organs (heart, brain, stomach, bones, backbone, muscle, tissue); organ and body functions i.e., respiratory system (breathing), circulatory system (heartbeat, heart rate, pulse), behavior (walking, sleeping) (Wang et al, 2020). Ren et al (2020) state that body composition and physiological function is as follows: organs i.e., external organs (arm, leg, elbow, knee, head, face, neck, body), internal organs (heart, brain, stomach, bones, backbone, muscle, tissue); organ and body functions i.e., respiratory system (breathing), circulatory system (heartbeat, heart rate, pulse), behavior (walking, running) (Ren et al, 2020).…”

Flourishing energy harvesters for future body sensor network: from single to multiple energy sources

“…One of the key challenges of the bodyNET would be the reliable and sustainable power sources for the sparsely distributed sensor nodes around the body (Wang et al, 2020d;Wang, 2020). Batteries are still the widely adopted solutions for sensor networks but suffer from a limited lifespan, possible hazards to human health, long-term reliability, and periodic replacement (Hinchet and Kim, 2015;Zhu et al, 2020b).…”

“…Piezoelectric nanogenerator (PENG), which was first proposed in 2006 with zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires (NWs) (Wang, 2006), is another major energy-scavenging technology aiming at on-body electricity generation as a sustainable power supply for portable and wearable electronic devices (Wang et al, 2020d;Zhang et al, 2018a). It is based on the principle named piezoelectric effect and was discovered by French physicists Jacques Curie and Pierre Curie in 1880 (Curie and Curie, 1880), describing a phenomenon that electric charges generated by polarized electric dipole moment will be induced if applying an external mechanical strain/stress to certain solid materials.…”

Recent Progress in the Energy Harvesting Technology—From Self-Powered Sensors to Self-Sustained IoT, and New Applications

“…However, previous MEMS-based EHs and sensors cannot fully fulfill those new requirements. The MEMS-based EHs usually can only work in a high-frequency range or generate µW-level output power, while the human motions have low frequency and irregular patterns, and current wearable devices require at least an mW-level power supply [81][82][83][84][85]. The MEMS-based sensors, although they have high accuracy and stability and are currently only commercially available sensors, the large data volume generated will also lead to enormous power consumption in data collection, processing, and transmission [86,87].…”