Self‐Powered Drug‐Delivery Systems Based on Triboelectric Nanogenerator

Abstract

Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) can convert mechanical energy into electricity via the coupling of triboelectrification and electrostatic induction. Due to its advantages of flexible, lightweight, high‐energy conversion efficiency and shape‐adaptive ability, implantable and wearable TENG have shown great potentials in biomedical field for biomechanical energy harvesting, biosensing, and therapy. In this Perspective, recent advances of TENG for self‐powered drug delivery, mainly including controlled drug release as well as drug delivery based on electroporation and iontophoresis are systematically overviewed. Also the significance of self‐powered drug‐delivery system in personalized healthcare is emphasized, and conclude with the open challenges and future perspectives of TENG‐based drug‐delivery systems.

Microfluidic mechanoporation for cellular delivery and analysis

“…The TENG-driven NEA (T-NEA) platforms are self-powered, with very simple operation procedure and have the advantage of being able to deliver transdermally and in vitro . Thus, the T-NEA device can develop into a very significant platform for intracellular delivery and cellular analysis of hard-to-transfect adherent and suspended cell types [ 185 ].…”

“…High throughput mechano-electroporation strategies [ 74 , 78 , 79 ] have shown excellent results in macromolecular transfection. Of these, the self-powered TENG device [ 185 ] has immense potential to develop into a very dynamic platform for wearable and personalized healthcare. Again, the plasmonic, conductive nanotubes device [ 177 ] is one of the few platforms that can utilize the specific advantages of mechanoporation, electroporation, and photoporation for administering and monitoring biomolecules at a single-molecule level.…”

Electricity‐Assisted Cancer Therapy: From Traditional Clinic Applications to Emerging Methods Integrated with Nanotechnologies

“…When using TENG as a kind of electrical source to substitute traditional power supply, it has the advantages of flexibility and wearability, small size and lightweight, high electrical conversion efficiency, self‐powering, high voltage, and low current, which endows it with high biological safety. Recently, the biomedical applications of TENGs have been extended to biomedical sensing, [ 110 ] disease diagnosis, [ 111 ] tissue engineering, [ 112 ] drug delivery, and cancer therapy [109a,113] …”

Conductive Polymer‐Based Bioelectronic Platforms toward Sustainable and Biointegrated Devices: A Journey from Skin to Brain across Human Body Interfaces

“…In this context, in line with the transition from inorganic to organic platforms, novel energy systems have emerged displaying excellent biocompatibility and tissue-complying mechanical properties. Indeed, different types of innovative power devices have been developed: [238] i) energy storage systems based on batteries and supercapacitors, ii) power harvesting devices operating on body-derived energy sources such as biofuels, [239] triboelectric effect, [240] and thermal gradients, [241] iii) energy transfer modules working on ultrasounds, [242] inductive/RF coupling [243] or photovoltaic principle. [244] However, these external but fundamental modules have to be connected to the sensing/stimulating bioelectronic platforms without compromising the intimate coupling with the target organ, thus proper interconnection and wiring systems complying with the above-mentioned body-interfacing requirements are needed.…”