Design and application of piezoelectric and electromagnetic energy harvesters for mechanical energy harvesting in the human-body: A review

Abstract

The popularity of smart electronic products has facilitated their incorporation into various fields related to the Human-body, such as portable tools, wearable electronics, exoskeletons, implantable medical devices, and auxiliary biomedical devices. As the energy demands of these devices continue to increase, traditional power supply technologies cannot sustainably meet their application and maintenance needs. Hence, many researchers are turning to technologies that harvest mechanical energy from the Human-body as a sustainable power source for body-attached devices. This study explores the potential to harvest mechanical energy generated by human motion and the physical mechanisms, materials, structures, design methods and applications involved in the mechanical energy harvesting process. In addition, the application of core technical means such as human biomechanics analysis methods, sensing and control methods in piezoelectric and electromagnetic Human-body mechanical energy harvesting technologies is also summarized. This paper also concludes with a discussion of challenges and potential solutions in this area.