Decentralized triboelectric electronic health monitoring flexible microdevice

Versatile applications of triboelectric nanogenerator as a microsystem component have widened the access to advanced healthcare monitoring and green energy systems. Recent research on wearable electronic technologies has been focusing on more complex architecture and costly materials for sensory applications resulting in less commercial feasibility. Here, we report a biocompatible, cost-effective, highly sensible, structurally simple, multifunctional and wearable triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) as a universal health monitoring device. This triboelectric universal health monitoring device (TUHMD) was fabricated with cellulose paper and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)/polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) copolymer electrodes. This device demonstrated high sensitivity and notable identical signals on diverse body motions related to body muscles and respiratory system by mechanical triggering. The device was also observed to be sensitive to vocal cord vibration. Integration of this device with computer-aided system offers real-time data of physiological movement, potentially useful for personalized medicine, rehabilitation and remote monitoring of patients. The device was also tested from 30 to 90 beat per minute (BPM) load frequencies to observe the triboelectric performance of the device. TUHMD showed response as a triboelectric nanogenerator with a range of 12 V with negligible charge accumulation, along with a maximum capacitive performance of 11 F. This smart device showed a potential to be an advanced biomedical sensor for maintaining full health care or monitoring applications.