Wearable Nanogenerators: Self‑Powered Monitoring of Heart Health

Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN

Self-powered, wearable, triboelectric nanogenerators with polyvinyl alcohol-based contact layers are used for monitoring cardiovascular health. (Image: Purdue University)

A team of researchers has developed self-powered, wearable, triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based contact layers for monitoring cardiovascular health. TENGs help conserve mechanical energy and turn it into power.

PVA, one of the most widely used polymers for biomedical applications, is transformed into wearable, self-powered, triboelectric devices that can detect the imperceptible degree of skin deformation induced by human pulse and capture the cardiovascular information encoded in the pulse signals with high fidelity.

Cardiovascular health is typically measured by echocardiogram to measure electrical activity in the heart or photoplethysmography that measures changes in blood volume in the peripheral microvasculature. These technologies can often be invasive to patients and have not yet been adapted into wearables for personalized, on-demand monitoring.

TENGs with PVA blend contact layers produce fast readout with distinct peaks for blood ejection, blood reflection in the lower body, and blood rejection from the closed aortic valve, which may enable detection of common cardiovascular diseases such as cardiovascular disease, coronary artery disease, and ischemic heart disease.

PVA offers a valuable opportunity as potential constituents in future wearable self-powered devices. The PVA-based triboelectric devices can harvest the mechanical energy from the human body and use such electric power to support the operations of other biomedical devices.

For more information, contact Chris Adam at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; 765-588-3341.