Wearable and Implantable Electroceuticals for Therapeutic Electrostimulations

Abstract

Wearable and implantable electroceuticals (WIEs) for therapeutic electrostimulation (ES) have become indispensable medical devices in modern healthcare. In addition to functionality, device miniaturization, conformability, biocompatibility, and/or biodegradability are the main engineering targets for the development and clinical translation of WIEs. Recent innovations are mainly focused on wearable/implantable power sources, advanced conformable electrodes, and efficient ES on targeted organs and tissues. Herein, nanogenerators as a hotspot wearable/implantable energy-harvesting technique suitable for powering WIEs are reviewed. Then, electrodes for comfortable attachment and efficient delivery of electrical signals to targeted tissue/organ are introduced and compared. A few promising application directions of ES are discussed, including heart stimulation, nerve modulation, skin regeneration, muscle activation, and assistance to other therapeutic modalities.

Treating Traumatic Brain Injuries with Electroceuticals: Implications for the Neuroanatomy of Consciousness

“…Electroceuticals utilize electrical impulses, the nervous system's primary language, to treat disease. In general, electroceuticals consist of a power source that provides electrical stimulation to electrodes, which then deliver these impulses to targeted cells or tissues [62]. A number of electroceuticals currently have therapeutic uses including pacemakers; cochlear implants [63]; vagus nerve stimulation for treatment of epileptic seizures and depression [64]; and deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, and other neurological disorders [65].…”

Biocompatible, High‐Performance, Wet‐Adhesive, Stretchable All‐Hydrogel Supercapacitor Implant Based on PANI@rGO/Mxenes Electrode and Hydrogel Electrolyte

“…[ 3,5–10 ] For instance, bioelectronic devices, such as pacemakers, neuromodulators, and wireless sensors have been developed. [ 2,11–14 ] These bioelectronic devices are designed for interfacing with soft tissues, such as deep brain, vessels, nerve, and heart. [ 15–19 ] For these implanted bioelectronics stably operating in vivo for certain period of time, implantable energy storage units as power sources are vital.…”

“…[ 8,21,22 ] For instance, fiber‐shaped battery has been implanted to power fiber pressure sensors subcutaneously; [ 23,24 ] wireless coil‐shaped antenna has been designed to transfer electromagnetic energy to in vivo; [ 16 ] triboelectric energy nanogenerator has been employed to harvest the mechanical motions of heart and to convert it into electrical output subsequently; [ 9,25–27 ] biodegradable supercapacitors have been developed which disappear after certain period of time under physiological condition. [ 6,11,21,28–30 ] Among various implantable energy storage components, supercapacitors with high energy density are indispensable part of power units.…”

A Motion Capturing and Energy Harvesting Hybridized Lower‐Limb System for Rehabilitation and Sports Applications

“…[58][59][60][61] Meanwhile, TENGs and PEGs also experienced flourishing advancement in implantable applications such as energy harvesting, [62][63][64] medical treatment, [65][66][67] in vivo sensing, [68,69] and rehabilitation. [70][71][72] Hybridized devices combining the characteristics and advantages of the two prominent mechanisms have also been thoroughly investigated to further extend the systematic performance and capability in divergent applications. [73][74][75][76] Typically, lower-limb rehabilitation is desperately in need of a wearable mobile machine, i.e., exoskeleton, to support and assist the lower-limb motion of the patients suffering from impaired ambulation.…”