Wearable triboelectric sensors for biomedical monitoring and human-machine interface

A growing advocacy of healthy and quality life makes wearable electronics spring up. Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) has developed as an energy harvesting technology and as an advanced sensor technology in wearable electronics. The triboelectric sensor (TS) is sensitive to the mechanical motion and driven by the motion itself. Therefore, TS is capable of monitoring certain vital signs and kinds of movements of human body. Based on these monitoring, novel human-machine interfaces (HMIs) can be established. In this review, a comprehensive overview of some key progresses in this field over last 5 years are presented. Several main aspects of biomedical monitoring based on TSs are classified: pulse/cardiac/micro-motion, respiration/airflow/vibration, and pressure/tactile/body movement. The major types of HMIs taking these biomedical monitoring as basis are introduced accordingly: eye movement, voice/auditory, gesture/joint movement, and touch/tactile based HMIs. Finally, the current limitations and future trends are put forward for biomedical monitoring and HMIs based on TSs.