Self‐Powered All‐in‐One Wearable Bioelectronics Driven by Pneumatic Energy Buffering of Daily Footsteps
7 affiliations
- 1Department of Mechanical Engineering Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) Daejeon Republic of Korea
- 2Department of Mechanical Engineering Hanbat National University Daejeon Republic of Korea
- 3George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta Georgia USA
- 4Wearable Intelligent Systems and Healthcare Center (WISH Center) At the Institute for Matter and Systems Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta Georgia USA
- 5National Nano Fab Center (NNFC) Daejeon Republic of Korea
- 6Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University School of Medicine Atlanta Georgia USA
- 7Parker H. Petit Institute For Bioengineering and Biosciences Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta Georgia USA
Abstract
Recent advances in wearable biosensing technologies have underscored the importance of continuous and reliable personal health monitoring. However, the limited size and capacity of conventional batteries remain a critical bottleneck for long‐term operation. Here, we present integrated self‐powered wearable bioelectronics driven by an air‐pumping pneumatic energy buffering mechanism, which converts intermittent human motion into sustained mechanical rotation during walking and efficiently generates electrical energy. The air‐driven rotation persists for 1.5 s per step, enabling continuous power generation from inherently low‐frequency biomechanical inputs and serving as a lightweight frequency‐regulating mechanism for wearable energy harvesters. To facilitate efficient integration with energy storage systems, a power management system is developed to directly charge a compact battery. In addition, a wearable photoplethysmography (PPG) device is designed to mitigate motion‐induced artifacts, enabling robust physiological signal acquisition during dynamic conditions. Owing to its Velcro‐type design, the PPG system demonstrates improved signal reliability compared to conventional devices. By integrating the energy harvester with the PPG, a self‐powered wearable biosensing platform has been successfully demonstrated. Unlike conventional wearable energy harvesters that directly convert transient biomechanical inputs into short‐duration electrical outputs, the proposed system introduces a pneumatic energy buffering mechanism that enables quasi‐continuous power generation from inherently intermittent human motion.
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BibTeX
@article{kim2026selfpowered,
title = {{Self‐Powered All‐in‐One Wearable Bioelectronics Driven by Pneumatic Energy Buffering of Daily Footsteps}},
author = {Ji‐Seok Kim and Tae Woog Kang and Hyunjoon Yoo and Jawon Ha and Yunuo Huang and Hee Han and Chi Won Ahn and Woon‐Hong Yeo and Il‐Kwon Oh},
journal = {Advanced Science},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1002/advs.77158},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.77158},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Self‐Powered All‐in‐One Wearable Bioelectronics Driven by Pneumatic Energy Buffering of Daily Footsteps
AU - Ji‐Seok Kim
AU - Tae Woog Kang
AU - Hyunjoon Yoo
AU - Jawon Ha
AU - Yunuo Huang
AU - Hee Han
AU - Chi Won Ahn
AU - Woon‐Hong Yeo
AU - Il‐Kwon Oh
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/11
JO - Advanced Science
DO - 10.1002/advs.77158
UR - https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.77158
AB - Recent advances in wearable biosensing technologies have underscored the importance of continuous and reliable personal health monitoring. However, the limited size and capacity of conventional batteries remain a critical bottleneck for long‐term operation. Here, we present integrated self‐powered wearable bioelectronics driven by an air‐pumping pneumatic energy buffering mechanism, which converts intermittent human motion into sustained mechanical rotation during walking and efficiently generates electrical energy. The air‐driven rotation persists for 1.5 s per step, enabling continuous power generation from inherently low‐frequency biomechanical inputs and serving as a lightweight frequency‐regulating mechanism for wearable energy harvesters. To facilitate efficient integration with energy storage systems, a power management system is developed to directly charge a compact battery. In addition, a wearable photoplethysmography (PPG) device is designed to mitigate motion‐induced artifacts, enabling robust physiological signal acquisition during dynamic conditions. Owing to its Velcro‐type design, the PPG system demonstrates improved signal reliability compared to conventional devices. By integrating the energy harvester with the PPG, a self‐powered wearable biosensing platform has been successfully demonstrated. Unlike conventional wearable energy harvesters that directly convert transient biomechanical inputs into short‐duration electrical outputs, the proposed system introduces a pneumatic energy buffering mechanism that enables quasi‐continuous power generation from inherently intermittent human motion.
SN - 2198-3844
ER -