SkinECG: An orthogonal remote powering wearable skin-like sensor

The Internet of Things (IoT) era witnessed a surge in wearable devices for the human body, each requiring a power source that supports long-term operation. However, batteries are depletable and require replacement, while the effectiveness of energy-harvesting techniques is location specific. We developed the SkinECG system, an orthogonal remote powering skin-like electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor. It is powered by body-coupled powering (BCP) using power acquired optimally via suitable energy harvesters at different locations on the human body, solving the location mismatch between the energy-harvesting source and sensor. The remote Orthogonal Energy Harvesting Network (O-EHN) effectively transfers power from multiple energy-harvesting sources without internode interference and cancellation. We demonstrated the 0.71-mm-thin, flexible SkinECG system that conforms to the human chest and detects ECG signals without any cumbersome batteries or directly connected power for long-term health monitoring.