Abstract
Modern instruments and analytical techniques trigger revolutionization in the healthcare sector. The rapid demand for wearable medical devices, implants, and point-of-care diagnosis instruments is emerging worldwide to provide state-of-the-art medical facilities for early detection, cure, or precaution of the disease. However, the ever-evolving healthcare sector needs a reliable power supply to provide uninterrupted service for various instruments, systems, and remote location patient monitoring devices. Supercapacitors (SCs) lead the board among energy storage devices due to their high power density, fast charging ability, and excellent operational life. This not only makes SCs a reliable source of energy to run the healthcare instruments but also puts an end to the hazardous battery wastes.
The advancement in SCs provides multiple design configurations, tunable specific capacitance, and many material choices for healthcare applications. SCs can power implantable, like pacemakers and neurostimulators, for longer life without frequent operations. Wearable health monitoring devices provide regular health updates utilizing the SCs. Portable medical instruments in remote locations without any external sources can be charged easily with external sources like solar, wind, or ambient mechanical forces. Further, this chapter discusses the evolution of SCs, material selection, innovations, and design aspects for healthcare applications. The significant role of SCs in building a self-sustainable, energy-efficient healthcare system is depicted thoroughly.