Power Supply and Energy-Management Strategies for Integrated Large-Area Medical Wearable Electronic Devices

The rapid growth of wearable health-monitoring technologies has intensified the need for large-area, autonomous power sources capable of seamless integration with soft, deformable substrates. While numerous studies have advanced individual energy-harvesting materials, existing reviews seldom provide a comprehensive perspective that connects material properties, fabrication, and system-level integration. This review fills this gap by summarizing key developments in piezoelectric, triboelectric, thermoelectric, and photovoltaic harvesters, emphasizing quantitative progress relevant to large-area operation. How spinning, printing, and coating processes are reshaping manufacturing pathways for uniform, durable, and textile-compatible energy-harvesting films and fibers was highlighted. System architectures including vertically stacked multilayers, woven and knitted textiles, and hybrid 2D/3D frameworks are compared with respect to mechanical adaptability, energy coupling efficiency, and suitability for distributed physiological sensing. Persistent challenges such as interfacial degradation, unstable electrical pathways under deformation, and the absence of unified performance metrics are critically discussed. Finally, Future opportunities were outlined in the areas of co-designed energy-sensor architectures, self-healing functional materials, multimodal hybrid harvesters, and clinically validated long-term operation, aiming to guide the development of next-generation, large-area, self-powered wearable systems.