Energy Harvesting Antennas for Self-Powered Biosensors in Biomedical Applications: A Systematic Review

Energy harvesting antennas have emerged as a promising solution for enabling self-powered biosensors in biomedical applications, addressing the critical limitations of battery-dependent systems such as limited lifetime, bulky form factors, and maintenance requirements. This systematic review presents a comprehensive analysis of recent advancements in energy harvesting antenna technologies tailored for biomedical biosensors. It examines various harvesting mechanisms, including radio-frequency (RF), microwave, and hybrid energy sources, with emphasis on antenna design, miniaturization, impedance matching, and biocompatible materials. Performance metrics such as harvested power density, conversion efficiency, operating frequency bands, and safety constraints (SAR limits) are critically reviewed. The integration of antennas with rectifiers, power management circuits, and biosensing modules is also discussed. Furthermore, challenges related to human body effects, tissue losses, and variability in ambient energy availability are highlighted. Finally, the review identifies key research gaps and future directions toward fully autonomous, reliable, and implantable or wearable biomedical biosensing systems. This work aims to serve as a reference for researchers and designers developing next-generation self-powered biosensors for healthcare monitoring and medical diagnostics.