There is a growing interest in the design and engineering of operational biofuel cells that can be implanted. This review highlights the recent progress in the electrochemistry of biofuel cell technologies, but with a particular emphasis on the medical and physiological aspects that impact the biocompatibility of biofuel cells operating inside a living body. We discuss the challenge of supplying power to implantable medical devices, with regard to the limitations of lithium battery technology and why implantable biofuel cells can be a promising alternative to provide the levels of power required for medical devices. In addition to the challenge of designing a biofuel cell that provides a stable level of sufficient power, the review highlights the biocompatibility and biofouling problems of implanting a biofuel cell that have a major impact on the availability of the substrates inside body that provide fuel for the biofuel cell. These physiological challenges and associated ethical considerations are essential to consider for biofuel cells that are designed to be implanted for long-term operation inside a living animal and eventually to human clinical applications.

人们对可植入的可操作生物燃料电池的设计和工程越来越感兴趣。这篇综述着重介绍了生物燃料电池技术在电化学方面的最新进展，但特别强调了影响生物体在生物体内运行的生物相容性的医学和生理学方面。关于锂电池技术的局限性以及为什么可植入生物燃料电池可以成为提供医疗设备所需功率水平的有前途的替代方案的原因，我们讨论了向可植入医疗设备供电的挑战。除了设计可提供稳定水平的充足电力的生物燃料电池的挑战之外，该评论强调了植入生物燃料电池的生物相容性和生物污染问题，这对为生物燃料电池提供燃料的体内基质的可用性产生重大影响。这些生理挑战和相关的道德考量对于生物燃料电池而言是至关重要的，这些生物燃料电池被设计用于在动物体内长期运行并最终植入人类临床应用。