Parachute shape ultra-wideband wearable antenna for remote health care monitoring

Wireless body area networks (WBAN) is used to measure patients' health conditions continuously. Different kinds of sensors are required to measure health conditions. When such types of antennas are used on the human body, they are flexible with the movements. The usage of wearable devices is currently increasing in the biomedical field. The presented wearable antenna is suitable for biomedical applications. The presented ultra-wideband (UWB) flexible parachute shape wearable antenna is fabricated on a jeans textile substrate. The prototype antenna has a -10 dB measured impedance bandwidth of 5800 MHz (7 to 12.8 GHz) with average radiation efficiency of 75.28%. The prototype antenna's size is 40 x 40 mm(2) (1.32 x 1.32 lambda(2)(0) at centre frequency 9.9 GHz) and a peak gain of 4.5 dB at 12.33 GHz. The fabricated antenna is suitable for biomedical applications in X-band frequencies and can be implemented with a low-cost manufacturing process. The radiating element is made by conductive copper tape. Muscle-equivalent phantoms are used to analyze the body effect on antenna performance. The radiation effect emitted by the presented antenna on the human body is calculated by the specific absorption rate (SAR) value. The maximum SAR value of the proposed antenna is 1.84 W/kg at 12.33 GHz. This leads to promising results for wearable applications related to remote health care monitoring, such as biotelemetry and mobile health with a sensor-driven approach.

Automated summary

Wireless body area networks (WBAN) are used for continuous monitoring of patients' health conditions, requiring different types of sensors. Wearable devices are increasingly used in the biomedical field, and a wearable antenna suitable for biomedical applications has been presented. The prototype antenna, made on a jeans textile substrate, has a measured impedance bandwidth of 5800 MHz and a peak gain of 4.5 dB. The antenna's performance on the human body and its radiation effect have been analyzed, showing promising results for wearable applications in remote health care monitoring.