Scalp-Implantable MIMO Antenna for High-Data-Rate Head Implants

A quad-element multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) antenna is designed at 433 MHz industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) band, to increase the transmission data-rate and minimize the multipath fading. The proposed MIMO antenna consists of semicircular meandered radiators with a shared ground. It is designed and optimized inside an implantable medical device in a human head model. The antenna's results show a 10dB fractional bandwidth of 38.26% (355-523 MHz) with a peak realized gain of -28.3 dBi. A high isolation (>32.6 dB) between MIMO elements is obtained using a central metallic via. Specific absorption rate and link budget are analyzed to validate the effectiveness of this antenna. The 4 x 4 MIMO channel parameters are calculated and validated. Furthermore, this antenna provides a channel capacity of 19.9 bps/Hz which is about three times higher than the single-input-single-output configuration of approximate to 5.89 bps/Hz. Hence, this MIMO configuration is a promising candidate for high-data-rate head implants.

Automated summary

This study presents a quad-element MIMO antenna operating in the 433 MHz ISM band, designed to improve transmission data-rate and minimize multipath fading. The antenna, optimized inside an implantable medical device in a human head model, demonstrates a high bandwidth, gain, and isolation between elements. The antenna provides a significantly higher channel capacity compared to SISO configurations, making it a promising candidate for high-data-rate head implants.