Benefits and limits of UWB for In- and out-of-body communication

This work investigates the characteristics of the wireless in-body communication channel within the UWB frequency range from 3 GHz to 6 GHz. A series of experiments using a liquid human phantom is carried out in order to determine optimal transmission parameters for compact, high performance ingestible and implantable wireless medical devices. Although suited for low power and high throughput applications, UWB is strongly limited by the high attenuation in tissues in the microwave frequency range. Transmission loss measurements performed with an 11 mm loop antenna and an UWB transceiver prototype confirm this assumption. We therefore suggest using moderately wideband modulation techniques at the lowest frequency end of the UWB range.