Design of an Implantable Slot Dipole Conformal Flexible Antenna for Biomedical Applications

Author

Scarpello, Maria Lucia ; Kurup, Divya ; Rogier, Hendrik ; Vande Ginste, Dries ; Axisa, Fabrice ; Vanfleteren, Jan ; Joseph, Wout ; Martens, Luc ; Vermeeren, Gunter

Author_Institution

Dept. of Inf. Technol. (INTEC), Electromagn. Group, Ghent Univ., Ghent, Belgium

Volume

59

Issue

10

fYear

2011

Firstpage

3556

Lastpage

3564

Abstract

We present a flexible folded slot dipole implantable antenna operating in the Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band (2.4-2.4835 GHz) for biomedical applications. To make the designed antenna suitable for implantation, it is embedded in biocompatible Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The antenna was tested by immersing it in a phantom liquid, imitating the electrical properties of the human muscle tissue. A study of the sensitivity of the antenna performance as a function of the dielectric parameters of the environment in which it is immersed was performed. Simulations and measurements in planar and bent state demonstrate that the antenna covers the complete ISM band. In addition, Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) measurements indicate that the antenna meets the required safety regulations.

Keywords

biomedical communication; conformal antennas; dipole antennas; muscle; prosthetics; slot antennas; ISM band; SAR measurements; biocompatible polydimethylsiloxane; biomedical applications; conformal flexible antenna; dielectric parameters; human muscle tissue; slot dipole antenna; specific absorption rate; Antenna measurements; Dielectrics; Dipole antennas; Humans; Muscles; Slot antennas; Bent antenna; implantable antennas; industrial; muscle tissue sensitivity; scientific and medical (ISM) band; specific absorption rate (SAR);

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Antennas and Propagation, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-926X

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TAP.2011.2163761

Filename

5976404