EBG integrated textile monopole antenna for space health monitoring application

In this paper, performance of a monopole textile antenna integrated with a flexible Electromagnetic Band Gap (EBG) surface is presented. The integrated antenna is designed for operating within the 2.45 GHz Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) band for space health monitoring applications. The goal was to increase the antenna gain, reduce the backward radiation toward the astronaut´s body, and reduce the power consumption. Characteristics of the EBG antenna based on simulation results on a flat surface and under different bending conditions have been presented. Impedance matching and the antenna gain remain robust in many bending cases within the frequency range of interest.