A Multilayered Coil Antenna for Ingestible Capsule: Near-Field Magnetic Induction Link

A compact multilayered stacked ingestible coil antenna is investigated for medical systems. The inductive link, comprising a 5-layer transmitter coil antenna and a 3-turn receiver spiral coil, is modeled through a tissue-simulating liquid modeling the human body. The diameter and the thickness of the transmitter coil are respectively equal to 1 cm and 5 mm, while the dimensions of the receiver coil are equal to 7 × 8 cm². The variations of the position and the orientation of the capsule antenna are taken into account to evaluate the coupling response between the two magnetically coupled coils. We found that the inductive link presents an attractive option for improving the lifetime of ingestible capsules.