Design and implementation of compact dual-band conformal antenna for leadless cardiac pacemaker system

Abstract

The leadless cardiac pacemaker is a pioneering device for heart patients. Its rising success requires the design of compact implantable antennas. In this paper, we describe a circularly polarized Hilbert curve inspired loop antenna. The proposed antenna works in the WMTS (Wireless Medical Telemetry Services) 1.4 GHz and ISM (Industrial, Scientific, and Medical) 2.45 GHz bands. High dielectric constant material Rogers RT/Duroid 6010 LM ({epsilon }_{r}=10) and fractal geometry helps to design the antenna with a small footprint of 9.1 mm3 (6 mm × 6 mm × 0.254 mm). The designed antenna has a conformal shape that fits inside a leadless pacemaker’s capsule is surrounded by IC models and battery, which are tightly packed in the device enclosure. Subsequently, the integrated prototype is simulated deep inside at the center of the multi-layer canonical heart model. To verify experimentally, we have put dummy electronics (IC and battery) inside the 3D printed pacemaker’s capsule and surfaced the fabricated conformal antenna around the inner curved body of the TCP (Transcatheter Pacing) capsule. Furthermore, we have tested the TCP capsule by inserting it in a ballistic gel phantom and minced pork. The measured impedance bandwidths at 1.4 GHz and 2.45 GHz are 250 MHz and 430 MHz, whereas measured gains are − 33.2 dBi, and − 28.5 dBi, respectively.