ISM Band 2.4 GHz Wearable Textile Antenna for Glucose Level Monitoring

Abstract

Wearable technology has recently attracted much interest for various uses. An essential component of the wearable system is the wearable antenna. Textile and non-textile materials have both been used to create wearable antennas. Textile antennas are very useful and widely used nowadays, particularly in body-worn applications monitoring health parameters. Fabricated using microstrip technology, textile antennas have various benefits, including small size, lightweight, simple fabrication, and ease of wear. In this study, a microstrip antenna is created utilizing a substrate made of jeans. It works between 2.4 to 2.5 GHz in the ISM (industrial, scientific, and medical) band. High-frequency structure simulator (HFSS) software was used to simulate two antennas, one with an incomplete and the other with a complete ground plane. Wearable antennas can protect the body from the impacts of RF radiation by utilizing the entire ground plane principle. Results from a vector network analyzer were obtained for the fabricated antenna (VNA). This antenna's main function is to track blood glucose levels. Blood's dielectric characteristics change when blood sugar levels fluctuate, affecting the antenna’s output frequency. There are two ways to monitor glucose levels. One method requires placing a finger on an antenna patch, while the other involves fixing an antenna to a person's arm and detecting the output frequency fluctuation. The antenna's resonant frequency raises in reaction to increased blood glucose levels. Therefore, these textile antennas are a great choice for non-blood sample monitoring of blood glucose levels.