Recent Advances in Fabrication Methods for Flexible Antennas in Wearable Devices: State of the Art.

Bahare Mohamadzade,Qammer H Abbasi,Sabih Ur Rehman,Raheel M Hashmi,Reza Gharaei,Roy B V B Simorangkir

doi:10.3390/s19102312

Abstract

Antennas are a vital component of the wireless body sensor networks devices. A wearable antenna in this system can be used as a communication component or energy harvester. This paper presents a detailed review to recent advances fabrication methods for flexible antennas. Such antennas, for any applications in wireless body sensor networks, have specific considerations such as flexibility, conformability, robustness, and ease of integration, as opposed to conventional antennas. In recent years, intriguing approaches have demonstrated antennas embroidered on fabrics, encapsulated in polymer composites, printed using inkjets on flexible laminates and a 3-D printer and, more interestingly, by injecting liquid metal in microchannels. This article presents an operational perspective of such advanced approaches and beyond, while analyzing the strengths and limitations of each in the microwave as well as millimeter-wave regions. Navigating through recent developments in each area, mechanical and electrical constitutive parameters are reviewed, and finally, some open challenges are presented as well for future research directions.

Highlights

Recent advancements in wireless technology have led to the advent of wireless body area networks (WBAN) due to their wide range of applications in medical and nonmedical fields
Inter-node communication between various sensory nodes attached on the surface of the body
Implanted sensory nodes communicating with a node on the body

Summary

Introduction

Recent advancements in wireless technology have led to the advent of wireless body area networks (WBAN) due to their wide range of applications in medical and nonmedical fields. This has drawn broad interest in the field of wearable antennas as the focal point for any WBAN sensory systems. Several frequency bands have been identified for research and commercialization of WBAN communication systems which recently include the millimeter-wave (mmW) bands (see Table 1). Intra-node communication between a master node on the body and a transceiver off the body. Implanted sensory nodes communicating with a node on the body (on-body node acting as a relay). Implanted sensory node communicating directly with a transceiver off the body.

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