Smart Wireless-Powering-Enabling IoT in Inhomogeneous Environments: A Case Study on Biomedical Applications

Abstract

Wireless powering holds the key to unlock the use of batteryless micro/nanodevices inside the human body for research, monitoring, and treating health conditions, and enables precise and personalized healthcare technological solutions. As the era of IoT emerges, wireless devices become more prevalent and capable than ever. In the medical field, this transformation is also highly anticipated. From in-body networks of tiny static devices, to freely moving implants inside the body, e.g., using the blood stream, the possibilities are endless. Their limits, however, are miniaturization capabilities and power availability. Despite the great potential, most wireless-powering solutions are developed for a single static device in a virtually immutable environment. In contrast, we present a system with the ability to power different static places or a moving device, without prior knowledge of its location nor the medium. The system focuses power on the target location(s) through beamforming. The methodology introduced by this work increased the power provided to a wireless test device by up to 18 dB in torso and leg models, and 25 dB in a skull model, relatively to a traditional wireless power transfer (WPT) system and without surpassing specific absorption rate (SAR) limits.