Wideband Epidermal Antenna for Medical Radiometry.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Electromagnetics
• Medical Devices

Background:

• Microwave thermometry offers noninvasive internal body temperature measurement.
• Accurate measurements require wearable antennas matched to specific body regions.
• Existing antenna designs may have limitations in terms of size, adaptability, and interference.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a new epidermal wideband antenna for medical radiometry.
• To design an antenna suitable for various body locations and patient types.
• To minimize interference and back radiation for improved temperature measurement accuracy.

Main Methods:

• Design of a double asymmetric H-shaped slot antenna on a flexible substrate.
• Feeding mechanism using a short-circuited microstrip line to reduce size and back radiation.
• Testing antenna performance and matching across different body locations (neck, foot instep, foot sole) and frequency bands (1.5 GHz to 5 GHz).

Main Results:

• The double asymmetric H-shaped slot antenna demonstrated wideband matching from 1.5 GHz to 5 GHz.
• The antenna is compact, flexible, and suitable for diverse body mass indexes.
• Back radiation contribution was reduced to less than 4%, significantly lower than the volume under investigation (20%).

Conclusions:

• The developed epidermal antenna is effective for microwave thermometry across multiple body sites.
• The antenna's design minimizes interference and enhances measurement accuracy.
• This technology holds promise for improved noninvasive patient monitoring and diagnostics.