Robust and efficient integrated antenna with EBG-DGS enabled wide bandwidth for wearable medical device applications

• Main Authors: Ashyap, Adel Y. I., Dahlan, Samsul Haimi, Abidin, Zuhairiah Zainal, Dahri, Muhammad Hashim, A. Majid, Huda, Kamarudin, Muhammad Ramlee, Yee, See Khee, Jamaluddin, Mohd. Haizal, Alomainy, Akram, Abbasi, Qammer H.
• Format: Article
• Published: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. 2020
• Subjects: TK Electrical engineering. Electronics Nuclear engineering
• Online Access: http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/87289/; http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2020.2981867

A compact wearable symmetrical e-slots antenna operated at 2.4 GHz was proposed for Medical Body Area Network applications. The design was printed onto a highly flexible fabric material. The final design topology was achieved by the integration of symmetrical e-slots antenna with an Electromagnetic Band-Gap (EBG) and Defected Ground Structure (DGS). The use of EBG was to isolate the body and antenna from each other whereas the DGS widened the bandwidth. This combination forms a novel and compact structure that broadens bandwidth. This broadened bandwidth makes the structure robust to deformation and loading in the human body. The design achieved a measured impedance bandwidth of 32.08 %, a gain of 6.45 dBi, a Front to Back Ration (FBR) of 15.8 dB, an efficiency of 72.3% and a SAR reduction of more than 90%. Hence, the integration of symmetrical e-slots antenna with EBG and etched DGS is a promising candidate for body-worn devices.