Recent wearable health monitoring systems use multiple biosensors embedded within a wireless device. In order to reliably transmit the desired vital signs in such systems, a new set of antenna design requirements arise. In this paper, we present a flexible, ultra-low profile, and compact dual band antenna. The proposed design is suitable for wearable and flexible telemedicine systems and wireless body area networks (WBANs). The antenna is inkjet printed on a 50.8 µm Polyimide Kapton substrate and fed by a Coplanar Waveguide (CPW). The proposed design has the merits of compactness, light weight, wide bandwidth, high efficiency, and mechanical stability. The performance of the antenna is also characterized against bending and rolling effects to assess its behaviour in a realistic setup since it is expected to be rolled on curved surfaces when operated. The antenna is shown to exhibit very low susceptibility to performance degradation when tested against bending effects. Good radiation characteristics, reduced fabrication complexity, cost effectiveness, and excellent physical properties suggest that the proposed design is a feasible candidate for the targeted application.
Additional information is available at the end of the chapter http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/50841
. IntroductionRecent years have witnessed a great deal of interest from both academia and industry in the field of flexible electronics. In fact, this research topic tops the pyramid of research priorities requested by many national research agencies.According to market analysis, the revenue of flexible electronics is estimated to be billion USD in and over billion USD in [ ].Their light weight, low-cost manufacturing, ease of fabrication, and the availability of inexpensive flexible substrates i.e. papers, textiles, and plastics make flexible electronics an appealing candidate for the next generation of consumer electronics [ ]. Moreover, recent developments in miniaturized and flexible energy storage and self-powered wireless components paved the road for the commercialization of such systems [ ].Consistently, flexible electronic systems require the integration of flexible antennas operating in specific frequency bands to provide wireless connectivity which is highly demanded by today's information oriented society.Needless to say, the efficiency of these systems primarily depends on the characteristics of the integrated antenna. The nature of flexible wireless technologies requires the integration of flexible, light weight, compact, and low profile antennas. At the same time, these antennas should be mechanically robust, efficient with a reasonably wide bandwidth and desirable radiation characteristics.This chapter deals with the design, numerical simulation, fabrication process and methods, flexibility tests, and measurements of flexible antennas. As a benchmark, a flexible, compact, and low profile . µm printed monopole antenna intended for the ISM band applications at . GHz is presented and discussed in details. The antenna is based on a Kapton Polyi-
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