Development of a 2.45 GHz Antenna for Flexible Compact Radiation Dosimeter Tags

Abstract

Numerous medical operations employ blood transfusions, requiring X-ray irradiated blood for safety concerns. Current irradiation techniques can be significantly improved by replacing standard visual indicators with wireless dosimeter tags that automate the process, reducing inefficiencies and eliminating blood wastage. A key requirement of the proposed dosimeter tag is flexible and efficient antennas that can be mounted on blood bags. This paper presents the design of a low-cost inkjetprinted dipole antenna on flexible Kapton substrate for a 2.45 GHz RFID dosimeter tag. The tag is to be used in a lossy blood environment, which can severely affect antenna radiation performance. To mitigate this, the concept of artificial magnetic conductor (AMC) unit cells is investigated for best impedance and gain performance. When integrated with a dipole radiator, the fabricated AMC-backed antenna maintains broadside radiation with gains of 4.1 dBi to 4.8 dBi under planar and bending conditions, and on a lossy blood bag. In a rectenna configuration, the antenna can power sensors for ranges up to 1m. Measured output dc voltages up to 1.7 V are achieved across a 25 kΩ resistor. This antenna design is flexible, compact, efficient on lossy structures and suitable for direct integration with biomedical sensing chips.

Compact dual‐band near/far‐field dipole antenna/tag

“…Due to the small electrical size of the antenna, 0.16λ L , the antenna exhibits similar radiation characteristics to an electrically small dipole, and the dipolar radiation pattern has been achieved. Table 1 tabulated the antenna performance with those recently published in the literature [27][28][29]. All these structures suffer from electrically large dimensions.…”

Flexible Antennas: A Review

“…Antenna properties have negligible variations when bent at different angles and can withstand extreme conditions. A flexible and transparent UWB antenna was proposed in another study [ 49 ]. The antenna consisted of a transparent conductive tissue integrated with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS).…”

An ultra‐thin flexible four port MIMO antenna for WBAN communications

“…In addition to antenna development, artificial magnetic conductors 2,3 and electromagnetic bandgap structures [4][5][6] are to be developed to improve the radiation performance and to reduce the back radiation. Inkjet printing 7,8 is widely adopted to develop antennas on a flexible material. This method requires specialized tools to create the metallic patterns on the target PCB.…”