Fabric–Metal Barrier for Low Specific Absorption Rate and Wide-Band Felt Substrate Antenna for Medical and 5G Applications

Abstract

This study proposed the dimensions of 55 mm × 34 mm × 1 mm for wearable antenna; the copper Y-slot patch and copper partial ground are attached to a felt substrate. The partial ground has the higher impact in antenna gain enhancement compared with the full ground, making it the most suitable candidate for wearable applications and suitable for embedding in fabrics for use in medical applications. In addition, the proposed antenna design combined a fabric–metal barrier operated at 2.4 GHz 65.4% with a low specific absorption rate (SAR) of 0.01 watts per kilogramme (W/kg) and 0.006 W/kg per 10 g and a gain of 6.48 dBi. The proposed antenna has an omnidirectional radiation pattern. The two-layer barrier is designed to achieve high electromagnetic (EM) absorption and reduce the antenna’s absorption coefficient (SAR) for safe use in applications involving human activities. Simulation and measurement results on the arm and the head of the human body indicated that the antenna has excellent performance. In addition, the measurement results agreed well with the simulation results, making the proposed wearable antenna reliable for medical and 5G applications.

Design and Analysis of a Quad-Band Antenna for IoT and Wearable RFID Applications

“…Diversifying substrate materials, including textiles, jeans, denim, polyfoam, PET, glass, conductive fabric polymers, felt, polyimide substrates, and cotton fabric, is instrumental in achieving flexibility and conformability. Numerous recent studies have adopted some of these substrates for conventional operating frequencies, such as 2.45 GHz [5][6][7][8]. However, it is noteworthy that certain designs within this frequency band may encounter limitations in data rates, accompanied by increased design complexity in specific cases.…”