INTRODUCTION

The body wearable antenna is designed to function while being worn. These type of antennas are commonly used in wearable wireless communication, bio-medical RF systems etc. 

Wearable antenna is used within the context of (WBAN) Wireless Body Area Networks . In WBAN, the antenna is the key component which supports wireless communication.

That includes in-body communication, on-body communication and off-body communication. 

A wireless communication between human body and WBAN can be established by a wireless body area network connecting sensor, actuator and Iot node on the human body, or on clothes or under the skin.

Wearable antennas can be used by people of all ages, athletes and patients for a continuous monitoring of vital signs, oxygen level and stress level, among others which  is more flexible to use. 

INTERACTION BETWEEN WEARABLE ANTENNA AND HUMAN BODY
EFFECTS OF ANTENNA ON HUMAN BODY

Movement of human cells can be caused by the non-ionizing radiation such  as sound waves, visible light and microwave and  also increase the cell temperature.

EFFECTS OF HUMAN BODY ON WEARABLE ANTENNA

As the antenna is very closely located to the human body, it has some effects on the antenna. The human body is lossy and disturbs the communication link.

MATERIALS USED IN WEARABLE ANTENNA

A body wearable antenna uses two types of materials,

  • Conductive material
  • Substrate material

Conductive materials can be divided into 

  • Rigid conductive materials
  • Flexible conductive materials

The rigid conductors includes, copper, silver, and aluminium , the flexible conductive materials are smart textile, ink, liquid, graphene, graphite , carbon nanotube , and polymers 

Substrate materials can be divided into

  • Printed circuit board
  • flexible substrate

Flexible substrates are textile, paper, polymers, rubber, foam, etc.

WEARABLE ANTENNA TECHNOLOGY
  • Microstrip antenna
  • Printed dipole antenna
  • Monopole antenna
  • Printed loops antenna
  • Slot antennas
  • Planar inverted-Fs (PIFAs) antennas.
RECENT TRENDS
  • Development of double-layer printed wearable dipole antennas
  • Improvement of Printed wearable dual-polarised dipole antennas
  • Wearable microstrip antennas for 5G, medical, and IoT applications and Wearable stacked microstrip antennas for 5G, IoT, and medical applications
APPLICATION
  • The advent of high efficiency miniature antennas is greatly enabling invasive/non-invasive devices in consumer, healthcare and several military applications.
  • Smart watch
  • Smart glass(Wi-Fi, GPS and IR Antennas)
  • Body worn action cameras (Bluetooth)
  • Small sensor devices in sports shoes (Wi-Fi / Bluetooth) that can be paired with smartphones.
CONCLUSION

Wearable antennas are more significant because they regulate body performance using antennas and are used for medical applications. This type of antenna is mostly used by all types of people irrespective of age,  which is the major advantage of body wearable antennas.