The effect of a metamaterial-based wearable microstrip patch antenna on the human body

Abstract

Body-worn communication devices have attracted much attention due to their wide applications. In this regard, various wearable antennas that have lots of advantages have been designed by researchers in recent years. Metamaterials that have negative refractive index can also be used in the wearable antenna designs because they have an ability to eliminate harmful health effects. In this study, a metamaterial-based wearable microstrip patch textile antenna operating in industrial, scientific, and medical bands was designed and simulated. The radiation values of this antenna were analyzed. Then metamaterial-based electromagnetic band gap (EBG) structure and wearable antenna integration was designed. Two different integrated antenna designs (3 × 3 and 5 × 3) were proposed. We obtained the performances of these antenna designs and calculated the specific absorption rate (SAR) values. We calculated the absorbed power 48.8, 0.167, and 0.0485 W/kg for 10 g tissue of wearable microstrip patch antenna, EBG integrated wearable antenna with 3 × 3 design, and EBG integrated wearable antenna with 5 × 3 design, respectively. Because the SAR values of the EBG integrated wearable antenna designs are well below the standard values, we can say that the designs proposed in the study can be used in many areas, such as military, health monitoring, and wireless communication.