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Review
. 2021 May 2;21(9):3163.
doi: 10.3390/s21093163.

Review on Medical Implantable Antenna Technology and Imminent Research Challenges

Md Mohiuddin Soliman  1 , Muhammad E H Chowdhury  2 , Amith Khandakar  2 , Mohammad Tariqul Islam  1 , Yazan Qiblawey  2 , Farayi Musharavati  3 , Erfan Zal Nezhad  4
Affiliations
Review

Review on Medical Implantable Antenna Technology and Imminent Research Challenges

Md Mohiuddin Soliman et al. Sensors (Basel). .

Abstract

Implantable antennas are mandatory to transfer data from implants to the external world wirelessly. Smart implants can be used to monitor and diagnose the medical conditions of the patient. The dispersion of the dielectric constant of the tissues and variability of organ structures of the human body absorb most of the antenna radiation. Consequently, implanting an antenna inside the human body is a very challenging task. The design of the antenna is required to fulfill several conditions, such as miniaturization of the antenna dimension, biocompatibility, the satisfaction of the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), and efficient radiation characteristics. The asymmetric hostile human body environment makes implant antenna technology even more challenging. This paper aims to summarize the recent implantable antenna technologies for medical applications and highlight the major research challenges. Also, it highlights the required technology and the frequency band, and the factors that can affect the radio frequency propagation through human body tissue. It includes a demonstration of a parametric literature investigation of the implantable antennas developed. Furthermore, fabrication and implantation methods of the antenna inside the human body are summarized elaborately. This extensive summary of the medical implantable antenna technology will help in understanding the prospects and challenges of this technology.

Keywords: antenna design; biocompatibility; implant fabrication; medical implantable antenna; specific absorption rate.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A typical implantable antenna system.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Radiofrequency spectrum allocation for wireless medical applications in the USA and Europe.
Figure 3
Figure 3
An illustration of conductivity (a), real permittivity (b), attenuation constant (c), and group velocity (d) for different frequency bands for biological tissues.
Figure 3
Figure 3
An illustration of conductivity (a), real permittivity (b), attenuation constant (c), and group velocity (d) for different frequency bands for biological tissues.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Encapsulation of Implantable Medical Antenna.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Comparison of radiation efficiency with respect to the thickness of biocompatible material.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Implant antenna: without meandering slot (a) with meandering slot (b) [37].
Figure 7
Figure 7
Meandered implant antenna proposed in [38].
Figure 8
Figure 8
Geometry of capsule shape implant antenna (a) [39] and (b) [42].
Figure 9
Figure 9
Geometry of Spiral shape implant antenna (a) [29], (b) [45], (c) [46].
Figure 10
Figure 10
Stacking layer implant antenna employed in, (a) [50], (b) [51].
Figure 11
Figure 11
Typical shorting pin Planar Inverted F-Antenna (PIFA) antenna [57].
Figure 12
Figure 12
Bandwidth enhancement (BW) technique, (a) loop shape parasitic patch [75], (b) flexible antenna [76].
Figure 13
Figure 13
Implant antenna system for bone fracture restoration process. (a) Proposed monopole antenna, (b) monopole antenna position in artificial fracture bone phantom environment [81].
Figure 14
Figure 14
Electric field distribution at 1.8 GHz for 0% bone damage (a) and 100% fractured bone damage (b) [81].
Figure 15
Figure 15
Simulating environment of monopole antenna in a fractured bone [20].
Figure 16
Figure 16
Electric field distribution at 2.5 GHz: during 0% bone damage period (a), fractured bone period (b) [20].
Figure 17
Figure 17
The glucose monitoring system in blood: geometry of implant antenna [84].
Figure 18
Figure 18
The basic mechanism of wireless brain monitoring system [85].
Figure 19
Figure 19
Geometry of implant antenna (a), antenna returns loss (b) and 2D radiation pattern (c) [85].
Figure 20
Figure 20
Snapshot of implant antenna for blood pressure measurement [21].
Figure 21
Figure 21
Photolithography process: (a) ground plane, (b) lower patch, (c) upper patch, and (d) superstrate [54].
Figure 22
Figure 22
Implant antenna immersed in the artificial tissue environment, (a) [90] and three-layer phantom material (b) [20].
Figure 23
Figure 23
Cross-section view of pork body (a), biocompatible casing for implant antenna system (b), and injection of implant antenna inside the pork body (c) [10].
Figure 24
Figure 24
Implant antenna in vivo testing for monitoring the bone fracture healing (a) [20], and monitoring of blood pressure inside left ventricle (b) [21].
Figure 25
Figure 25
Classification of implant antenna power management techniques.
Figure 26
Figure 26
Energy harvesting using a thermoelectric mechanism (a), the piezoelectric mechanism (b), and the electrostatic system (c) [12].
Figure 26
Figure 26
Energy harvesting using a thermoelectric mechanism (a), the piezoelectric mechanism (b), and the electrostatic system (c) [12].
Figure 27
Figure 27
Block diagram of (a) optical charging, (b) ultrasonic transducer, (c) inductive coupling [12].
Figure 27
Figure 27
Block diagram of (a) optical charging, (b) ultrasonic transducer, (c) inductive coupling [12].
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