학술논문

A Compact Parylene-Coated WLAN Flexible Antenna for Implantable Electronics
Document Type
Periodical
Source
IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters Antennas Wirel. Propag. Lett. Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters, IEEE. 15:1382-1385 2016
Subject
Fields, Waves and Electromagnetics
Antenna measurements
Antenna radiation patterns
Skin
Wireless LAN
Substrates
Tuning
Compact antenna
flexible electronics
implantable antenna
parylene
wireless local area network (WLAN)
Language
ISSN
1536-1225
1548-5757
Abstract
This letter presents a compact planar flexible antenna designed for wireless local area network (WLAN) using simple microfabrication techniques that are compatible with existing state-of-the-art flexible electronic devices. The antenna is fully insulated with biocompatible Parylene C film, which shows a cost-effective and highly feasible approach to making flexible antennas for implantable applications. Coating of ultrathin Parylene C film has shown negligible effects on the return loss and the radiation patterns of the antennas. The characteristics of the proposed antenna have also shown negligible change under different bending conditions. The original WLAN antenna working in air was successfully tuned to operate under implanted condition at 2.4 GHz by tuning the length of the radiator. The measured results showed that the tuned implantable antenna is suitable for integration with flexible and implantable electronics.