Analysis of Slot Antenna Performance for On-body to In-body Channel Characterization

The propagation study of electromagnetic (EM) waves within a human body is becoming essential due to the growing demand for the design and development of implantable sensing nodes in a body area network (BAN). Many researchers are interested in contributing to the development of propagation models in the ultra-wideband (UWB), i.e., 3.1 to 10.6 GHz, for biomedical applications, as well as the license-free Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band. This kind of propagation model is essential in order to design and develop UWB transceivers for in-body, on-body, and off-body communications. This paper looks at the possibility of using a stepped slot patch antenna with a copper ground plane as either an off-body or on-body antenna by comparing measurements taken on a liquid human phantom. In addition, we use the empirical data to propose a statistical model.