Ingestible capsule antenna for bio-telemetry

Abstract

This paper presents a novel ingestible capsule antenna, the conformal chandelier meandered dipole antenna (CCMDA), as a practical and effective design for bio-telemetry. The CCMDA is a conformal version of the offset planar meandered dipole antenna (OPMDA). The similarities in performance between the two antennas are presented through simulations. The CCMDA is further investigated and through simulation, it is shown to have inherent advantages due to its conformal geometry, which allows for tightly packed electrical components within the capsule, and polarization diversity that enables a communication link, which is not strongly sensitive to the orientation of the capsule within the human body. The capsule antenna is then simulated within a 4 mm precision human-body model (Ansoft) where the detuning effects along with the polarization and radiation pattern are investigated and discussed.