Design and Characterization of Miniaturized Implantable PIFA Antenna for MICS Band Application

This study concerns with the miniaturization of a microstrip patch antenna using several miniaturization techniques for the application in biotelemetry at the Medical Implant Communication Service (MICS) (402–405 MHz) band. The primary intention is to be able to use this radiating structure as a means of wireless communication and power transmission to a pacemaker system. The optimized structure has dimensions of 12.8x12.8x0.8mm3 and a measured operating frequency of 403 MHz with a bandwidth of 10 MHz observed at return loss of -10dB. The proposed antenna volume is 0.217% of equivalent rectangular patch which resonates at 403MHz. In addition, the measured Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) using a phantom model was 1.38 w/kg for 4mW of excitation power delivered to the structure. The design parameters were evaluated on a substrate of FR-4 using the simulation software CST Studio Suit.