According to the authors, the wearable antenna bends, stretches, and contracts without compromising its operation.
Wearable sensors and a wearable transmitter must be safe for human skin, as well as operate at room temperature and withstand twisting, compression and stretching.
However, the flexibility of the transmitter creates a uniqueProblem: When antennas are compressed or stretched, their resonant frequency (RF) changes, and they transmit radio signals at wavelengths that may not match those intended for the antenna's receivers.
Therefore, in the new work, the research groupcreated a flexible transmitter from several layers. Building on previous work, the authors created a copper mesh with a pattern of wavy lines: it forms the bottom layer that touches the skin and the top layer that serves as the radiating element in the antenna.
The top layer creates a double arc when compressed, andcan also stretch. When the antenna grid is gridded with some periodicity, it improves the overall flexibility of the layer and reduces RF fluctuations between antenna states, the authors note.
A transmitter that can transmit data toa kilometer away, can be used for computer chips or sensors. With further research, it can be used for health monitoring and in clinical treatment, as well as in energy production and storage.
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