This paper proposes a wideband ultra-compact implantable antenna for a wireless body area network (WBAN). The proposed patch antenna works in the industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) bands. The proposed patch antenna with an ultra-compact size (5 × 5 × 0.26 mm³) was designed with 29% wide bandwidth (about 670 MHz). This wide bandwidth makes the antenna unaffected by implantation in different human body parts. The miniaturization process passed many steps by adding many slots with different shapes in the radiating element as well as in the ground plane. A 50 Ω coaxial feeding excites the antenna to maintain matching and low power loss. The specific absorption rate (SAR) was calculated for health considerations. The result was within the standard limits of IEEE organizations and the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNRP). The antenna was tested in tissues with multiple layers (up to seven layers) and at various depths (up to 29 mm). The link margin was calculated, and the proposed antenna enables 100 Kbps of data to be transferred over a distance of 20 m and approximately 1 Mbps over a distance of 7 m. The proposed antenna was fabricated and tested. The measured S₁₁ parameters and the simulated results using the Computer Simulation Technology (CST Studio) simulator were in good agreement.

In this paper, an ultra-compact implantable antenna for biomedical applications is proposed. The proposed implanted meandered compact patch antenna is implanted inside the body at a depth of 2 mm. The proposed antenna was designed with Roger RO3003 (ɛr = 3) as substrate with an overall size of dimensions 5 × 5 × 0.26 mm3. The radiating element is a square patch antenna with different size rectangular slots and coaxial feeding. The proposed implantable antenna resonates at 2.45 GHz (from 2.26 to 2.72 GHz) frequency with a bandwidth of 460 MHz and a gain of −22.6 dB. The specific absorption rate has been considered for health care considerations, and the result is within the limits of the federal communication commission. The measured and simulated scattering parameters are compared, and good agreements are achieved. The proposed antenna is simulated and investigated for biomedical applications suitability.