In this paper, we investigate the use of fat tissue as a communication channel between in-body, implanted devices at R-band frequencies (1.7–2.6 GHz). The proposed fat channel is based on an anatomical model of the human body. We propose a novel probe that is optimized to efficiently radiate the R-band frequencies into the fat tissue. We use our probe to evaluate the path loss of the fat channel by studying the channel transmission coefficient over the R-band frequencies. We conduct extensive simulation studies and validate our results by experimentation on phantom and ex-vivo porcine tissue, with good agreement between simulations and experiments. We demonstrate a performance comparison between the fat channel and similar waveguide structures. Our characterization of the fat channel reveals propagation path loss of ∼0.7 dB and ∼1.9 dB per cm for phantom and ex-vivo porcine tissue, respectively. These results demonstrate that fat tissue can be used as a communication channel for high data rate intra-body networks.

This work explores high data rate microwave communication through fat tissue in order to address the wide bandwidth requirements of intra-body area networks. We have designed and carried out experiments on an IEEE 802.15.4 based WBAN prototype by measuring the performance of the fat tissue channel in terms of data packet reception with respect to tissue length and power transmission. This paper proposes and demonstrates a high data rate communication channel through fat tissue using phantom and ex-vivo environments. Here, we achieve a data packet reception of approximately 96 % in both environments. The results also show that the received signal strength drops by ∼1 dBm per 10 mm in phantom and ∼2 dBm per 10 mm in ex-vivo. The phantom and ex-vivo experimentations validated our approach for high data rate communication through fat tissue for intra-body network applications. The proposed method opens up new opportunities for further research in fat channel communication. This study will contribute to the successful development of high bandwidth wireless intra-body networks that support high data rate implanted, ingested, injected, or worn devices.

The microwave sensing technique is a possible and attractive alternative modality to standard X-rays, magnetic resonance imaging, and computed tomography methods for medical diagnostic applications. This technique is beneficial since it uses non-ionizing radiation and that can be potentially used for the microwave healthcare system. The main purpose of this paper is to present a microwave sensing technique to analyze the variations in biological tissue thickness, considering the effects of physiological and biological properties on microwave signals. In order to fulfill this goal, we have developed a two-port noninvasive sensor system composed of two split ring resonators (SRRs) operating at an Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) frequency band of 2.45 GHz. The system is verified using the amplitude and phase of the transmitted signal in ex-vivo models, representing different tissue thicknesses. Clinical applications such as the diagnosis of muscular atrophy can be benefitted from this study.

This paper presents numerical modeling and experimental validation of the signal path loss at the 5.8 GHz Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band, performed in the context of fat-intrabody communication (fat-IBC), a novel intrabody communication platform using the body-omnipresent fat tissue as the key wave-guiding medium. Such work extends our previous works at 2.0 and 2.4 GHz in the characterization of its performance in other useful frequency range. In addition, this paper also includes studies of both static and dynamic human body movements. In order to provide with a more comprehensive characterization of the communication performance at this frequency, this work focuses on investigating the path loss at different configurations of fat tissue thickness, antenna polarizations, and locations in the fat channel. We bring more realism to the experimental validation by using excised tissues from porcine cadaver as both their fat and muscle tissues have electromagnetic characteristics similar to those of human with respect to current state-of-art artificial phantom models. Moreover, for favorable signal excitation and reception in the fat-IBC model, we used topology optimized waveguide probes. These probes provide an almost flat response in the frequency range from 3.2 to 7.1 GHz which is higher than previous probes and improve the evaluation of the performance of the fat-IBC model. We also discuss various aspects of real-world scenarios by examining different models, particularly homogeneous multilayered skin, fat, and muscle tissue. To study the effect of dynamic body movements, we examine the impact of misalignment, both in space and in wave polarization, between implanted nodes. We show in particular that the use of fat-IBC techniques can be extended up in frequency to a broadband channel at 5.8 GHz.

In recent research, microwave sensors have been used to follow up the recovery of lower extremity trauma patients. This is done mainly by monitoring the changes of dielectric properties of lower limb tissues such as skin, fat, muscle, and bone. As part of the characterization of the microwave sensor, it is crucial to assess the signal penetration in in vivo tissues. This work presents a new approach for investigating the penetration depth of planar microwave sensors based on the Split-Ring Resonator in the in vivo context of the femoral area. This approach is based on the optimization of a 3D simulation model using the platform of CST Microwave Studio and consisting of a sensor of the considered type and a multilayered material representing the femoral area. The geometry of the layered material is built based on information from ultrasound images and includes mainly the thicknesses of skin, fat, and muscle tissues. The optimization target is the measured S₁₁ parameters at the sensor connector and the fitting parameters are the permittivity of each layer of the material. Four positions in the femoral area (two at distal and two at thigh) in four volunteers are considered for the in vivo study. The penetration depths are finally calculated with the help of the electric field distribution in simulations of the optimized model for each one of the 16 considered positions. The numerical results show that positions at the thigh contribute the highest penetration values of up to 17.5 mm. This finding has a high significance in planning in vitro penetration depth measurements and other tests that are going to be performed in the future.

The potential offered by intra-body communication (IBC) over the past few years has resulted in a spike of interest for the topic, specifically for medical applications. Fat-IBC is subsequently a novel alternative technique that utilizes fat tissue as a communication channel. This work aimed to identify such transmission medium and its performance in varying blood-vessel systems at 2.45 GHz, particularly in the context of IBC and medical applications. It incorporated three-dimensional (3D) electromagnetic simulations and laboratory investigations that implemented models of blood vessels of varying orientations, sizes, and positions. Such investigations were undertaken by using ex-vivo porcine tissues and three blood-vessel system configurations. These configurations represent extreme cases of real-life scenarios that sufficiently elucidated their principal influence on the transmission. The blood-vessel models consisted of ex-vivo muscle tissues and copper rods. The results showed that blood vessels crossing the channel vertically contributed to 5.1 dB and 17.1 dB signal losses for muscle and copper rods, respectively, which is the worst-case scenario in the context of fat-channel with perturbants. In contrast, blood vessels aligned-longitudinally in the channel have less effect and yielded 4.5 dB and 4.2 dB signal losses for muscle and copper rods, respectively. Meanwhile, blood vessels crossing the channel horizontally displayed 3.4 dB and 1.9 dB signal losses for muscle and copper rods, respectively, which were the smallest losses among the configurations. The laboratory investigations were in agreement with the simulations. Thus, this work substantiated fat-IBC signal transmission variability in the context of varying blood vessel configurations.