Measurement, simulation and theory of creeping wave propagations around the human head at 2.45 GHz

The concept of Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) technology holds great potential for many applications such as continuous, remote, healthcare monitoring. Motion activities associated with the head reveal important physiological information about the health of the user. In order to develop a system capable of tracking and characterizing these activities, a fundamental understanding of the propagation medium must be developed. This paper investigates the creeping wave transmission path loss and phase delay of a horizontal path around the human head at 2.45 GHz. Measurements are compared to FEKO simulations and a theoretical model of the same scenario.