Compact low-profile patch antenna for medical body area networks at 868 MHz

An extremely compact patch antenna suitable for use in medical body area network (MBAN) applications is reported. The antenna is loaded with rectangular slots, placed symmetrically on either side of the feed post, and it uses shorting pins to generate an over-the-body-surface propagating mode. Furthermore, from the measured and FDTD simulated results it is verified that for an on-body path the performance of the new antenna was similar to that of a full size lambda/4 monopole. The antenna provided a 2:1 impedance bandwidth of 2.1%. Despite being electrically small and in close proximity to a muscle tissue phantom, the simulated radiation efficiency of the antenna was 54 %.