A planar, via-less zeroth-order antenna for wearable electrocardiography

Wireless medical telemetry service is one of the fastest emerging technologies in healthcare industries worldwide. In addition, the proliferation of smartphones is currently serving as a catalyst to the increasing growth in this sector. Based on a secure, close-range wireless body area network (WBAN) which relays the patient's physiological information to a nearby cellular device, a real-time monitoring system for those who require a relatively close medical attention can be realized. Among the physiological parameters, the pulse and the respiration rates are important indicators for wide range of healthcare applications ranging from recreational sports to wireless medical monitoring. Despite the significant advantages, the technical challenges of devising a wearable, sturdy health monitoring device with a reliable radio must be fully resolved. When operating at the industrial, medical and scientific (ISM) radio band, the antenna is expected to be one of the largest components within the device. It is imperative for the antenna to remain low-profile and yet be capable of exhibiting efficient radiation characteristics albeit the detrimental effects of the user's body on the antenna matching and radiation.