Applications of Backscatter Communications for Healthcare Networks

Backscatter communication is expected to help in revitalizing the domain of healthcare through its myriad applications. From on-body sensors to in-body implants and miniature embeddable devices, there are many potential use cases that can leverage the miniature and low-powered nature of backscatter devices. However, the existing literature lacks a comprehensive study that provides a distilled review of the latest studies on backscatter communications from the healthcare perspective. Thus, with the objective to promote the utility of backscatter communication in healthcare, this article aims to identify specific applications of backscatter systems. A detailed taxonomy of recent studies and gap analysis for future research directions are provided in this work. Finally, we conduct measurements at 590 MHz in different propagation environments with the in-house designed backscatter device. The link budget results show the promise of backscatter devices to communicate over large distances for indoor environments, which demonstrates its potential in the healthcare system.