Design and Analysis of Flexible Microstrip Antenna for Wearable Applications at ISM Band

This paper demonstrates a compact flexible antenna for body-worn applications at the ISM band. The antenna is designed on a non-conducting jeans textile substrate with permittivity (ε
_r
) = 1.6, loss tangent (tanδ) = 0.085. Adhesive copper tape of thickness 0.03mm is utilized as conducting patch and ground. The overall size of the antenna is 0.533λ × 0.533λ × 0.006λ where λ corresponds to the lowest operating frequency. Analysis and simulations are performed using FEM based ANSYS HFSS simulator. Dual-band operation is obtained at frequencies ranging from 1.96-3.22 GHz and 4.76-5.54 GHz. The design is utilized for a wearable application is also analyzed in the closed proximity of the human phantom model to determine the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR). The antenna exhibits SAR 1.33 W/Kg making it suitable for wearable applications.