Analysis and estimation of intra-body communications path loss for galvanic coupling

Abstract

The desire to have ultra-compact, low power patient monitoring techniques that include intercommunicating wearable and implanted sensors/actuators encourages researchers to develop new communication methods that can replace current Radio Frequency (RF) wireless communication links. RF links require power and area hungry analog circuitry that limits the usability of such systems. This paper evaluates different techniques for Intra-body communication (IBC) where the signal is coupled galvanically to the human tissue. Finite element method (FEM) technique is utilized to determine the path loss of the human channel (human arm model) and to examine the current density distribution in human tissues using both a full and a reduced order model. In addition, we investigate the effect of bone fracture internal fixation implant effect on the channel parameters.