Fat in the Abdomen Area as a Propagation Medium in WBAN Applications

Abstract

This paper presents a study on the fat in the abdomen area as a propagation medium in wearable and implant communications systems. Propagation via subcutaneous and visceral fat is considered separately. Simulations and measurements are done for both female and male bodies with the on-body antennas designed for in-body communications. Propagation paths are calculated and compared with the simulated and measured impulse responses. Furthermore, we analyze simulated 2D power flow figures, which illustrate the propagation inside the different tissues. It is shown that the signal propagates through the fat layer with minor losses compared to the other tissues of the studied cases. The signal propagates through the fat tissue from the abdomen area to the backside of person with 60 dB power loss. Additionally, the calculated fat layer propagation paths match well with the peaks of the simulated and measured impulse responses. The information about the fat as propagation medium is useful when designing the wireless and wired medical and health monitoring devices.