Design and Performance Evaluation of a Flexible Four-Element MIMO Antenna for Biomedical Applications.
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| Title: | Design and Performance Evaluation of a Flexible Four-Element MIMO Antenna for Biomedical Applications. |
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| Authors: | Soundararajan, Immanuel Prabaharan1 imman.amet@gmail.com, Subramoniam, Muthurajan2, Kulandaivel, Arul3, Dhandapani, Rajeshkumar4 |
| Source: | Progress in Electromagnetics Research C. 2026, Vol. 169, p155-169. 15p. |
| Subjects: | Antenna design, Bioelectronics, Conformal antennas, Bandwidths, Body area networks |
| Abstract: | A compact, low-profile, and highly isolated four-element flexible MIMO antenna for biomedical body-centric wireless applications is proposed and experimentally validated. The antenna is realized on a 75 x 75 x 1 mm³ ultra-low permittivity felt substrate (εr = 1.2, tan δ = 0.0013) and incorporates a perturbed circular slot with rectangular defected ground stubs to simultaneously enhance impedance bandwidth and inter-element isolation. The proposed design achieves a measured -10 dB impedance bandwidth of 320 MHz (2.20-2.52 GHz), corresponding to a fractional bandwidth of 13.3% centered at 2.4 GHz ISM band. The four-element MIMO configuration exhibits isolation better than 25 dB despite an edge-to-edge spacing of only 1 mm, demonstrating strong mutual coupling suppression without additional decoupling structures. The antenna provides a peak gain of 2.8 dBi and achieves a peak radiation efficiency of 95%, with an efficiency of 92.5% under flat conditions (R = 0 mm). Envelope correlation coefficient (ECC) remains below 0.01, ensuring excellent diversity performance. Under conformal bending conditions (R = 10-60 mm), the antenna maintains stable resonance with only 1.6% frequency deviation, while gain and efficiency remain above 2.21 dBi and 84.58%, respectively, demonstrating robust mechanical resilience. On-body evaluations over arm, leg, and chest phantoms indicate stable operation within 2.35-2.49 GHz, with gain varying between 1.87 and 2.01 dBi and efficiency above 87.15%. The maximum measured SAR is 5.98 W/kg (1 g tissue), confirming acceptable safety compliance for wearable biomedical applications. Measured S-parameters and radiation patterns show strong agreement with simulations, validating the proposed slot-ground co-engineering methodology. Compared to existing wearable ISM antennas, the proposed design offers isolation > 25 dB, high efficiency (95%), mechanical flexibility, and compact form factor without requiring complex EBG or AMC structures. The antenna is therefore a strong candidate for next-generation flexible biomedical MIMO systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Progress in Electromagnetics Research C is the property of Electromagnetics Academy and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Engineering Source |
| FullText | Links: – Type: pdflink Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: egs DbLabel: Engineering Source An: 193720671 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Design and Performance Evaluation of a Flexible Four-Element MIMO Antenna for Biomedical Applications. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Soundararajan%2C+Immanuel+Prabaharan%22">Soundararajan, Immanuel Prabaharan</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> imman.amet@gmail.com</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Subramoniam%2C+Muthurajan%22">Subramoniam, Muthurajan</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Kulandaivel%2C+Arul%22">Kulandaivel, Arul</searchLink><relatesTo>3</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Dhandapani%2C+Rajeshkumar%22">Dhandapani, Rajeshkumar</searchLink><relatesTo>4</relatesTo> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Progress+in+Electromagnetics+Research+C%22">Progress in Electromagnetics Research C</searchLink>. 2026, Vol. 169, p155-169. 15p. – Name: Subject Label: Subjects Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Antenna+design%22">Antenna design</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Bioelectronics%22">Bioelectronics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Conformal+antennas%22">Conformal antennas</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Bandwidths%22">Bandwidths</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Body+area+networks%22">Body area networks</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: A compact, low-profile, and highly isolated four-element flexible MIMO antenna for biomedical body-centric wireless applications is proposed and experimentally validated. The antenna is realized on a 75 x 75 x 1 mm³ ultra-low permittivity felt substrate (εr = 1.2, tan δ = 0.0013) and incorporates a perturbed circular slot with rectangular defected ground stubs to simultaneously enhance impedance bandwidth and inter-element isolation. The proposed design achieves a measured -10 dB impedance bandwidth of 320 MHz (2.20-2.52 GHz), corresponding to a fractional bandwidth of 13.3% centered at 2.4 GHz ISM band. The four-element MIMO configuration exhibits isolation better than 25 dB despite an edge-to-edge spacing of only 1 mm, demonstrating strong mutual coupling suppression without additional decoupling structures. The antenna provides a peak gain of 2.8 dBi and achieves a peak radiation efficiency of 95%, with an efficiency of 92.5% under flat conditions (R = 0 mm). Envelope correlation coefficient (ECC) remains below 0.01, ensuring excellent diversity performance. Under conformal bending conditions (R = 10-60 mm), the antenna maintains stable resonance with only 1.6% frequency deviation, while gain and efficiency remain above 2.21 dBi and 84.58%, respectively, demonstrating robust mechanical resilience. On-body evaluations over arm, leg, and chest phantoms indicate stable operation within 2.35-2.49 GHz, with gain varying between 1.87 and 2.01 dBi and efficiency above 87.15%. The maximum measured SAR is 5.98 W/kg (1 g tissue), confirming acceptable safety compliance for wearable biomedical applications. Measured S-parameters and radiation patterns show strong agreement with simulations, validating the proposed slot-ground co-engineering methodology. Compared to existing wearable ISM antennas, the proposed design offers isolation > 25 dB, high efficiency (95%), mechanical flexibility, and compact form factor without requiring complex EBG or AMC structures. The antenna is therefore a strong candidate for next-generation flexible biomedical MIMO systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Progress in Electromagnetics Research C is the property of Electromagnetics Academy and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.2528/PIERC26021803 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 15 StartPage: 155 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Antenna design Type: general – SubjectFull: Bioelectronics Type: general – SubjectFull: Conformal antennas Type: general – SubjectFull: Bandwidths Type: general – SubjectFull: Body area networks Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Design and Performance Evaluation of a Flexible Four-Element MIMO Antenna for Biomedical Applications. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Soundararajan, Immanuel Prabaharan – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Subramoniam, Muthurajan – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Kulandaivel, Arul – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Dhandapani, Rajeshkumar IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 07 Text: 2026 Type: published Y: 2026 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 19378718 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 169 Titles: – TitleFull: Progress in Electromagnetics Research C Type: main |
| ResultId | 1 |
