A 3D-Printed High-Dielectric Filled Elliptical Double-Ridged Horn Antenna for Biomedical Monitoring Applications

Abstract

A novel wideband (WB) 3D-printed elliptical double-ridged horn (EDRH) antenna filled with a high-dielectric material (i.e., a mixture of the paraffin and titanium oxide (TiO 2 )) is proposed for medical monitoring systems. The antenna has been designed and optimized to operate in the frequency range (2-6 GHz) to satisfy an optimal penetration level and to maintain a WB operation, which results in a high-resolution detection. The proposed antenna is embedded into a high-dielectric material to miniaturize its size and to further reduce the reflections due to mismatch with the body. The antenna was tested on tissue models consisting of two layers (i.e., skin and muscle). The reflection coefficients of the antenna, when it is on the modeled tissue, have been generated and compared with the reference of -6 dB. The obtained results show that the antenna benefits from the 4 GHz of bandwidth with a gain of 5-8 dB within the operating region.INDEX TERMS 3D printing, antenna, double-ridged horn, high-dielectric material, WB.

A 3-D-Printed High-Dielectric Materials-Filled Pyramidal Double-Ridged Horn Antenna for Abdominal Fat Measurement System

“…These fluctuations were more evidential in the case of the solid sample TiO2 due to the increased volume of air-gap between the solid sample and the probe. These small air-gap errors are related to resonances due to mismatch and are minimal at lower frequencies due to lower resolution as it increases at higher frequencies, as it is expected [18].…”

“…The extension is proposed to place the antenna close to the far-field region, in order to excite the plane-wave into the monitoring area and to produce a delay to eliminate the reflections overlapping issue [18]. An antenna in the free-space has the wave impedance of 377 ohms, where if the antenna is built or immersed in any dielectric material, the impedance would be different and can be defined by (1) [19] as:…”

“…Moreover, the technique locates the antenna close to the middle or far-field region for a better pulse propagation into the monitoring area. In general, it was concluded that the introduced tapered dielectric extension has made the device more operationally stable and free of any destructive interference signals and noise [18].…”

“…9 (c) [38]. With regard to the minor air gap, the vacuum chamber can be used during the mixing and filling procedures; however, the tiny air gaps can be ignored by the antenna system at the low-frequency range [18]. Fig.…”

“…Various challenges such as fabrication complications, high cost, and high conductivity, have been addressed to finalise a viable design of the material-embedded antenna [18]. In the case of ceramics, the cost of such a high-dielectric one, as well as the fabrication method, have made researchers think of other solutions, such as pure water that has a low-conductivity due to the elimination of particles in water.…”