WBAN Radio Channel Characteristics Between the Endoscope Capsule and on-Body Antenna

Abstract

This paper presents a study on the radio channel characteristics between an endoscope capsule and an on-body antenna in different parts of the small intestine with different onbody antenna location options. The study is conducted using finite integration technique based electromagnetic simulation software CST and one of its anatomical voxels. An endoscope capsule model with a dipole antenna is set inside different areas of the small intestine of the voxel model. A recently published highly-directive on-body antenna designed for on-in-body communications is used in the evaluations. Different rotation angles of the capsule are also considered both with a layer model and a voxel model. It is found that radio channel characteristics vary remarkably depending on the antenna location in the small intestine and location of the on-body antenna. Thus, the on-body antennas should be located carefully to ensure coverage over the whole intestine area. However, the path loss does not only depend on the distance between a capsule and the on-body antenna but also on the tissues between the capsule and onbody antennas. Furthermore, orientation of the capsule has also strong impact when linearly polarized antennas are used.

WBAN Channel Characteristics Between Capsule Endoscope and Receiving Directive UWB On-Body Antennas

“…In this study, we use same simplified capsule model as in [18] and [19], where the details of the model can be found. This section only briefly summarizes the main characteristics of the model.…”

“…7a-b. The channel evaluations between the capsule endoscope and this reference on-body antenna are presented in [19]. The main difference between the Ring antenna and the reference antenna is in the sizes of the cavities.…”

“…Thus, there are several WBAN channel models and propagation studies presented in the literature for wearable and implant communication systems in the human abdomen area [5], [6], [8]- [18]. Furthermore, the research in antenna design, both for capsule antennas as well as for on-body receiver antennas, has been active recently [19]- [28]. Channel characteristics between the capsule antenna and on-body antenna is studied, e.g., in [5], [6], [19].…”

“…Furthermore, the research in antenna design, both for capsule antennas as well as for on-body receiver antennas, has been active recently [19]- [28]. Channel characteristics between the capsule antenna and on-body antenna is studied, e.g., in [5], [6], [19]. In-body power distribution in the abdominal area was studied in more details in [18].…”

“…An impact of the rotation angle of the capsule studied as well. The paper compares the results with capsule-on-body antenna channel evaluations presented in [19] using an on-body antenna introduced in [26].…”