Affiliations: [a] Key Lab of Medical Instrumentation and Pharmaceutical Technology of Fujian Province, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China | [b] College of Physics and Information Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China | [c] School of Electrical Engineering and Automation, Xiamen University of Technology, Xiamen, Fujian, China | [d] Key Lab of Eco-Industrial Green Technology of Fujian Province, Nanping, Fujian, China | [e] Laser Precision Machining Engineering Technology Research Center of Fujian Province, Putian, Fujian, China
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Yueming Gao, Key Lab of Medical Instrumentation and Pharmaceutical Technology of Fujian Province, Fuzhou University, Xueyuan Road No. 2, University Town, Fuzhou, Fujian 350116, China. Tel.: +86 13599067568; Fax: +86 591 22863965; E-mail: fzugym@gmail.com.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Implantable medical sensors for monitoring and transmitting physiological signals like blood glucose, blood oxygen, electrocardiogram, and endoscopic video present a new way for health care and disease prevention. Nevertheless, the signals transmitted by implantable sensors undergo significant attenuation as they propagate through various biological tissue layers. OBJECTIVE: This paper mainly aims to investigate the power loss of an out-to-in body wireless radio frequency link at 2.45 GHz. METHODS: Two simulation models including the single-layer human tissue model and three-layer human tissue model were established, applying the finite element method (FEM). Two experiments using physiological saline and excised porcine tissue were conducted to measure the power loss of a wireless radio frequency link at 2.45 GHz. Various communication distances and implantation depths were investigated in our study. RESULTS: The results from our measurements show that each 2 cm increase in implantation depth will result in an additional power loss of about 10 dB. The largest difference in values obtained from the measurements and the simulations is within 4 dB, which indicates that the experiments are in good agreement with the simulations. CONCLUSIONS: These results are significant for the estimate of how electromagnetic energy changes after propagating through human tissues, which can be used as a reference for the link budget of transceivers or other implantable medical devices.
Keywords: Implantable medical sensors, power loss, radio frequency link, finite element method
