Malik, N. A., Sant, P., Ajmal, T. and Ur Rehman, M.

(2020) Implantable
antennas for bio-medical applications. IEEE Journal of Electromagnetics,
RF, and Microwaves in Medicine and Biology, (doi:
10.1109/JERM.2020.3026588).

This is the author’s final accepted version.

There may be differences between this version and the published version.
You are advised to consult the publisher’s version if you wish to cite from
it.

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Implantable Antennas for Bio-medical Applications

Nabeel Ahmed Malik, Student Member, IEEE, Paul Sant, Member, IEEE, Tahmina Ajmal, Member, IEEE,
and Masood Ur-Rehman, Senior Member, IEEE

Antenna design considerations for implantable devices in remote telehealth systems

Take-Home Messages
• Implantable sensors are pivotal to telehealth systems enabling continuous monitoring of a patient’s vital health
signs wirelessly.
• Antennas are an integral element of these systems whose design is a complex task due to harsh and highly
volatile in-body environment and requirements of robust and reliable performance while offering miniature
structure, patient safety and biocompatibility.
• A comprehensive critical review on the antenna design for implantable medical devices highlighting
requirements, challenges, antenna types and human body effects on their performance shows that slotted patch
antennas operating at higher frequencies can serve the purpose optimally.
• The slotted patch antenna designed in the light of recommendations made offers a small size of 7.5×5×0.25
mm3 with a -10 dB bandwidth of 25 MHz, a near-omnidirectional pattern and a gain of 1.7 dBi.
• The paper can serve as a reference for the antenna designers working in the field of implantable devices
providing state-of-the-art, current advancements, requirements, challenges as well as design rules.
IEEE JOURNAL OF ELECTROMAGNETICS, RF AND MICROWAVES IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 1

Implantable Antennas for Bio-medical Applications

Nabeel Ahmed Malik, Student Member, IEEE, Paul Sant, Member, IEEE, Tahmina Ajmal, Member, IEEE,
and Masood Ur-Rehman, Senior Member, IEEE

Abstract—Biomedical telemetry has gained a lot of attention with the development in the healthcare industry. This technology has
made it feasible to monitor the physiological signs of patient remotely without traditional hospital appointments and follow up routine
check-ups. Implantable Medical Devices (IMDs) play an important role to monitor the patients through wireless telemetry. IMDs
consist of nodes and implantable sensors in which antenna is a major component. The implantable sensors suffer a lot of limitations.
Various factors need to be considered for the implantable sensors such as miniaturization, patient safety, bio-compatibility, low
power consumption, lower frequency band of operation and dual-band operation to have a robust and continuous operation. The
selection of the antenna is a challenging task in implantable sensor design as it dictates performance of the whole implant. In this
paper a critical review on implantable antennas for biomedical applications is presented.
Keywords—Implantable medical devices, Implantable sensors and antennas, Body centric wireless networks, Biomedical telemetry.
.

I. I NTRODUCTION

W IRELESS communication technologies have experi-

enced a huge development in recent years. Growth in
portable and wearable wireless devices has made Body-centric
applications an integral part of our daily life resulting in vastly
growing field of Body-centric Wireless Networks (BCWNs).
On-body, off-body and in-body communications are different
forms of body centric wireless communications [1]. Wearable Fig. 1: Remote healthcare using implantable devices [8].
devices exhibit on-body communication. The communication
between an on-body device and external device is referred as
off-body communication. The in-body communication consists unit where post processing is done to analyze the patient data
of an implantable device and an external device for health by medical experts for an appropriate treatment. These health
monitoring [2]. For Body-centric wireless communication monitoring systems are very useful in diagnosing some life-
networks, antennas and propagation play an important role threatening diseases such as cancer and diabetes in their early
because the antenna either work as transmitting or receiving stages and reduce the cost and trouble of keeping the patient
antenna. So, if the performance of the antenna is not good it in hospitals significantly. A remote healthcare scenario using
will affect the performance of whole system. an implantable device is shown in Fig. 1. [8].
In biomedical telemetry, the IMDs are capable of monitoring The IMDs also help in treatment and prevention of strokes
patient physiological data wirelessly in real time [3], [4]. IMDs and heart attacks. Blood sugar level, blood glucose level and
have many applications in these systems such as hyperthermia other bio physical parameters can also be monitored using
for cancer treatment, remote drug delivery and vital signs implantable medical devices. Other applications of medical
monitoring [5]–[7]. The implantable devices are placed inside implants in everyday human life for healthcare monitoring
the body where they monitor bio-signals (such as blood include pacemakers, defibrillators, implantable glucose sen-
pressure and temperature signals) and send the information to sors, pressure sensors and capsule pills, functional electrical
the external device. They operate at either of Medical Device stimulators (FES), cochlear and retinal implants, hypopnea
Radio band (MedRad) (401-406, 413-419, 426-432, 438-444, syndrome diagnosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
451-457 MHz, Medical Implantable Communication Service warning etc. [8]–[16]. Implantable devices are made up of
(MICS) (402-405 MHz) or Industrial, Scientific and Medical many components including antenna, battery and sensors. Re-
(ISM) (2.45 GHz) band frequencies [8]. The external device liability and robustness of the communication link between the
can be used to process the information, transmit signal to internal and external device depends largely on the implantable
implantable device such as wakeup signals and wireless power antenna. The antenna is a major building block of an im-
transfer for RF energy harvesting. It receives the information plantable device as the basic operational requirement of signal
from the implantable device and send it to the monitoring reception and transmission depends largely on the antenna
working. Moreover, it also affects the overall size and weight
Nabeel Ahmed Malik, Paul Sant and Tahmina Ajmal are with the School
of Computer Science and Technology, University of Bedfordshire, Luton of the implantable device. Furthermore, electromagnetically
LU1 3JU, UK (email: nabeel.malik@study.beds.ac.uk, paul.sant@beds.ac.uk, very harsh and lossy environment inside the human body also
tahmina.ajmal@beds.ac.uk adds to the design complexity.
Masood Ur-Rehman is with the James Watt School of Engineer-
ing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK (email: ma- Research in this area is growing but need a good overview
sood.urrehman@glasgow.ac.uk). to make the antenna designers familiar with the state-of-the-
IEEE JOURNAL OF ELECTROMAGNETICS, RF AND MICROWAVES IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 2

art and recent developments. This paper attempts to provide frequency bands of 403-405 MHz, 433.1-434.8 MHz, 868-
a comprehensive review of the requirements and challenges 868.6 MHz, 902.8-928.0 MHz and 2.4-2.48 GHz as shown
and various techniques employed to meet them in the field of in Fig. 2 [22]. It exhibits a radiation efficiency of 80% with
implantable antennas. Following the introduction in this sec- a bandwidth of 168.85% whereas the gain of the antenna is
tion, the paper is divided in seven sections. Section II briefly not reported. A flexible antenna using Poly-dimethyl Siloxane
highlights the use of implantable sensors in medical devices. (PMDS) with ✏r =2.8 as base material is proposed by Fu et al.
Section III discusses various types of antennas being used in [23]. The overall dimensions of the antenna are 11⇥11⇥2 mm3 .
such implantable sensors and compare their performance in The antenna center frequency is 2.42 GHz with realized gain
a critical way. Antenna design requirements and challenges of -20.8 dBi. It has a bandwidth of 10.4% while the efficiency
based on the reviewed types are summarised in Section IV is not reported. The antenna measurements were taken using
along with possible solutions. Section V details the effects of single layer tissue model having dimensions of 150⇥150⇥90
human body presence on the antenna parameters. Section VII mm3 with ✏r = 37.88 and =1.44 S/m at 2.42 GHz.
presents the design and analyses of a miniaturized implantable Shah et al. have proposed a meandered line implantable
antenna aimed to meet the discussed key requirements in antenna for intracranial pressure monitoring at 915 MHz and
earlier sections. Finally conclusions are made in Section VIII. 2.45 GHz [24]. The antenna has a volume of 8⇥6⇥0.5 mm3
and uses Rogers 6010 as the substrate. For biocompatibility, it
II. I MPLANTABLE S ENSORS AND A NTENNAS is encapsulated in ceramic alumina. Human skin tissue model
with dimensions of 200⇥200⇥200 mm3 is used to test the
Various implantable sensors are presented in the literature. performance. The antenna has a gain and bandwidth of -28.5
A wireless implantable device based on magnetoelectric (ME) dBi and 9.84% at 915MHz and -22.8 dBi and 8.57% at 2.45
antennas named as NanoNeuro Radio Frequency Identification GHz while efficiency is not reported. A meander line antenna
(RFID) is proposed in [17] for neural recording. An array of for pacemaker application operating at 402.5 MHz with a
ME antennas is used in this sensor because of their smaller size bandwidth of 33.5% is proposed by Samsuri et al. in [25].
enabling miniaturization of the sensor. The ME antennas can The antenna is designed on FR-4 substrate with ✏r =4.7 and tan
also harvest energy which increases the sensor lifetime. A dual =0.025 having a size of 30.5⇥21.02⇥6.4 mm3 . The antenna
band antenna is designed based on impulse radio technology structure and surface current density is shown in Fig. 3 [25].
for wireless capsule endoscopic image transmission system Maity et al. have proposed a microstrip patch antenna
in [18]. The antenna is fed by a battery powered radio with fractal geometry in [26]. The antenna has a volume of
transceiver. The antenna received power is used to estimate 11.44⇥11.44⇥0.275 mm3 and Silicon with ✏r =11.7 is used
the image transmission requirement of the system. In [19], as the substrate. Gain and efficiency of the antenna are not
a miniaturized four element Multiple Input Multiple Output reported while the bandwidth is 1.5%. The geometry and
(MIMO) antenna with EBG for implantable medical devices radiation pattern of the antenna are shown in Fig. 4 [26].
is proposed. The antenna is tested in pork slab and operates in
the ISM band with dimensions of 18.5⇥18.5⇥1.27 mm3 and
a peak gain of -15 dBi. Utilization of implantable antenna for B. Wire Antennas
oral cancer detection is presented in [20] employing a Planar A circularly polarized (CP) helical implantable antenna for
Inverted F Antenna (PIFA). The CST voxel model Katja is ingestible capsule application is proposed in [27]. The antenna
used to design the human mouth. Resonant frequency showed operates at 2.4 GHz with a gain of -19.83 dBi and bandwidth
a considerable shift when a malignant tissue is detected. An of 290 MHz. The 3D capsule model and reflection coefficient
implantable RFID sensor tag for continuous glucose moni- of the antenna are given in Fig. 5 [27].
toring is discussed in [21]. This sensor system is powered
by an inductive link and consists of multiple units including
RFID tag, ferrite antenna, glucose sensor, potentiostat, Analog-
to-Digital converter (ADC), temperature sensor and a digital
baseband for signal processing. The glucose sensor has a range
of 0-30 mm. It is evident that implantable antennas play a
pivotal role in these applications as implantable sensors have
a large dependency on the antennas.

III. T YPES OF IMPLANTABLE ANTENNAS

There are different types of implantable antennas depending
on the application. Key types are discussed in this section.

A. Planar Antennas (a)

(b)
A probe-fed wideband implantable antenna with dimensions
of 12⇥7.5⇥0.25 mm3 using Rogers 6010 LM (with ✏r =10.2) Fig. 2: (a) Geometry of probe-fed wideband implantable
substrate is proposed in [22]. The antenna operates in five antenna (b) Radiation pattern of the antenna [22].
IEEE JOURNAL OF ELECTROMAGNETICS, RF AND MICROWAVES IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 3

(a) (b) (a) (b)

Fig. 3: (a) Structure implantable meander line antenna (b) Fig. 6: (a) Structure of implantable helical antenna using two
Surface current density of the antenna at 402.5 MHz [25]. layers of magnetic sheets (b) Reflection coefficient [28].

(a) (b) (a) (b)

Fig. 4: (a) Geometry of the implantable fractal patch antenna Fig. 7: (a) Conical spiral implantable antenna geometry (b)
(b) Radiation pattern of the antenna at 2.45 GHz. [26]. Reflection coefficient of the antenna [29].

Xin et al. have designed a 3 cm long helical antenna in is 14.2⇥16.64⇥0.254 mm3 . The antenna offers a gain and
[28]. To achieve the dual resonance, two non-equally spaced bandwidth of -29.1 dBi and 31% . The efficiency of antenna
helical copper foil layers are used. The antenna is tested in is not reported. The antenna is tested using muscle phantom
a 28⇥16⇥28 cm3 phantom model with ✏r =56.05 and =0.52 having dimensions of 100⇥100⇥100 mm3 with ✏r =52.74 and
S/m at 30 MHz. The gain of the antenna is -67 dBi while the =1.74 S/m. The geometry and reflection coefficient of the
impedance bandwidth is 48.21%. Geometry and S11 curve of antenna are illustrated in Fig. 8 [30].
the antenna are shown in Fig. 6 [28]. In [31], a conformal patch antenna operating at 2.48 GHz
A 50 ⌦ coaxial probe fed conical spiral antenna operating is presented by Ketavath et al. The high permittivity substrate
at 450 MHz with a bandwidth of 10 MHz is presented in employed has ✏r =10.2 with tan=0.008 making the overall
[29]. The gain and efficiency of the antenna are not listed. A dimensions of the antenna as 24⇥22⇥0.07 mm3 . The antenna
liquid phantom with ✏r =56 and =0.83 S/m is used for the gain and bandwidth are -19.7 dBi and 24%. The geometry and
measurements. The antenna design and reflection coefficient S11 of the proposed antenna are illustrated in Fig. 9 [31].
are shown in Fig. 7 [29].
Zhang et al. have proposed a differentially fed antenna for
ingestible capsule system in [32]. Polyimide with ✏r =3.5 and
C. Conformal Antennas tan=0.008 is used as substrate with thickness of 0.15 mm.
A conformal CP implantable antenna operating at 2.45 GHz The antenna operates at 915 MHz with a gain of -21 dBi and
and using Rogers RO6010 as substrate with ✏r =10.2 and
tan=0.0023 is discussed in [30]. The size of the antenna

(a) (b) (a) (b)

Fig. 5: (a) Structure of helical antenna for ingestible capsule Fig. 8: (a) Geometry of implantable CP conformal antenna (b)
(b) Reflection coefficient of the antenna [27]. Reflection coefficient of the antenna [30].
IEEE JOURNAL OF ELECTROMAGNETICS, RF AND MICROWAVES IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 4

(b)
(b)
(a) (a)
Fig. 9: (a) Geometry of implantable conformal patch antenna Fig. 12: (a) Top and side view of the implantable CP ring
(b) S11 curve of the antenna [31]. antenna (b) Radiation pattern of the antenna at 2.45 GHz [34].

(a) (b)
(a) (b)
Fig. 10: (a) Reflection coefficient of differentially fed im-
plantable antenna in flat and conformal form (b) Radiation Fig. 13: (a) Structure of implantable spiral antenna (b) Reflec-
patterns of the antenna at 915 MHz [26]. tion coefficient with different ground planes [35].

bandwidth of 8.9%. Efficiency of the antenna is not reported. A triband spiral shaped implantable antenna with slotted
The reflection coefficient and radiation pattern of the antenna ground operating at 402 MHz, 1.6 GHz and 2.45 GHz (Fig.
are depicted in Fig. 10 [32]. 13) is discussed by Shah et al. [35]. The size of the antenna is
A hexagon bow-tie patch antenna using Al2 O3 with ✏r =9.8 7⇥6.5⇥0.377 mm3 while Rogers RT/Duroid 6010 with ✏r =10.2
as substrate operating at 2.45 GHz is proposed by Mahalak- and tan=0.0035 is used as superstrate and substrate. The gain
shmi et al. in [33] as shown in Fig. 11. The antenna has of the antenna at the three frequencies is noted to be -30.5 dBi,
dimensions of 10⇥10⇥1 mm3 and offers a gain of -14.5 dBi. -22.6 dBi, -18.2 dBi, respectively while it has a bandwidth of
36.8%, 10.8% and 3.4% respectively. Efficiency of the antenna
D. Spiral Antennas is not reported.
Smantha et al. have proposed a dual band CP antenna having
A CP ring antenna is proposed by Xu et al. [34]. The a size of 10⇥10⇥0.6 mm3 in [36]. The antenna is operating
antenna operates at 2.45 GHz with a size of ⇡⇥52⇥1.27 mm3 . at 902 MHz and 2.45 GHz and makes use of Rogers 3010 as
It uses Rogers 3010 with ✏r =10.23, tan=0.0035 and thickness reactive impedance substrate with ✏r =10.2 and tan=0.0035.
of 0.635 mm as substrate (Fig. 12). The antenna is tested using The antenna gain, bandwidth and efficiency at 920 MHz are
muscle tissues with ✏r =52.7 and =1.74 S/m. It offers a gain -29.33 dBi, 12.2% and 2.6% while these parameters at 2.45
of 22.7 dBi and bandwidth of 12.4 %. The efficiency of the GHz are -21.0 dBi, 123% and 3.8% as given in Fig. 14. Skin
antenna is not reported. mimicking gel is used to test the antenna.
A CP loop antenna is proposed by Xu et al. in [37]. The
substrate and superstrate material for this antenna is 0.635
mm Roger 3010 with ✏r =10.2 and tan =0.0035. The size
of the antenna is 13⇥13⇥1.27 mm3 with center frequency of
915 MHz (Fig. 15). The antenna has a gain of -32 dBi and
bandwidth of 18.2%. It is tested in skin tissue model, minced
pork and skin mimicking gel.

(a) (b)
E. Slot Antennas
Fig. 11: (a) Structure of the implantable bow-tie antenna (b) A coplanar waveguide fed triangular slot antenna is pro-
S11 curve of the antenna [33]. posed in [38]. The antenna has a size of 10⇥10⇥0.65 mm3
IEEE JOURNAL OF ELECTROMAGNETICS, RF AND MICROWAVES IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 5

(a)
(a) (b) (b)
Fig. 14: (a) Geometry of implantable dual band CP antenna Fig. 17: (a) Geometry of implantable flexible metamaterial
(b) Radiation pattern of the antenna at 920MHz (c) Radiation antenna (b) Reflection coefficient [39].
pattern at 2.45 GHz [36].

(a) (b) (a) (b)

Fig. 15: (a) Structure of implantable loop antenna (b) Reflec- Fig. 18: (a) Geometry of implantable broadband PIFA antenna
tion coefficient [37]. (b) Radiation pattern of the antenna at 402 MHz [41].

with a resonant frequency of 2.45 GHz as shown in Fig. 16. is -27 dBi and it exhibits a bandwidth of 1.53%. The antenna
Al2 O3 is used as substrate and the antenna is tested in liquid is tested using skin phantom (✏r =41.35 and =0.87 S/m).
phantom showing a peak gain of -6 dBi and a bandwidth of
8.2%. The radiation efficiency of antenna is 0.4%.
A wideband flexible antenna is presented in [39] by Das F. Planar Inverted F Antennas (PIFA)
et al. The antenna is designed on Kapton polyimide substrate
A compact broadband implantable PIFA having a size of
having ✏r =2.91 and tan =0.005. Rogers 6010 with ✏r =10.2
23⇥16.4⇥1.27 mm3 and operating at 402 MHz is proposed in
and tan=0.0023 is used as superstrate. A metamaterial array
[41]. The substrate has ✏r =10.2 and tan=0.0023. A gain of
is used at the top of the superstrate to enhance the gain. The
-34.9 dBi and bandwidth of 52 MHz is being achieved by the
antenna has dimensions of 10⇥10⇥0.4 mm3 operating at 2.45
antenna as sown in Fig. 18.
GHz as illustrated in Fig. 17. It offers a bandwidth of 57%,
a gain of -9 dBi and efficiency of 2.3%. A CP implantable Luo et al. have designed a PIFA with slotted ground plane
slot antenna operating at 915 MHz is discussed in [40]. The in [42]. The antenna makes use of 0.635 mm thick layer
antenna size is 15⇥15⇥1.27 mm3 and it uses Rogers 3010 of Rogers 3010 (✏r =10.2 and tan=0.005) as substrate and
(✏r =10.2 and tan=0.0035) as substrate. Gain of the antenna superstrate with an overall size of ⇡ ⇥ 5.352 ⇥1.34 mm3 . The
antenna resonates at 402 MHz and 2.45 GHz Fig. 19. The gain
and bandwidth of the antenna at 402 MHz are -41 dBi and
41% while these parameters are -21.3 dBi and 27.8% at 2.45
GHz. Minced pork is used for the measurements.

IV. I MPLANTABLE A NTENNA D ESIGN : R EQUIREMENTS

AND C HALLENGES

It is established from the discussion in earlier sections that

the operation of implantable antennas within the human body
(a) (b) is completely different from those of conventional antennas
operating in free space. Though, sometimes their design
Fig. 16: (a) Geometry implantable triangular slot antenna (b) requirements are application dependent, some key design
Reflection coefficient [38]. provisions are common and are discussed here in this section.
IEEE JOURNAL OF ELECTROMAGNETICS, RF AND MICROWAVES IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 6

TABLE I: Comparative analysis of implantable antennas.

Reference Antenna type Volume fo Gain Bandwidth ⌘ Substrate
(mm3 ) (GHz) (dBi) (%) (%)
[23] Flexible 11⇥11⇥2 2.42 -20.8 10.4 - PMDS
antenna ✏r =2.8
[24] Patch antenna 8⇥6⇥0.5 0.915; 2.45 -28.5; 9.84; 8.57 - ✏r =10.2;
-22.8 tan=0.0023
[26] patch antenna 11.44⇥11.44⇥ 2.45 - 1.5 - Silicon
0.275 ✏r =11.7
[25] Meander line 30.5⇥21.02⇥ 0.4025 - 33.5 - FR-4
antenna 6.4 ✏r =4.7;
tan=0.025
[30] Conformal CP 14.2⇥ 2.45 -29.1 31 - ✏r =10.2;
antenna 16.64⇥0.254 tan=0.0022
[31] Patch antenna 24⇥22⇥0.07 2.48 -19.7 24 - ✏r =3.5;
tan=0.008
[32] Conformal an- 34.5⇥5.8⇥0.15 0.915 -21 8.9 - ✏r =3.5;
tenna tan=0.008
[33] Bow-tie 10⇥10⇥1 2.43 -14.5 - - Al2 O3
antenna ✏r =9.8;
tan =0.001
[34] Ring antenna ⇡⇥52⇥1.27 2.45 -22.7 12.4 - ✏r =10.2;
tan=0.0035
[35] Spiral shape 7⇥6.5⇥0.377 0.402; 1.6; 2.45 -30.5;- 36.8; - ✏r =10.2;
22.6;- 10.8; 3.4 tan=0.0035
18.2
[36] Loop antenna 10⇥10⇥0.6 0.92; 2.45 -29.33;- 12.2; 123 2.6; 3.8 ✏r =10.2;
21.0 tan=0.0035
[37] Loop antenna 13⇥13⇥1.27 0.915 -32 18.2 - ✏r =10.2;
tan=0.0035
[38] Triangular slot 10⇥10⇥0.65 2.45 7.9 7 0.5 Al2 O3
antenna ✏r =9.8;
tan =0.001
[39] Slot antenna 10⇥10⇥0.4 2.45 -9 57 2.3 ✏r =2.91;
tan= 0.005
[40] CP antenna 15⇥15⇥1.27 0.915 -27 1.53 - ✏r =10.2;
tan=0.0022
[41] PIFA 23⇥16.4⇥1.27 0.402 -34.9 0.13 - ✏r =10.2;
tan=0.0023
[42] PIFA ⇡⇥5.35⇥1.34 0.402; 2.45 -41; -21.3 41; 27.8 - ✏r =10.2;
tan=0.005
[43] CP antenna 11⇥11⇥1.27 0.915 -29 1.2 23 ✏r =10.2;
tan=0.0023
[44] Circular ⇡⇥7.52⇥1.92 0.4035; - 28; 10 - ✏r =10.2;
antenna 0.4339; tan=0.0022
2.45
[45] Flowershape- 7⇥7.2⇥0.2 0.928;2.45 -28.44;- 19.8; 8.9 - ✏r =2.9;
antenna 25.65 tan=0.0025
[46] SRR Antenna 10⇥12⇥1.27 0.420; 2.45 - 34.5; 58.5 - ✏r =10.2;
tan=0.0023
[47] Clover slot an- 14⇥12⇥0.8 2.45 -6 7.3 - Al2 O3
tenna ✏r =9.8;
tan =0.001
[48] Ferrite 10⇥10⇥1.28 2.45 -17 - - ✏r =10.2;
antenna tan=0.0022
[49] CP antenna 10⇥10⇥1.27 2.45 -22.33 14.03 - ✏r =10.2;
tan=0.003
[50] USlot antenna 29⇥29⇥0.5 2.45 - 8.5 - ✏r =10.2
[51] Bowtie 26⇥22⇥0.65 2.45 7.7 6 0.2 -
antenna
[52] Monopole an- 18⇥24⇥1 2.4 2.5 - - ✏r =28
tenna
[53] Meander slot 12.5⇥14.7⇥1.27 2.45 16.9 5.7 98 ✏r =10.2;
antenna tan=0.0023
IEEE JOURNAL OF ELECTROMAGNETICS, RF AND MICROWAVES IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 7

radiators are stacked one above the other, either vertically or

horizontally [61]. A size reduction of 33% can be achieved
through this technique.

4) Inductive/Capacitive Loading: Loading technique

can be used to get the impedance matching at the desired
frequency of operation. The loading could be inductive or
capacitive which would minimize the imaginary part of the
impedance helping in the size reduction. Inductive loading
technique has been used in [62]. In [63], the capacitive
(a) (b) loading technique is used to achieve the size reduction. Using
inductive/capacitive loading can result in 72% reduction in
Fig. 19: (a) Structure of implantable PIFA with slotted ground
the antenna size.
plane (b) Radiation pattern at 2.45 GHz [42].
5) Use of Higher Operating Frequency: The easiest way
to reduce the size of the antenna is to use a higher operating
A. Miniautrization
frequency [1], [64]. If the size of the antenna is reduced,
The implantable antenna is a major component of an im- the resonant frequency of the antenna will shift to a higher
plantable device so the miniaturization of the implantable an- value and vice versa. The problem with the higher frequency
tenna is a very crucial factor. The implantable antennas operate operation is that the losses are more which affect the overall
in Medical Implantable Communication Service (MICS) band performance of the system. Since, the implantable antennas
(402 – 405 MHz), Medical Device Radio Communication Ser- operate in three frequency bands which are MICS band,
vice (MedRadio) band (401 MHz – 406 MHz) and Industrial, MedRadio band and ISM band [65], [66], the MICS band is
Scientific and Medical (ISM) band (902 – 928 MHz) and (2.4 more commonly used to avoid the increased level of losses.
– 2.45 GHz) [54], [55], [56].
There are different miniaturization techniques being em- 6) Engineering Ground Plane: Impedance matching plays
ployed to reduce the antenna size. Some popular methods are an important role in the efficient working of the antenna. If
as follows: the ground plane structure is changed, the impedance matching
1) Use of High Permittivity Dielectric Substrate: Size and hence the size of the antenna changes [67]. One way to
of the implantable antenna can be reduced by using high achieve that is making a slot in the ground plane to alter
permittivity dielectric substrate or high permittivity dielectric the path of return current. This slows the current as the
superstrate. The high permittivity substrate would result displacement of the current from one edge of the slot to the
in shorter wavelength which would cause the resonant other causes a phase shift resulting in a smaller antenna size
frequency to be lowered [57]. In [58], Rogers 6002 substrate [66].
with relative permittivity of ✏r =10.2 is used to reduce the
size of the antenna. A very high permittivity substrate, B. Patient Safety
MgT a1.5 N b0.5 O6 with relative permittivity of ✏r =28. is used Implantable medical devices are positioned inside the
for size reduction in [59]. In first case, 14% reduction is human body. Careful considerations are therefore, needed
achieved while in later case, the size is reduced by 29%. Use to rule out damage to the human body tissues due to
of very high permittivity substrate or superstrate can cause electromagnetic exposure. Different precautions are taken to
the input power of the antenna to be converted into surface ensure the patient safety as discussed below.
waves that affects the radiation efficiency of the antenna.
1) Specific Absorption Rate (SAR): Specific Absorption
2) Planar Inverted F Antennas (PIFAs): Planar Inverted Rate (SAR) is the amount of RF energy absorbed by the human
F Antenna (PIFA) structures are the easiest way of getting body tissues. It is used as a metric to ensure the safety of
miniaturization for the implantable antennas. Microstrip patch biological tissues in the event of electromagnetic exposure.
antennas are also used for this purpose. Wavelength of the There are two standards for SAR which are internationally
microstrip patch antenna is half of its resonant length while adopted. According to IEEE C95.1-1999 standard, the SAR
the wavelength of the PIFA is quarter of its resonant length should be less than 1.6 W/kg averaged over 1 g cubic volume
[60]. So, the PIFAs are preferred over the microstrip patch of the tissue [68]. The IEEE C95.1-2005 standard specifies
antennas where the size reduction is needed. that the SAR should be less than 2 W/kg averaged over 10 g
cubic volume of the tissue [69]. The FCC uses 1 g averaging
3) Radiator Current Path Lengthening: Lengthening the while ICNIRP recommends 10 g averaging [70], [71]. 2W/kg
current path of the radiator is another way of getting size over 10 g cubic tissue would be equal to 4-6 W/kg averaged
reduction in implantable antennas. An increased current path over 1 g cubic tissue. To maintain standard SAR levels, the
brings the resonant frequency of the implantable antenna to a implantable devices are required to use low output power.
lower band [57]. Radiator stacking is an effective technique Usually the Specific Absorption (SA) per pulse is determined
to lengthen the current path of the radiator in which two by [72]:
IEEE JOURNAL OF ELECTROMAGNETICS, RF AND MICROWAVES IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 8

TABLE II: Comparative analysis of antenna miniaturization TABLE III: Electric properties of human body tissues at 403
techniques MHz and 2.45 GHz bands [86], [87].
Technique Pros Cons Tissue Conductivity(S/m) Permittivity
High One of the commonly Can convert the input 403 MHz 2.45 GHz 403 MHz 2.45 GHz
Permittivity used techniques for size power of the antenna into Small intestine 1.9 3.17 66 54.4
Dielectric reduction. surface waves resulting in Stomach 1 2.2 67.5 62.1
Substrate lower efficiency. Colon 0.86 2 62.5 53.8
PIFA Compact size implantable Results in low gain as cur- Skin 0.69 1.46 0.69 38
Structures antenna can be designed rents at adjacent arms can- Muscle 0.79 1.74 57.1 52.7
using this structure at cels each other affecting far
lower frequencies. PIFA field radiation.
has low backward
radiation. M ACOR (✏r = 6.1; tan = 0.005). However, it is difficult
Current Slows the current flow The current on the edges to drill and make round cuts in ceramic substrates [74],
Path which makes the may cancel each other due
Lengthen- physically small antenna to phase shift which [75]. The materials used for biocompatible encapsulation are
ing into an electrically large affects the antenna Zirconia (✏r = 29; tan ⇡ 0), Silastic MDX-4210 Biomedical-
radiator. performance. Grade Base Elastomer (✏r = 3.3; tan ⇡ 0) and PEEK
High The easiest technique to The antenna would incur
Frequency reduce the size of the more losses due to (✏r = 3.2; tan = 0.01) [76], [77], [78]. Zirconia is a better
Use antenna. interference at higher candidate for bio-encapsulation due to its electromagnetic
frequencies. properties. Its loss tangent is very low and permittivity
Inductive Loading helps in This technique may lead
/Capacitive impedance mismatch and to low antenna gain.
value is very high which helps to reduce power loss by
Loading minimize frequency shift concentrating the near field of antenna inside the capsulation.
while keeping size small. The advantage of PEEK and Silastic MDX-4210 is that they
Engineering Helps in size reduction by The radiated signal from
Ground creating slots in ground the edges of ground slot
have simple fabrication and are easy to handle.
Plane plane. may lead to
electromagnetic
compatibility problem if
not controlled. D. Implantable Antenna Fabrication Methods
Fabrication of the implantable antennas needs utmost level
of care due to their intended usage. There are a number
of different fabrication methods being proposed in literature
S A = S AR ⇥ TP (1) including antennas embroidered on fabric, polymer composites
encapsulation, microfluidic antennas, photolithograpy and 3D
Where Tp denotes the pulse duration. The electromagnetic printed antennas [79], [80], [81]. In [82], conductive fabric
power absorbed by the body tissue can raise temperature of was embedded with PDMS. Fabricating the antenna using the
the tissue. The temperature of the human body tissue near conductive fabric along with PDMS (acting as the substrate
the implanted device should not increase more than 1-2 0 C [?]. and a protective encapsulation simultaneously) allows for an
easier realization and more robust flexible antenna structure
2) Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP): A high level than the conventional fabrication methods. An ultra wideband
of EIRP of the implantable antenna can be harmful to the antenna is fabricated using the same technique to achieve the
human body and will interfere with nearby radio devices. flexibility and robustness in [83].
The standardized limit of EIRP for an implantable antenna
operating in MedRadio band is -16 dBm and -20 dBm for
V. H UMAN B ODY E FFECTS ON I MPLANTABLE A NTENNA
ISM band [?], [8]. If the implantable antenna is used for data
telemetry, the input power should be limited to avoid damage Human body is an integral part of the IMDs. It is very lossy
to the tissues. If the implantable antenna acts as a receiver, the medium where electric properties of the tissues change with
external source power should adhere to these standards. the change in operating frequency as given in Table III [1],
[78], [84]. The high conductivity and permittivity of the human
body tissues causes attenuation loss inside human body which
C. Biocompatibility is given by [85], [86]:
Biocompatibility is also an important factor for implantable
antennas to ensure the safety of the human subject. A L↵ = 20log10 (e↵L ) (2)
direct contact of the antenna with the human body tissues
would get it short circuited because the body tissues Where ↵(N p/m) is the attenuation constant and L(m) is the
are electrically conductive. Two approaches are used distance travelled by the signal in the human body tissue. The
commonly to ensure the biocompatibility. One, is to use attenuation constant is expressed as [85]:
the biocompatible material for antenna fabrication and the r
µ✏ 
other, is to encapsulate the antenna with a biocompatible ↵=! (1 + ( )2  1) (3)
superstrate [73]. Some of the biocompatible materials used 2 !✏
for the implantable antenna design are Ceramic Alumina Where !(rad/m) and µ(H/m) are angular frequency and
(✏r = 9.4; tan = 0.006), Teflon (✏r = 2.1; tan = 0.001) and permeability of human body tissue whereas ✏ and  are
IEEE JOURNAL OF ELECTROMAGNETICS, RF AND MICROWAVES IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 9

permittivity and conductivity, respectively. The permeability |H|(A/m) is magnetic field, d is distance in meters, Ii is
and permittivity are complex quantities. Non-magnetic nature input current in amperes and  represents skin depth. It can be
of body tissues makes imaginary part of the permeability as seen that if the magnetic field inside the human body increases,
zero. Apart from the attenuation loss, losses due to reflections the gain of the implantable antenna also increases [91].
at the boundary between tissues are calculated as [85]:
s
j!µ A. Human Body Effects on Antenna Radiation Efficiency
⌘= (4)
 + j!✏ Antenna radiation efficiency and antenna radiated power are
⌘2  ⌘1 affected by the loss in the human body tissues. The radiation
= (5) efficiency of implantable antennas is given as [8]:
⌘2 + ⌘1
Pr ad
Lr = 20log10 () (6) ⌘= (13)
Psour ce
Where  is the reflection coefficient at tissue boundary and ⌘
Where Pr ad is the radiated power and Psour ce is the
is the intrinsic impedance. It can be noted that losses are more
source power. In case of implantable antennas, the source
at higher frequencies due to which MICS and MedRadio bands
power consists of three power components which are reflected,
are preferred for data transmission by implantable devices.
absorbed and radiated powers (Psour ce = Pre f + Pabs + Pr ad ).
Lower frequencies of ISM band can also be used.
Due to the near field coupling in the implantable antennas,
The reflection of the transmitted signal also occurs at the
the absorbed power is larger than the reflected power which
boundary between free space and the outer layer of the skin as
would result in low radiation efficiency and radiated power.
both mediums have different impedances and electromagnetic
The absorbed power is expressed as [8]:
properties. Signal power received by the external receiver is
calculated by [1], [57], [88]: π
!
Pabs = ✏0 ✏r |E | 2 dV (14)
2 v
PRX = PT X + GT X + G RX  L P  e P  M LT X  M LRX (7)
An increase in the absorbed power also increases the
Where P(dBm) is power, G(dB) is gain and M L(dB) is specific absorption rate which affects the antenna radiation
impedance mismatch loss. L p (dB) is path loss and e P (dB) is efficiency. The SAR is given by [93]:
polarization mismatch loss. Gain of the implantable antennas
is usually negative because of the lossy nature of the human PL |E | 2
body tissues. The path loss can be calculated as follows [89]: S AR = = (15)
⇢ ⇢
d 4⇡d0 2
L p = 10nlog( ) + 10log( ) +S (8) Where ⇢ (kg/m3 ) is mass density and E(V/m) is electric
d0 0 field. Radiation resistance and loss resistance can be used to
Where n is component of path loss and it depends on the represent the radiation efficiency as [88]:
environment. For non line of sight propagation, n = 3 is used
while for line of sight propagation, n = 1.5 is used (for free Rr ad
space propagation, n = 2 is used. d0 is the reference distance, ⌘= (16)
Rr ad + RL
(m) is the wavelength and S is the random scatter around the
mean. Free space antenna gain G is given as [90]: Where Rr ad and RL are radiation and loss resistances in
ohms, respectively. If the antenna radiation resistance in-
4⇡U creases, the antenna radiation efficiency also increases. The
G= (9)
Pin antenna radiation resistance Rr ad is given by [91]:
Where U is the radiation intensity in watt per unit solid
angle. Pin is the total input power in watts. The gain of a Pr ad
Rr ad = (17)
conductive medium (G con ) is given by [91], [92]: Ii2

4⇡<g 2 It can be noted that the radiation resistance of the antenna

G con = (10) depends largely on the antenna radiated power. Hence, the
Rr ad
radiation efficiency of the antenna decreases inside the human
Where < comes from the mean value of Poynting vector,
body tissues because of the coupling between the antenna
i.e. P = 12 <H 2 w/m2 is the radiation resistance. The intrinsic
radiating element and the body tissues. Antenna radiation
resistance Rintrinsic and g are given as [91], [92]:
efficiency can be improved in two ways. One technique is to
r suppress the surface waves of the antenna by removing little
!µ
Rintrinsic = (11) portion of the substrate in patch vicinity [94]. Other method is
2
to apply high permittivity biocompatible superstrate [95]. This
d
|H|de  would lower the antenna coupling and power absorption inside
g= (12) the human body resulting in an increased radiation efficiency.
Ii
IEEE JOURNAL OF ELECTROMAGNETICS, RF AND MICROWAVES IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 10

TABLE IV: Comparison of proposed antenna with previous

works
Ref. Size (mm3 ) Freq. (GHz) Gain (dBi)
[23] 11⇥11⇥2 2.42 -20.8
[24] 8⇥6⇥0.5 0.915; 2.45 -28.5; -22.8
[30] 14.2⇥16.64⇥0.254 2.45 -29.1
(b) [31] 24⇥22⇥0.07 2.48 -19.7
(a) (c) This work 6⇥5⇥0.5 2.43 5

Fig. 20: (a) Three dimensional voxel model (b) A simple

three-layer human tissue model (c) Surgical implantation of electromagnetic behavior of the antenna inside the human
the antenna into the rat. body, numerical phantoms and tissue models using the Dyadic
Green Function expansion method and Finite Difference Time
Domain methods are used [99] as shown in Fig. 20(a),(b)
[100]. Measurements of the fabricated antenna prototypes
usually involves in-vivo testing employing animal tissues such
as a rat as shown in Fig. 20(c) [101].

VI. D ESIGN OF A M INIATURIZED I MPLANTABLE

A NTENNA
(b) Initial results of a novel antenna design are presented that
(a)
(c) attempts to meet implantable antenna requirements. A patch
structure is selected due to its advantages of ease of design and
Fig. 21: (a) Proposed rectangular patch antenna (b) S11 curve integration. The 50⌦ microstrip line fed antenna makes use of
(c) 3D Radiation pattern. a slotted structure to lengthen the current path and hence, attain
a small size of 6⇥5⇥0.5 mm3 having Rogers RT6010 (✏r =10.2;
tan=0.0023) as substrate and superstrate (Fig. 21(a)). The
B. Human Body Effects on Antenna Bandwidth antenna is simulated in skin layer. It operates at 2.43 GHz
The implantable antennas are of compact size and exhibit band with good impedance matching and wide bandwidth (Fig.
narrow bandwidth. However, all the radiated power does not 21(b)). It exhibits a near-omnidirectional pattern and offers a
reach the receiver because of absorption and reflection by the gain of 5 dBi (Fig. 21(c)).
body tissues. The absorbed power is much more than the The proposed antenna is compared with four previous works
reflected power for implantable antennas which causes the published in open literature. Comparative study in terms of
bandwidth to be wider at the cost of lower radiation efficiency size, operating frequency and gain is summarised in Table IV.
[8]. These losses can be reduced as discussed earlier by It is evident from this comparison that the proposed antenna
using bio-encapsulation and impedance matching making the exhibits smaller size and higher gain. This along with the
bandwidth to be narrower. However, the implantable antennas presented results showing good radiation pattern and wider
with narrow bandwidth suffer frequency detuning inside the bandwidth show that the proposed novel structure has good
human body. A careful consideration is therefore, needed to potential to be used in a miniaturized implantable device. Since
be taken to tackle this issue. it is an ongoing study and antenna has not been fabricated yet,
The bandwidth of the antenna can be increased by using a measurement results are not included.
thicker substrate. In [96], the bandwidth of a dipole antenna
is increased by connecting a small strip line with dipole. In VII. C ONCLUSION
[97], the ground plane of the PIFA is partially connected to In this paper, a comprehensive review on implantable an-
RFID circuit to increase the bandwidth. tennas used for biomedical applications is presented. Since,
the antenna is a key component of a bio-sensor operating
C. Human Body Effect on Antenna Radiation Pattern in a harsh in-body environment, its design becomes a very
challenging task. Several factors need to be considered while
The lossy medium of human body might broaden the
designing such an antenna including size, gain, efficiency,
radiation pattern due to reflections, refractions and scattering
radiation pattern and patient safety. A detailed critical review is
taking place in or from the body tissues [1], [98]. The radiation
conducted into different implantable antenna designs available
pattern of an implantable antenna would also be different in
in open literature including planar, wire, conformal, spiral,
the same medium if mounting scenarios and in-body positions
slotted and PIFA structures. Though, the selection of antenna
differ.
type is generally application specific, patch structures have
exhibited greater potential of meeting most of the requirements
D. Measuring Human Body Effects efficiently.
Design of implantable antennas is very complicated as they We have then summarized the key requirements and chal-
have to operate in complex conditions. Various tools and lenges in implantable antenna design in terms of miniaturiza-
software are used to design these antennas. To analyze the tion, patient safety and biocompatibility as well as different
IEEE JOURNAL OF ELECTROMAGNETICS, RF AND MICROWAVES IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 11

techniques employed to meet these requirements. Widely [15] Xiaodong Yang, Dou Fan, Aifeng Ren, Nan Zhao, Syed Aziz Shah,
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Karu P Esselle, and Leena Ukkonen. Polydimethylsiloxane-embedded Mirpur University of Science and Technology, Mir-
conductive fabric: Characterization and application for realization of pur AJK, Pakistan in 2012. He received the degree in
robust passive and active flexible wearable antennas. IEEE Access, MSc Electronic Engineering from University of Bed-
6:48102–48112, 2018. fordshire UK in 2015 and degree in MSc manage-
[83] Bahare Mohamadzade, Roy BVB Simorangkir, Raheel M Hashmi, and ment with project management from BPP University
Ali Lalbakhsh. Communication a conformal ultrawideband antenna London UK in 2017. Currently he is doing PhD in
with monopole-like radiation patterns. IEEE Transactions on Antennas electrical and electronic engineering from University
and Propagation, 2020. of Bedfordshire UK. His research interest includes
[84] Masood Ur-Rehman, Yue Gao, Zhao Wang, J. Zhang, Yasir Alfadhl, antenna design, radiowave propagation, body-centric
Xiaodong Chen, Clive G. Parini, Zhinong Ying, and Thomas Bolin. wireless networks and sensors, remote health care technology, mmWave and
Investigation of on-body bluetooth transmission. IET Microwaves, nano communications for body-centric networks.
Antennas Propagation, 4(7):871–880, 2010.
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[86] S. Gabriel, R. W. Lau, and C. Gabriel. The dielectric properties of Paul Sant (M’03) completed his PhD from King’s
biological tissues: II. measurements in the frequency range 10 Hz to College, London in 2003. He joined the University
20 GHz. Physics in Medicine and Biology, 41(11):2251–2269, 1996. of Bedfordshire in 2005 as a lecturer and he became
[87] Dielectric properties. ITIS website, a Senior Lecturer in 2006. He was promoted to
http://http://www.itis.ethz.ch/virtual-population/tissue- Principal Lecturer in 2011. Between 2013 and 2015
properties/database/dielectric-properties). he oversaw the running of the University’s Milton
[88] Akram Alomainy and Yang Hao. Modeling and characterization of Keynes campus. He was appointed as Associate
biotelemetric radio channel from ingested implants considering organ Dean (Quality and Development) in the Faculty of
contents. IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, 57(4):999– Creative Arts, Science and Technologies in 2015
1005, 2009. and was appointed Head of the School of Computer
[89] Yi Huang and Kevin Boyle. Antennas: from theory to practice. John Science and Technology in 2018. Paul is an active
Wiley & Sons, 2008. member of the British Computer Society and a Chartered Information Tech-
[90] R Moore. Effects of a surrounding conducting medium on antenna nology Professional (CITP) as well as being a fellow of the Higher Education
analysis. IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, 11(3):216– Academy and a member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology
225, 1963. (IET). Paul always maintained strong links with the School of Computer
[91] C Tsao. Radiation resistance of antennas in lossy media. IEEE Science and Technology and is research active, being a local PI on the
Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, 19(3):443–444, 1971. HEFCE funded MK: SMART. His research interests include algorithm design,
[92] R. Moore. Effects of a surrounding conducting medium on antenna combinatorics and discrete mathematics, bioinformatics, trust modelling and
analysis. IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, 11(3):216– computer security and forensics.
225, 1963.
[93] T Wittig. Sar overview. CST User Manual, 2007.
[94] Homayoon Oraizi and Bahram Rezaei. Improvement of antenna
radiation efficiency by the suppression of surface waves. Journal of
Electromagnetic Analysis and Applications, 3(03):79, 2011. Tahmina Ajmal (M’07) joined the University of
[95] Denys Nikolayev, Maxim Zhadobov, Pavel Karban, and Ronan Sauleau. Bedfordshire as a Lecturer in Engineering in October
Increasing the radiation efficiency and matching stability of in-body 2010 and soon became Senior Lecturer. She has
capsule antennas. In 2016 10th European Conference on Antennas completed her PhD from the University of Essex on
and Propagation (EuCAP), pages 1–5. IEEE, 2016. Secure Optical Networks (2007). After completing
[96] Shahidul M Islam, Karu P Esselle, David Bull, and Paul M Pilowsky. her PhD she worked there on IST EU MUSE (Multi
Bandwidth enhancement of an implantable rfid tag antenna at 900 Service Access Everywhere) project for developing
mhz ism band for rf telemetry. In 2012 International Symposium on a high speed access network. In 2008, she joined the
Communications and Information Technologies (ISCIT), pages 741– University of Bristol as a post doctoral researcher on
745. IEEE, 2012. a multi-disciplinary project for developing a low-cost
[97] Chiu-Yueh Huang, Chi-Lin Tsai, and Chin-Lung Yang. Compact water testing device for use in developing countries.
broadband implantable monopole antenna with gain enhancement. In She began her academic career in India when she joined Department of
2014 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society International Sympo- Electronics Engineering in Aligarh Muslim University after completing her
sium (APSURSI), pages 1590–1591. IEEE, 2014. BSc Eng and MSc Eng there. During this time her research activities focused
[98] Masood Ur-Rehman, Qammer H. Abbasi, Muhammad Akram, and on different applications of low-cost fibre sensors. She left the University to
Clive Parini. Design of band-notched ultra wideband antenna for indoor pursue PhD in 2003. Her research is focussed on minimising waste using Big
and wearable wireless communications. IET Microwaves, Antennas and Data and Internet of Things sensors.
Propagation, 9:243–25, February 2015.
IEEE JOURNAL OF ELECTROMAGNETICS, RF AND MICROWAVES IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 14

Masood Ur-Rehman (S’07-M’10-SM?16) received

the B.Sc. degree in electronics and telecommuni-
cation engineering from University of Engineering
and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan in 2004 and the
M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in electronic engineering
from Queen Mary University of London, London,
UK, in 2006 and 2010, respectively. He worked at
Queen Mary University of London as a postdoctoral
research assistant till 2012 before joining the Centre
for Wireless Research at University of Bedfordshire
as a Lecturer. He served briefly at the University of
Essex and then moved to the James Watt School of Engineering at University
of Glasgow in the capacity of an Assistant Professor in 2019.
His research interests include compact antenna design, radiowave propa-
gation and channel characterization, satellite navigation system antennas in
cluttered environment, electromagnetic wave interaction with human body,
body-centric wireless networks and sensors, remote health care technology,
mmWave and nano communications for body-centric networks and D2D/H2H
communications. He has worked on a number of projects supported by
industrial partners and research councils. He has contributed to a patent and
authored/co-authored 4 books, 7 book chapters and more than 100 technical
articles in leading journals and peer reviewed conferences. Dr. Ur Rehman
is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (UK), a member of the IET
and part of the technical program committees and organizing committees of
several international conferences, workshops and special sessions. He is acting
as an associate editor of the IEEE Access and IET Electronics Letters and lead
guest editor of numerous special issues of renowned journals. He also serves
as a reviewer for book publishers, IEEE conferences and leading journals.