Appendix A Antennas and Sensors for Medical Applications: A Representative Literature Review

Abstract

Advanced wireless diagnosis and treatment technologies have recently and rapidly moved from largely a vision of science fiction to widely spreading consumer and clinical products. Large numbers of research and literature are published in different journals and conferences each year on the development of antennas and sensors of various health-care applications. This chapter presents a representative literature review on the recently developed antenna and sensor technologies for advanced medical applications. A block diagram summarizing the subtopics included in this review chapter is shown in Figure A.1. The antenna-related topics are broken into three subsections according to their operating mechanisms: medical imaging antennas and coils, wireless telemetry antennas for implantable and ingestible devices, and microwave ablation antennas for localized tumor treatments. The discussion on sensor technologies consists of mechanical, electrical, optical, and chemical sensing devices. For each of the subtopics, we present the basic system-level physics, followed by the state of the art with representative literature, general outlooks for current challenges, and potential solutions in each field. This review not only serves as an introductory platform for new researchers to the fields but also benefits experienced researchers by broadening their views among various related topics. Various chapters of this book provide in-depth discussions with additional references, detailing the topics briefly covered in this appendix.