Wearable Antennas for On-Body Motion Detection

Applications in the field of wearable electronics have seen significant growth in recent years. The wearable electronics industry itself is expected to grow up to $54 billion by 2023 [1]. Smart watches capable of various IoT and health data acquisition applications account for a significant portion of the wearable market. These devices are capable of extracting health data such as heart and respiratory rate, step count and even EKG snapshots. However, multiple devices are needed for accurate data which directly impacts everyday practicality as at any given moment a finite number of devices can be worn by an individual. With increasing demand for advanced features such as gesture control and high speed (5G) wireless IoT device interface, multiple wearable sensors/devices are needed. This has prompted development of unified wearable electronics where the devices are either part of or made of everyday clothing materials. In this article a novel antenna topology on fabric substrates for on-body motion detection for health monitoring applications is presented. The design process for the antenna fabrication via screen printing on fabric substrates is outlined along with antenna response on human skin.