Signal Strength Analysis of Flexible Antennas in Real-Time Medical Telemetry System

Abstract

Medical telemetry systems are used by patients who are observed in an intensive care unit (ICU) following a surgical procedure. The patient's vital parameters such as blood pressure, blood sugar, heart rate, temperature, and oxygen saturation are continuously monitored through a cloud platform by medical experts. The main challenges in the adoptability of these devices are compactness and flexibility since it is a body-worn device. The proposed system was created by employing low-power dedicated sensors such as body temperature and heart pulse rate to provide telemetry support to facilitate faster and better medical actions in emergencies. A miniaturized silicon rubber-based flexible antenna having 2.17 dBi gain, 92.61% efficiency and 0.06-0.98 W/Kg SAR is connected to a medical telemetry system and the signal strength is analyzed with that of the ceramic and meander line stock antenna. The stock antenna gave a signal strength between -58 dBm and -47 dBm whereas the flexible antenna gave -17 dBm when analyzed with other Wi-Fi channels of the same frequency.