Evaluation of Reflection Loss and SAR of ~2.4 GHz Rectangular Microstrip Patch Antenna for Wearable Applications

This study evaluates a narrow rectangular microstrip patch antenna designed for 2.4 GHz operation, with potential applications as a wearable antenna. Two antennae were fabricated to investigate the performance (e.g. S<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">11</inf> & SAR parameter) and compare them with the theoretical design that was done in CST Microwave Studio software. A 64 Portable Vector Network Analyzer (VNA) known as LitaVNA™ is utilized for conducting measurements. The performances of fabricated antennae are compared, which offer a reflection loss below -10 dB for each antenna. The measured performance indicating parameters showed excellent agreement with the simulated results ~ 2.4 GHz. In addition, a list of important parameters (both structural and electrical) of the fabricated antennas is outlined in this analysis, which must be considered carefully during the fabrication process. Finally, the antenna's SAR performance was evaluated with a human body phantom model in CST Microwave Studio for 1 gm and 10 gm tissue, showing that the SAR values are well below the international limits of 1.6 W/Kg and 4 W/Kg for 1 gm and 10 gm tissues, respectively. This analysis will aid in the effective implementation and thorough examination of the designed antenna for wearable applications.