A miniature bio-inspired antenna for sub-6 GHz consumer wireless and biomedical diagnostic applications

Abstract Miniaturization of high-performance antennas for sub-6 GHz applications such as 5G small cell, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, wearable medical system and industrial automation is essential in the near future, and the novel design methodology to realize the antenna miniaturization with high efficiency is required. In this context, this paper proposes a nature inspired antenna design using sneezewort leaf shape geometry combined with DGS (defective ground structure) to improve bandwidth and radiation features. A partial ground, the proposed antenna is very compact in size 18 × 19 × 1.6 mm 3 (0.18λ × 0.2λ × 0.016λ) and has a wideband operation, that is, 3.16–5.42 GHz. It shows wide impedance bandwidth of 55.96% and has a highest gain of 2.1 dBi. Due to its planar, lightweight and low-profile structure, the antenna is ideal for low-cost mass production and easy integration with emerging wireless and healthcare gadgets. The multifunctional antenna lends itself to varied uses such as sub-6 GHz 5G communication, high-speed Wi-Fi, near-field vehicular radar, and industrial ISM-band devices. Besides, the antenna clearly show good prospect for many biomedical diagnostic applications, such as breast, brain, skin, lung, heart and kidney abnormalities detection, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders, typhoid, bone fracture, dengue, food contaminations and lately even COVID-19. A breast tumor detection proof-of-concept is demonstrated exclusively by simulation using a breast phantom, which demonstrates the antenna sensitivity to changes in dielectric properties. These results indicate that the proposed antenna could be potential for the wireless communication in the future and also in the medical applications. Experimental validation including studies on physical phantoms and clinical studies will be included in future work.