Stretchable Antennas for Wearable Application: Materials Guideline With Design Considerations

Wearable antennas have attracted significant interest in healthcare, military, sportive activities, and identification systems. However, wearable antennas operate in an environment which is very near to human body, which could affect the antenna’s performance. Normally, flexible materials are used in wearable antennas to conform onto the curved surface of the human body. Later, stretchable materials are also used to improve the durability of the wearable antenna when the human body is in motion. Nonetheless, the highly complex electromagnetic properties of the human body can affect the antenna’s performance in terms of S-parameter, radiation pattern, gain, and SAR. There are many methods to design wearable antennas. However, there is a lack of design guideline for a suitable operating range of antenna on human body. In this review, we have provided a comprehensive study on the effect of human body to provide a suitable guideline in the design of wearable antennas.