Tiny threadlike antennas will transmit biometric data to medical devices

John Volakis: Uncharted Waters

Growing up on the Greek island of Chios, IEEE Fellow John Volakis expected to follow the local tradition and go into shipping. He did, in a way. But instead of transporting goods, he transports data.

Volakis is a chair professor of electrical and computer engineering at Ohio State University in Columbus and director of its ElectroScience Laboratory. He is an expert on radio frequency electromagnetics, antennas, radar scattering, RFIDs, and wireless hardware.

Recently, his research team at the university developed a way to weave into clothing tiny threadlike antennas that can transmit the wearer’s biometric data to electronic medical devices. The idea is to create an inconspicuous, cost-effective, wireless communication and sensing system to monitor the vital signs of the elderly and disabled. The system can help reduce soaring health costs by cutting down on emergency room visits and allowing patients to live at home instead of a nursing facility or hospital. Currently, Volakis is working on finding funding sources for medical applications and physician training using the technology.

“Radio waves already give you the ability to transfer large amounts of data, including pictures, in real time,” says Volakis. “Embedding antennas into clothes provides a new way to sense the body’s functions and send data to medical professionals without active participation from the patient or anyone noticing the presence of these electronics.”

Data from epidermal and subcutaneous sensors implanted in the patient would transmit body function information via Bluetooth to a roughly 1-centimeter- square chip in the textile antenna. The data would then be sent via Wi-Fi to a distant medical monitoring device.

WEARABLE ANTENNAS
The antennas Volakis used are made of fibers—variations of carbon nanotubes and synthetic polymers. Despite being coated in silver and encased in a protective polymer casing, they are thin (roughly 15 micrometers) and pliable enough to be used like thread, either in sewing machines or hand-woven directly into fabrics. The threads themselves are woven in a special manner that involves bundling thinner threads, braiding the bundles, and then stitching those bundles very densely to facilitate higher conductivity.

“You can make a blouse from material that has the conductivity of metal surfaces but feels like cloth and transmits RF signals,” Volakis notes. “We’re now looking at integrating chips into the stitched surfaces to allow connectivity with cellphones and iPods. The chips would amplify the signal between the textile antenna and the handheld, enabling the textile antenna to function as a signal booster.” His goal is to replace cellphone antennas with textile ones embedded in our clothes, which would turn cellphones into microphones and alleviate concerns about antennas radiating too closely to the head.

Volakis’s achievements are all the more significant when you consider his improbable journey. “My dream was to become an electrical engineer, because I grew up in a house without electricity and running water,” he says. “In less than 10 years, my life changed from the most primitive to the most modern.”



πηγή: ieee.org

data would then be sent via Wi-Fi to a distant medical monitoring device

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data would then be sent via Wi-Fi to a distant medical monitoring device