Multi-mode wearable antenna for implantable devices

AntennaWare Ltd, specialists in solving body-blocking problems normally associated with close-range RF designs, has been awarded a European Patent which is expected to have important implications for enabling implantable devices within the human body.

Current wireless communications with implanted devices, such as pacemakers or neural implants, require the external reader devices to be held directly over the implant area to allow wireless data transfer at intervals dictated by the user. Alternatively, wireless uploads to remote readers can occur but only at hourly or longer intervals due to power consumption and implanted device battery life limitations.

The multi-mode antenna technology developed by AntennaWare covers all the propagation requirements for communication from surface to implantable devices within the human body from a single antenna element, enabling seamless, reliable continuous communications with implanted devices.

AntennaWare Co-founder Dr. Gareth Conway comments, "New patents in the complex area of antenna design, demonstrate the expertise and world-leading innovation within the AntennaWare team. This patent was derived from core deep tech research in wireless communication for difficult and complex environments, such as communication off, around and into the human body."

Dr. Matthew Magill, AntennaWare CTO adds "In 2015, my PhD was on deep-tissue implantable antennas for medical applications. Implantable cardiac pacemakers and cardioverter-defibrillators were largely the only well know wireless active implanted devices, but more recently, there are new and exciting innovations in the medical space, requiring deep tissue communication to and from implantable technologies. The reliability of the AntennaWare multi-mode antenna in these difficult environments makes it perfect for use in this space."

And as AntennaWare Commercial Director Jonny McClintock explains, the use case for this patented technology isn't limited to implantable devices within the human or animal bodies, "The AntennaWare multi-mode antenna technology has broader applications. It could also be used in industrial applications to relay information from sensors embedded deep inside structures, to the outside world. Opening up use cases for wireless communications that weren't possible up to now."