This paper presents the realization of antenna sensors on flexible textile substrates for bio-impedance measurements. A T-resonator technique was employed to characterize the dielectric constant of various textile materials and to evaluate how the human tissue, functioning as the superstrate, influence the effective dielectric constant. A single frequency antenna sensor was designed based on the measured dielectric constant and the effect of tissue on the antenna resonant frequency was characterized. Monitoring perspiration during exercise using the antenna sensor as well as wireless interrogation of the antenna sensor, when worn by a volunteer, was demonstrated. A rapid-prototyping technique for fabricating the T-resonator and the antenna sensor from conductive fabric or copper films is also presented.

Date Published: 27 March 2019
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 10970, Sensors and Smart Structures Technologies for Civil, Mechanical, and Aerospace Systems 2019, 1097019 (27 March 2019); doi: 10.1117/12.2514368

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 10970:
Sensors and Smart Structures Technologies for Civil, Mechanical, and Aerospace Systems 2019
Jerome P. Lynch; Haiying Huang; Hoon Sohn; Kon-Well Wang, Editor(s)