Design and in Vitro Test of a Differentially Fed Dual-Band Implantable Antenna Operating at MICS and ISM Bands

The design of a novel differentially fed dual-band implantable antenna operating at 402-405 MHz Medical Implant Communication Services (MICS) band and 2.4-2.5 GHz Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band is introduced. The proposed implanted antennas are for both planar and flexible implantation scenarios. Biocompatible material parylene-C is adopted to cover the implanted antenna. The size of the proposed antennas including the encapsulation for planar and flexible case is 179.0 mm³ and 186.3 mm³ respectively. The Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) distribution and the radiation pattern at both frequencies induced by the implanted antenna are evaluated. The performance of the communication link between the implanted antenna and an external half-wavelength dipole at two resonant frequencies is also presented. In vitro test in minced pork is performed to test the reliability of the antenna in the real implantation cases.