Effect of frequency, body parts and surrounding on the on-body propagation channel around the torso

Wearable medical devices can be positioned around the torso for monitoring of critical health parameters. The signal transmission between them is through a wireless link over an on-body propagation channel. In this paper, the effect of some factors which could influence the propagation channel around the torso as: (a) frequency of operation (b) positions of the arms (c) material of a chair used, have been investigated. Moreover, a comparison between the link loss around the torso of a full body phantom and a truncated torso phantom has been done. It is found that the frequency of operation and the positions of the arms have a significant influence on the channel. The difference between the link loss of a full body phantom and a truncated phantom is found to be minimal, indicating a possibility of using a truncated torso for a faster simulation. The results presented in the paper gives an insight in to the influence of arms and the frequency of operation on the propagation channel around the torso and thus would be beneficial for designing a reliable wireless link.