An implantable encased microstrip ring rectenna for wireless biomedical applications

In this paper the performance of an implantable encased miniature microstrip ring rectenna is investigated for wireless biomedical applications. Using a conventional transmitting mode approach, the physical and geometrical characteristics of the encased antenna are optimized to maintain acceptable performance when implanted in tissue mimicking gel. A receiving mode approach with an external plane wave excitation and a rectifier circuit is applied to investigate into the feasibility of the encased rectenna for wireless power transmission in biological tissue at ~2.4 GHz. It is shown that an appropriate selection of the orientation of the electric field polarization vector of the plane wave and the load resistance value of the rectifier circuit provides an output voltage value that can be used for wireless biomedical applications such as nerve stimulation and biomedical telemetry.