Wearable Patch Antenna Spacer for Body Detuning Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wearable medical devices face challenges in wireless communication performance due to their compact nature, compression force, and limited biocompatible materials, which affect the antenna's efficiency and operating range.
Innovation Solution
A wearable electronic patch with a spacer made of foam material that expands after being secured to the wearer, maintaining a distance between the antenna and the body, improving antenna performance and reliability by increasing the antenna's operating range.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the patch is made compact for wearable application, then the device portability and comfort are improved, but the antenna performance and wireless communication reliability deteriorate due to reduced antenna size and increased proximity to the body
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a spacer element that creates a vertical dimension (z-axis separation) between the antenna and the body surface. This dimensional approach allows the antenna to maintain optimal performance characteristics by elevating it away from the body, thereby resolving the contradiction between compact patch size and antenna reliability without increasing the patch's planar footprint.
Solution Approach 2:
The spacer acts as an intermediary element between the antenna and the body. This mediator component provides the necessary physical separation to improve antenna performance while maintaining the compact wearable form factor. The spacer material is specifically chosen to be biocompatible and mechanically compliant with the body surface.
2Strength
If the patch is pressed against the body with compression force for secure attachment, then the device adhesion and stability are improved, but the antenna performance deteriorates due to reduced distance from the body and material compression
Solution Approach 1:
The spacer element serves as a pre-positioned cushioning component that anticipates and compensates for compression forces applied during wearable use. By being placed between the antenna and the body before compression occurs, it maintains a minimum separation distance even under compression, thereby protecting antenna performance while allowing secure attachment.
Solution Approach 2:
The spacer material is selected with specific mechanical properties (compressibility, elasticity) and electromagnetic properties (dielectric constant close to 1.0) that allow it to change its physical parameters under compression while maintaining its primary function of separating the antenna from the body. This parameter optimization resolves the contradiction between attachment strength and communication reliability.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If biocompatible materials are used for the patch, then the wearer safety and comfort are improved, but the antenna performance deteriorates due to limited material options with suboptimal dielectric properties
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by using different materials for different functional zones of the patch. The spacer material specifically has a dielectric constant close to 1.0 (optimal for antenna performance) while still being biocompatible. This localized material optimization allows the antenna region to have superior electromagnetic properties without compromising overall biocompatibility or requiring non-biocompatible materials elsewhere in the device.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The spacer's expansion enhances the antenna's gain and reliability, maintaining a suitable distance from the body to improve wireless communication performance, even under compression, while using biocompatible materials to ensure safety.
Implementation Method 1
The spacer may be formed of a foam material configured to slowly expand after the base portion is secured to the wearer
Implementation Method 2
The spacer may have a dielectric constant of approximately 1.0
Data Source
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AI summary
A wearable electronic patch with an enhanced radio antenna includes an antenna, radio circuitry, a base portion, a distal portion, and intermediate portion, and a spacer, configured to raise the antenna away from the base portion, and thus away from a wearer to improve radiation properties of the antenna. The spacer may be sized and shaped to expand from a compressed state, as it may be when the patch is packaged, to an expanded state that raises the antenna when it is applied to a wearer. Other aspects, embodiments, and features are also claimed and disclosed.