SINTEC Comparative Body-Centric Communication Study: Bluetooth vs Fat-Intrabody Communication

In the context of the H2020-funded project SINTEC, a comparative study between Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and fat-intrabody communication (Fat-IBC) has been done with two advanced torso phantom models and two human volunteers, representing low-fat and high-fat content. The phantom tests were done in a small semi-shielded chamber made for the tests with the possibility of suppressing the surface wave in the air-skin surface. Two Fat-IBC antennas were designed: a type of loop antenna, and a type of folded dipole antenna, both placed parallel to the skin. The Fat-Ibc antennas perform better than the BLE one both on phantom and volunteers so far and more in the front-to-back (About 10 - 20 dB times better). For the athletic phantom case, the Fat-IBC antennas showed a reduction of about 5 dB in the transmission coefficient. Fat-IBC propagation mechanism and surface wave suppression need to be further studied, but the current results are positive on the significance of the Fat-IBC mechanism to reduce surface leakage and associated security/safety concerns in body-centric communication scenarios.