Advances in Wireless Body Area Network Antennas: Design Principles, Taxonomy, and Emerging Challenges

The internet of medical things (IoMT) is a paradigm that allows for contactless body‐centric information (BCI), where wireless body area networks (WBANs) are sub‐networks in a larger IoMT network that send BCI to the desired professional or healthcare facility for analysis. WBANs are used for a variety of purposes, including health monitoring, medical diagnosis, fitness tracking, and military use. WBANs rely substantially on antennas, which play an important role in ensuring their effectiveness and ubiquity. WBAN antennas are classified based on the mode of communication: in‐body, on‐body, and off‐body. In this paper, the state‐of‐the‐art of implantable and ingestible antennas has been studied for in‐body communication antennas. Wearable or textile antenna trends are discussed and analyzed in terms of on‐body and off‐body communications. WBAN antennas are also studied in terms of structure, materials, characteristics, and fabrication techniques. Also, the design challenges have been addressed with potential solutions.