Human skin-equivalent phantom for on-body antenna measurements in 60 GHz band

The accurate characterisation of the on-body performance of wearable antennas upcoming for future high-data-rate 60 GHz body area networks requires the development of experimental phantoms reproducing the dielectric properties of human skin. In this reported work, a low-cost and easy-to-fabricate semi-solid human skin phantom for body-centric antenna measurements has been manufactured and validated by measurements. It is demonstrated that the complex permittivity of the phantom equals that of human skin within the maximum error of 10% in the 57–64 GHz range. It is believed that this is the first skin-equivalent experimental model developed for on-body antenna characterisation at millimetre waves.