Magneto-Inductive Waveguides: Interconnecting the Next Generation of Wearables and Implants

近年来，电磁学、电子学和材料的进步为医疗保健、体育、国防、急救和消费应用中的无线体域网(WBAN)创造了新的机遇。然而，低功耗和可靠的WBAN通信尚未实现。为了克服这些限制，本项目建议研究和开发一种由磁感应波导(MIW)实现的新型WBAN。为了形成MIW，将利用谐振发射器和接收器之间的空间，这将包括由横向和纵向配置的谐振回路或两者的组合促进的磁感应。由于其固有的波导性，与最先进的技术相比，MIW具有低损耗、降低功率需求的潜力，并且通常不太容易受到干扰和阴影的影响。它们也更安全，很可能被改装成可植入的应用。与上述特征相辅相成的是，MIW使用的磁场预计对生物组织的影响很小或没有影响。MIW可以刺绣到织物上(以及其他灵活的解决方案)，以促进它们在WBAN中的应用。这项研究的结果可能会影响个性化康复、运动员训练、患者监测、人机界面等应用。除了基础科学方面的进步外，这项拟议的研究预计将引起学生和公众的极大兴趣。在大学预科阶段，将组织实践工作坊，为学生提供电磁学和导电纺织品方面的经验。该项目包括一个将侧重于跨学科教育的本科生模块，而一个研究生级别的生物电磁学课程将通过纳入这项研究的结果进行更新。该项目的目标是实现对MIW WBAN的基本科学了解，调查其现实世界的应用挑战，开发缓解技术，包括结构实施和人类受试者测试，并探索MIW与现有传感器和移动设备集成的高级方面。为MIW WBAN创建分析、数值和等效电路模型将揭示环路设计配置、形状、工作频率、体内放置和相关性能之间的相关性。这些模型将反过来为许多应用程序创建新的支持MIW的广域网提供框架。电子线线圈的电磁建模及其在服装上固有的移动/变形的建模将被证明对未来各种电子纺织品的实施很有用。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Advances in electromagnetics, electronics, and materials in recent years have created new opportunities for wireless body area networks (WBANs) in healthcare, sports, defense, emergency, and consumer applications. However, low-power and reliable WBAN communications have yet to be realized. To overcome these limitations, this project proposes to investigate and develop a new class of WBANs enabled by magneto-inductive waveguides (MIWs). To form an MIW, the space between a resonant transmitter and a receiver will be leveraged which will include magnetic induction facilitated by resonant loops placed in transverse and longitudinal configurations, or a combination of both. The MIWs, because of their inherent wave-guiding nature, have the potentials for low loss, reduced power requirements compared to the state-of-the-art and are generally less vulnerable to interference and shadowing. They are also more secure and can likely be adapted to implantable applications. The above features are complemented by the fact that MIWs use magnetic fields which are expected to have minimal to no effect to biological tissues. MIWs can be embroidered onto fabrics (among other flexible solutions) to facilitate their applications in WBANs. The outcomes of this research will potentially impact applications such as personalized rehabilitation, athlete training, patient monitoring, human-machine interfaces, and more. Besides advances in the basic science, the proposed research is expected to be of significant interest to students and the public. At the pre-college level, hands-on workshops will be organized to provide students with experiences in electromagnetics and conductive textiles. The project includes an undergraduate module which will focus on interdisciplinary education, while a graduate-level course on bioelectromagnetics will be updated by incorporating results from this research. The goals of this project are to enable fundamental scientific understanding of MIW WBANs, investigate their real-world application challenges and develop mitigation techniques, including fabric implementations and testing on human subjects, and explore advanced aspects for MIW integration with existing sensors and mobile devices. The creation of analytical, numerical, and equivalent circuit models for MIW WBANs will reveal correlations among loop design configurations, shapes, operating frequencies, on-body placement, and associated performance. These models will in turn provide the framework for the creation of new MIW-enabled WBANs for many applications. Electromagnetic modeling of e-thread loops and modeling of their inherent shifting/deformation on garments will prove useful for diverse e-textile implementations in the future. Specific topologies of interest will be fabricated and tested to validate performance.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.