Design and performance analysis of human body communication digital transceiver for wireless body area network applications

Wireless body area network (WBAN) is a prominent technology for resolving health-care concerns and providing high-speed continuous monitoring and real-time help. Human body communication (HBC) is an IEEE 802.15.6 physical layer standard for short-range communications that is not reliant on radio frequency (RF). Most WBAN applications can benefit from the HBC's low-latency and low-power architectural features. In this manuscript, an efficient digital HBC transceiver (TR) hardware architecture is designed as per IEEE 802.15.6 standard to overcome the drawbacks of the RF-wireless communication standards like signal leakage, on body antenna and power consumption. The design is created using a frequency selective digital transmission scheme for transmitter and receiver modules. The design resources are analyzed using different field programmable gate array (FPGA) families. The HBC TR utilizes <1% slices, consumes 101 mW power, and provides a throughput of 24.31 Mbps on Artix-7 FPGA with a latency of 10.5 clock cycles. In addition, the less than 10-4bit error rate of HBC is achieved with a 9.52 Mbps data rate. The proposed work is compared with existing architectures with significant improvement in performance parameters like chip area, power, and data rate

A Galvanic Coupling Method for Assessing Hydration Rates

Recent advances in biomedical sensors, data acquisition techniques, microelectronics and wireless communication systems opened up the use of wearable technology for ehealth monitoring. We introduce a galvanic coupled intrabody communication for monitoring human body hydration. Studies in hydration provide the information necessary for understanding the desired fluid levels for optimal performance of the body’s physiological and metabolic processes during exercise and activities of daily living. Current measurement techniques are mostly suitable for laboratory purposes due to their complexity and technical requirements. Less technical methods such as urine color observation and skin turgor testing are subjective and cannot be integrated into a wearable device. Bioelectrical impedance methods are popular but mostly used for estimating total body water with limited accuracy and sensitive to 800 mL–1000 mL change in body fluid levels. We introduce a non-intrusive and simple method of tracking hydration rates that can detect up to 1.30 dB reduction in attenuation when as little as 100 mL of water is consumed. Our results show that galvanic coupled intrabody signal propagation can provide qualitative hydration and dehydration rates in line with changes in an individual’s urine specific gravity and body mass. The real-time changes in galvanic coupled intrabody signal attenuation can be integrated into wearable electronic devices to evaluate body fluid levels on a particular area of interest and can aid diagnosis and treatment of fluid disorders such as lymphoedema

Evaluation of Propagation Characteristics Using the Human Body as an Antenna

In this paper, an inhomogeneous human body model was presented to investigate the propagation characteristics when the human body was used as an antenna to achieve signal transmission. Specifically, the channel gain of four scenarios, namely, (1) both TX electrode and RX electrode were placed in the air, (2) TX electrode was attached on the human body, and RX electrode was placed in the air, (3) TX electrode was placed in the air, and RX electrode was attached on the human body, (4) both the TX electrode and RX electrode were attached on the human body, were studied through numerical simulation in the frequency range 1 MHz to 90 MHz. Furthermore, the comparisons of input efficiency, accepted efficiency, total efficiency, absorption power of human body, and electric field distribution of different distances of four aforementioned scenarios were explored when the frequency was at 44 MHz. In addition, the influences of different human tissues, electrode position, and the distance between electrode and human body on the propagation characteristics were investigated respectively at 44 MHz. The results showed that the channel gain of Scenario 4 was the maximum when the frequency was from 1 MHz to 90 MHz. The propagation characteristics were almost independent of electrode position when the human body was using as an antenna. However, as the distance between TX electrode and human body increased, the channel gain decreased rapidly. The simulations were verified by experimental measurements. The results showed that the simulations were in agreement with the measurements

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A continuing supplement 180, May 1978

This special bibliography lists 201 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in April 1978

A Review on Opportunities to Assess Hydration in Wireless Body Area Networks

The study of human body hydration is increasingly leading to new practical applications, including online assessment techniques for whole body water level and novel techniques for real time assessment methods as well as characterization for fitness and exercise performance. In this review, we will discuss the different techniques for assessing hydration from electrical properties of tissues and their components and the biological relations between tissues. This will be done mainly in the context of engineering while highlighting some applications in medicine, mobile health and sports