RADIO-FREQUENCY TECHNIQUES FOR WIRELESS OPERATION OF TEXTILE BIOMEDICAL SENSORS

Abstract

Wireless sensors can be used to continuously monitor a person's health in medical diagnostics and personalized healthcare. However, current wireless solutions are challenging to use with textile-based sensors owing to the inherent mechanical mismatch as well as constraints in size and performance. In this thesis, I propose and demonstrate two radio-frequency techniques that enable the wireless operation of implantable and wearable textile-based sensors. The first technique adapts harmonic backscattering strategies for use with conductive threads. It is employed to convert surgical sutures into wireless sensors for deep surgical wound monitoring. The second technique utilizes the interaction of spoof localized surface plasmon modes on conductive textiles with the human body. It enables wearable textile sensors to provide connector-free detection of a person’s vital signs with high accuracy. Taken together, this work demonstrates strategies to design and operate sensors based on textile material sets and advances their use for continuous health monitoring.