Design and realization of a wideband antenna for non-contact respiration monitoring in AAL application

This contribution is part of a wider research project whose final aim is the realization of a small EM sensing system for non-contact monitoring of respiration activity in indoor environments. The paper presents the design of an optimized radiating element that satisfies challenging requirements: good impedance matching over a wide frequency bandwidth (3–5 GHz), directive radiation pattern, small dimensions (in order to reduce its invasiveness) and low cost for realization. In detail, an antenna model already existing in literature has been optimized and adapted to this specific application using a full wave numerical simulator. Finally a first antenna prototype has been realized and experimentally tested to compare the measured parameters with the simulated results.