Compact and Flexible Wideband Antenna for Intraoral Tongue-Drive System for People With Disabilities

This communication presents a compact and flexible folded dipole antenna with stable and wide-bandwidth characteristics for the application of an intraoral tongue-drive system (iTDS) designed for use by people with severe disabilities. The proposed antenna, with an exceptionally small size of 20 mm x 4.4 mm x 0.025 mm, was designed to overcome the challenges of space-suitability and detuning that occur due to the variable conditions of the oral environment of the mouth by providing stable and wideband antenna properties. The substantial reduction in the size of the antenna was achieved by introducing slots and meandering the arms of the radiator. Performance was analyzed in open- and closed-mouth scenarios using a realistic model of the human head. Maximum simulated impedance bandwidths of 163% and 151% were observed for the closed- and open-mouth cases, respectively. The proposed design showed lower specific absorption rate (SAR) values (addressing safety concerns) with higher realized gain values in both scenarios compared to the current state-of-the-art iTDS antennas. In order to validate the simulation results, in vivo and in vitro measurements were taken for the reflection coefficient and radiation patterns, respectively. The results prove that the proposed antenna can efficiently work in the dynamic environment of the mouth and is, therefore, a good candidate for iTDS application.