Influence on the ear-to-ear link loss from heterogeneous head phantom variations

We have investigated the detuning of the antennas and the ear-to-ear link loss for the in-the-ear (ITE) binaural hearing aids considering the different heterogeneous human phantoms through FDTD simulations. It was found that the resonance frequency shifts differently for different phantoms and between the ears within the same phantom. The ear-to-ear link loss between the antennas for the homogeneous SAM phantom has been compared with a heterogeneous phantom and was found to be 30 dB lower, indicating the presence of a lossless shell and the absence of a pinna in the SAM phantom underestimate the link loss as compared with a realistic phantom.

[1]  Upena Dalal,et al.  Wireless Communication , 2010 .

[2]  Yang Hao,et al.  Parametric Study of Wearable Antennas with Varying Distances from the Body and Different On-Body Positions , 2007 .

[3]  Y. Rahmat-Samii,et al.  Implanted antennas inside a human body: simulations, designs, and characterizations , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[4]  P.S. Hall.  Antennas Challenges for Body Centric Communications , 2007, 2007 International workshop on Antenna Technology: Small and Smart Antennas Metamaterials and Applications.

[5]  R. Chandra,et al.  Miniaturized antennas for link between binaural hearing aids , 2010, 2010 Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology.

[6]  Kin-Lu Wong,et al.  Characteristics of a 2.4‐GHz compact shorted patch antenna in close proximity to a lossy medium , 2005 .

[7]  Yang Hao,et al.  Numerical Characterization and Link Budget Evaluation of Wireless Implants Considering Different Digital Human Phantoms , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.