Development of wearable intra-body communication devices

Abstract The personal area network (PAN) benefits from a wireless communication system for exchanging various kinds of information through wearable electronic devices. Intra-body communication using the human body as the transmission medium allows wireless communication without the use of airborne radio waves. This paper discusses the results of several experiments on intra-body communication. We found that the optimum frequency for intra-body communication is 5 MHz. We also found that varying the distance between electrodes, varying the type of electrode metal, and the absence of electrode paste did not significantly affect impedance fluctuation. To test our results, we developed an intra-body, 10.7 MHz frequency modulation (FM) transmitter and receiver with stainless steel electrodes to transmit heartbeats. Results show that audio frequency signals can be successfully transmitted through human bodies using these devices, even in the presence of excessive external noise.