Human Fat Tissue: A Microwave Communication
Channel
Noor Badariah Asan, Syaiful Redzwan, Anders
Rydberg, Robin Augustine
Microwave Group, Solid State Electronics Division,
Department of Engineering Sciences, Uppsala University,
Uppsala, Sweden.
Thiemo Voigt
Department of Information Technology,
Division of Computer Systems, Uppsala University,
Uppsala, Sweden.
AbstractIn this paper, we present an approach for
communication through human body tissue in the R-band
frequency range. This study examines the ranges of microwave
frequencies suitable for intra-body communication. The human
body tissues are characterized with respect to their transmission
properties using simulation modeling and phantom
measurements. The variations in signal coupling with respect to
different tissue thicknesses are studied. The simulation and
phantom measurement results show that electromagnetic
communication in the fat layer is viable with attenuation of
approximately 2 dB per 20 mm.
Keywords tissue characterization; transmission medium;
biomedical sensor; channel model; phantom measurement.
I. INTRODUCTION
Recently, many implanted sensors are used to monitor
critical internal body factors. These require direct
communication between implants through the body tissues.
The human body has been characterized to act as a
communication channel by comparing the amplitude, carrier
frequency, modulation method, and the data rate between the
signal coupling [1]. Several attempts have been made in tissue
characterization for communication based on capacitive [2,3]
and galvanic coupling [4-6]. The characterization of the human
body as a communication channel at low frequencies (10k Hz
to 1 MHz) is shown in [7]. In 2007, clinical trials had been
done to characterize the human tissues for intra-body
communication using galvanic coupling [8]. To the best of our
knowledge, none of the presented works has characterized
different human tissue layers to find out the best medium suited
for intra-body microwave communication. Implantable devices
usually do not rely on external sources and can include
networks of sensors. Thus, low power consumption and high
data rate are the main requirements for medical implant devices
[9]. The R-band is chosen as a compromise between the low
losses and high bandwidth.
978-1-5386-1713-7/17/$31.00 2017 IEEE
Daniel Noreland1, Emadeldeen Hassan1,2
1- Department of Computing Sciences, Ume University,
Ume, SE-901 87, Sweden.
2- Department of Electronics and Electrical
Communications, Menoufia University, 32952- Menouf,
Egypt.
There are many factors that affect the dielectric properties
of materials such as frequency, temperature, and humidity.
Materials in biological tissues, specifically, are divided into
two main categories, which are with high and low water
contents. Muscle and skin have high water content with (73-78
%) and (60-76 %), respectively, while fat and bone have low
water content which is (5-10 %), and (8-16 %), respectively
[10]. This is consistent with the fact that fat tissues are
hydrophobic and have low dielectric loss compared to other
tissue layers. It is a condition, necessary for using a tissue to be
used as a communication medium with minimal losses and
high degree of information privacy. This paper investigates two
different three-layer models of human tissues. We study the
signal coupling and the biological properties as the signal
propagates through the tissues.
The remaining paper is structured as follows. After a short
introduction on communication in human body, we discuss the
simulation and measurement setup in Section II. Furthermore,
the effects of varying the thickness and the length are explored
in Section III. The paper is wrapped up with concluding
remarks in Section IV.
II. SIMULATION AND MEASUREMENT SETUP
A. Simulation Modeling
Simulations have been processed using the transient solver
of the Computer Simulation Technology - CST Microwave
Studio package. Simulations were done with three layers
homogeneous tissues; skin, fat, and muscle. In order to
suppress the effects of the thickness variation, we designed two
models, separately. In the first model, we tried to vary the
thickness of the fat and the muscle layers to see their effect on
signal coupling. With notation according to Fig. 1, the first
model has a dimension of 75 mm (W) x 75 mm (L), whereas
the thickness of the fat (tF) and the muscle (tM) are varied to
study the behavior. The studies are based on the evaluation of
the scattering parameters (the S-parameters).
 B. Measurement Setup
The representative phantoms of human skin, fat, and
muscle are fabricated. For skin and muscle phantom, we used
agar-based compound and for representing fat, adhesive putty
was used since it has the physical consistency and dielectric
properties of human fat. For realizing the probe, a topology
optimized monopole antenna was fabricated on a substrate
(RO3203) with properties similar to that of human fat. The
probe cavity is filled with rubber which can be easily machined
and has the same dielectric properties as fat. Fig. 3 shows the
Fig. 1. First model of three layer tissues dimensions
antenna (left), and the probe (right). The monopole antenna is
positioned at the center of the probe. Table II shows the
In the second model, Fig. 2, to replace the CST waveguide dielectric properties of the tissue-equivalent phantom at 2 GHz.
ports, we used more realistic probe models. The probe consists
of a SMA connector, optimized antenna, and a dielectric filled
rectangular waveguide. The dielectric of the rectangular
waveguide has properties similar to that of human fat to ensure
electromagnetic continuity. In Fig. 2, W = 50.52 mm, the
thickness of the skin, fat, and muscle are tS = 2 mm, tF = 25
mm, and tM = 30 mm, respectively, and the length (L) is varied
from 20 mm to 60 mm. The thickness of the muscle was
chosen based on the studies in the first model, while the Fig. 3. Topology optimized monopole antenna [12] and the waveguide
thickness of the fat was taken considering the average thickness
of the fat layer in human body [11]. The probe, which consists
of a coax to waveguide transition, is smaller than the standard TABLE II. DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES OF THE TISSUE-EQUIVALENT
WR-430 waveguide. A topology optimized monopole antenna PHANTOM AT 2 GHZ
[12] is used as a radiating source. Table I shows the dielectric
Tissues Relative Permittivity, r Conductivity, (S/m)
properties of the human body tissues at 2 GHz. The antenna is
optimized to ensure that it is operating at the R-band (1.7 to 2.6 Skin 38.92 8.15
GHz) which partly overlaps the Industrial, Scientific and
Rubber Adhesive putty Rubber Adhesive putty
Medical (ISM) band. Fat
4.7 4.87 0.01 0.10

Muscle 49.35 10.17

Fig. 4 shows the experimental setup for the three layers

equivalent phantom. The probe is placed at either ends of the
phantom, aligned with the fat layer. The signal propagates
through the fat phantom layer from probe 1 and is received at
probe 2. The S11 and S21 parameters are obtained using the
Fieldfox Microwave Analyzer (N9918A).

Fig. 2. Second model of three layer tissues dimensions

TABLE I. DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES OF THE HUMAN BODY TISSUES AT 2

GHZ [13]

Tissues Relative Permittivity, r Conductivity, (S/m)

Skin 38.57 1.27

Fat 5.33 0.09

Muscle 53.29 1.45

Fig. 4. Image of the overall measurement setup
 III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In this section, we discuss the simulation and measurement
results.
A. Probe Optimization
The probe is optimized for the frequency band of operation.
Fig. 5 (a) shows a cross-section of the probe-to-probe coupling
model in CST, and Fig. 5 (b) shows the probe-to-probe
configuration during the measurement. The measurement
results correlate with the simulation results as shown in Fig. 6.
We can see that the probe is operating at 2 GHz during the
measurement, and it corresponds well with the simulation
results which is at 2.02 GHz. Therefore, for the analysis of the
results, we concentrate on the transmission through the fat
increase of the thickness of the fat layer. It can be seen that, the
amplitude of the coupling coefficient S21 at 10 mm is -28 dB
while it increases to around -15 dB at 30 mm thickness.
Therefore, it could be possible to use the fat layer as a
communication channel in human body. For the simulation
results shown in Fig. 8, we vary the muscle tissue from 20 mm
to 60 mm whereas the thickness of the fat layer was fixed at 25
mm. Fig.8 shows that the variations in the thickness of the
muscle layer have a minor impact on the signal transmission
through the fat layer (the amplitude of S11 and S21 do not
change much by varying the muscle thickness).
0
-5
-10

tissues at the probe operating frequency 2 GHz. -15

Magnitude (dB)
-20

-25

-30
S11 - Fat = 10 mm
S11 - Fat = 20 mm
-35 S11 - Fat = 30 mm
S21 - Fat = 10 mm
-40 S21 - Fat = 20 mm
S21 - Fat = 30 mm
-45
1.7 1.8 1.9 2 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6
Frequency (GHz)

Fig. 7. The effect of the fat tissue thicknesses on S11 and S21
(a)
0

-5

-10

-15
Magnitude (dB)

-20

-25

-30 S11 - Muscle = 20 mm

S11 - Muscle = 30 mm
-35 S11 - Muscle = 40 mm
(b) S21 - Muscle = 20 mm
-40 S21 - Muscle = 30 mm
Fig. 5. The probe-to-probe model (a) CST simulation; (b) measurement S21 - Muscle = 40 mm
-45
0 1.7 1.8 1.9 2 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6
Frequency (GHz)

-5 Fig. 8. The effect of the muscle tissues thicknesses on S11 and S21

-10
Magnitude (dB)

C. Comparison with respect to the tissue length

-15
An experimental setup is prepared and measurements have
been conducted to validate the simulation results. Fig. 9 and
-20
Fig. 10 show the comparison between the simulation and the
S11 - Measurement
S21 - Measurement measurement results for both S11 and S21. As shown in Fig. 9,
-25 S11 - CST Software Simulation
S21 - CST Software Simulation the trend of frequency shift with respect to tissue length is
-30
comparable for both the simulation and the measurement. The
1.7 1.8 1.9 2 2.1 2.2
Frequency (GHz)
2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6
absolute difference between the simulation and measurement
values is expected because of the discrepancy in the simulation
Fig. 6. The simulation and the measurement results (probe-to-probe) model compared to the measurement setup. The fat phantom is
made of adhesive putty to represent the physical consistency of
B. The effect of tissues thickness on signal coupling human fat and therefore, it lacks the cuboid shape used in
simulation, which is primarily the reason for the variations in
In CST simulation, we vary the thickness of the fat and the result. In addition, the discrepancy can also be due to the air
muscle tissues to analyze the effect on signal transmission bubbles trapped inside the adhesive putty itself, and also in
through each tissue. We vary the thickness of fat tissue from 10 between the probes contact area.
mm to 30 mm. As shown in Fig. 7, the amplitude of the
transmission coefficient S21 increases with respect to the
 The results analysis is more focused on the S21 results
rather than the S11 results. In Fig. 10, from both the
measurement and simulation, it can be deduced that the
coupling drops around 2 dB when the length is varied from 20
mm to 40 mm, and from 40 mm to 60 mm, respectively.
0
-5
-10
Magnitude (dB)
polarization effects in both homogeneous and heterogeneous
human tissue models will be pursued in the future work.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work was supported by Ministry of Higher Education,
Malaysia, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM),
Eurostars project (grant E-9655-COMFORT), Swedish
Vinnova project (grant BDAS) and a strategic collaborative
eScience program by Swedish Research Council (grant

-15
eSSENCE) for funding this research.

-20
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