3D/4D/Inkjet-Printed RF Wearable and Implantable Modules for Smart Skin and Health Monitoring Applications

In this talk, numerous inkjet-/3D-printed flexible antennas, passives, "smart" packages, RF electronics and sensors fabricated on a variety of materials (e.g.paper, silicone and other polymer (e.g.LCP)) are introduced as a system-level solution for ultra-low-cost mass production of RF wearable and implantable Modules for Smart Skin and Health Minoring applications encompassing Communication, Energy Harvesting and Sensing features. Special focus will be paid on newly developed additively manufactured 3D ramp interconnects, 3D microfluidic configurations and on-chip/on-package printed RF components for further miniaturization, on-demand customization and enhanced reliability. Tentzeris will briefly touch up the state-of-the-art area of 3D/inkjet-printed fully-integrated wireless sensor “smart strip” modules on paper or flexible substrates and demonstrate the unique capabilities of additive manufacturing for the fully 3D integration of arbitrary-shape wireless sensors and packages with RF systems on virtually every substrate (glass, paper, plastic, ...) as well as for the first realizations of 4D (morphing/shape changing/origami) multilayer RF/microwave structures, that could potentially set the foundation for the truly convergent wireless sensor ad-hoc networks of the future with enhanced cognitive intelligence and "rugged" packaging. Prof. Tentzeris will discuss issues concerning additively manufactured power sources of "near-perpetual" RF modules, including flexible energy harvesting approaches involving thermal, EM, vibration and solar energy forms. The final step of the paper will involve examples from mmW wearable (e.g. biomonitoring) antennas, microfluidics, rectifiers and RF modules, as well as integrated 3D-/inkjet-printed nanotechnology-based (e.g.CNT, graphene) sensors for Internet of Things (IoT), e-health, 5G and autonomous vehicles applications. It has to be noted that the talk will review and present challenges for inkjet- and 3D-printed organic active and nonlinear devices and printable transparent RF electronics as well as future directions in the area of environmentally-friendly ("green") RF electronics, "smart-skin' conformal sensors and "enhanced-intelligence" IC packages up to at least 100 GHz.