Robert Neil Foster

• PhD MEng (Hons)
• Research Associate at University of Birmingham

This paper reviews non-invasive blood glucose measurements via dielectric spectroscopy at microwave frequencies presented in the literature. The intent is to clarify the key challenges that must be overcome if this approach is to work, to suggest some possible ways towards addressing these challenges and to contribute towards prevention of unnecess...

A 2-D generalized Maxwell fish-eye lens has been fabricated with all-dielectric polymer/ceramic composite materials and evaluated numerically and experimentally. The graded refractive index profile of the lens was discretized into a concentric-ring structure and functioned as a two-way beam splitter. Epoxy composites, with a broad dielectric consta...

The beam-steering capabilities of a simplified flat Luneburg lens are reported at 60 GHz. The design of the lens is first described, using transformation electromagnetics, before discussion of the fabrication of the lens using casting of ceramic composites. The simulated beam-steering performance is shown, demonstrating that the lens, with only six...

This paper presents a study on reduction of energy consumption in buildings through behaviour change informed by wireless monitoring systems for energy, environmental conditions and people positions. A key part to the Wi-Be system is the ability to accurately attribute energy usage behaviour to individuals, so they can be targeted with specific fee...

This paper forms the introduction to this themed issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A on 'Spatial transformations', arising from the Royal Society Scientific Discussion Meeting held in January 2015. The paper begins with a review of the concepts and history of spatial transformations, followed by a discussion of the contributi...

Presents information of the IEEE MTT-S IMWS-Bio 2014 conference.

We show that a pulse of electromagnetic radiation launched into a cavity can be completely absorbed into an infinitesimal region of space, provided one has a high degree of control over the current flowing through this region. We work out explicit examples of this effect in a cubic cavity and a cylindrical one, and experimentally demonstrate the ef...

On-body radio propagation in the 2.45-GHz industrial-scientific-medical frequency band (2.40–2.48 GHz) was investigated during three different activities: jogging, rowing and cycling. Four different links were examined, from the waist to the wrist, ankle, chest and back; it was observed that the channel behavior could be related to the repetitive n...

In this paper, a patch resonator is presented that operates in the Industrial, Scientific, Medical (ISM) band at 2.45–2.48 GHz, when placed on a four-layered (skin, fast, blood, and muscle) tissue. The patch resonator was simulated on a square digital phantom and, for a more realistic scenario, on the digital human phantom ‘Hugo’. To ensure that th...

Wearable physiological measurement systems have many potential applications, in areas such as medicine, sports, and security. This chapter focuses on the motivation for wearable wireless technology in health care and the challenges that emerge. It discusses the methods available for wearable wireless devices, with an emphasis on available wireless...

Tissue mimicking phantoms (TMPs) replicating the dielectric properties of wet skin, fat, blood, and muscle tissues for the 0.3 to 20 GHz frequency range are presented in this paper. The TMPs reflect the dielectric properties with maximum deviations of 7.7 units and 3.9 S/m for relative dielectric constant and conductivity, respectively, for the who...

Recent activities at Queen Mary, University of London, relating to wearable wireless sensors research for healthcare applications are reviewed in this paper. The monitoring of blood glucose levels using non-invasive radio-based sensors is discussed. The analysis of on-body radio propagation channels is then presented, with an emphasis on variations...

It has been recognised that body-centric communications (BCC) will play a significant role in 4G and subsequent technologies. BCC is an area of much interest globally, with applications in military, security, space, health care, sports and entertainment already identified. From a technical perspective, many of the problems encountered in BCC system...

The radio propagation signal between a pair of low-power wireless sensor nodes is analysed with the aim to identify and retrieve embedded physiological features. The latter is post-processed using popular timefrequency analyses, such as such as the Fast Fourier transform (FFT). The results show initial evidence that the electromagnetic wave propaga...

This paper presents a review of some current work conducted at Queen Mary University of London, related to antennas and propagation for body-centric wireless communications. Aspects related to measurement setup, numerical modelling, channel characteristics are briefly discussed. Applications and future trend of this research will be also presented.

The on-body channel was characterised at various points on the human torso in an anechoic chamber using a pair of wireless sensor modules. The performance of wireless IEEE 802.15.4 sensor nodes operating in the 2.45 GHz ISM frequency band (2.40-2.4835 GHz) is presented over each of the 16 different channels. It is shown that the response at individ...

In this study, a patch resonator with two ports is proposed for retrieving the dielectric properties of biological tissues. The resonator is designed to operate in the 2.45 GHz Industrial, Scientific, and Medical band when placed on the tissue. CST Microwave Studio was used to simulate the structure with five layers of tissue above. Two via pins ar...

A pair of low-power wireless sensor nodes, operating in the 2.45 GHz ISM band, are used to record the radio propagation of a particular on-body channel, the waist-chest channel. The recorded time-sampled radio link data is analysed in the frequency domain. It is shown that the wave propagation along the human body's surface embeds not only the radi...

Recent trends indicate that there is a growing desire to monitor the position of a person and track that location over time, for a number of legitimate applications including assisted living and health-care. Greater accuracy in position will usually also require the target to carry, or wear, an active RF device; hence, there is a need for an unders...

The performance of wireless sensor nodes operating in the 2.40-2.48 GHz ISM frequency band is presented over each of the 16 different channels. It is shown that the response of individual carrier frequency depends on both the antenna and the overall system. On-body channel characterization is performed at various points on the human body torso in a...

The emergence of wireless technologies and advancements in on-body sensor design can enable change in the conventional health-care system, replacing it with wearable health-care systems, centred on the individual. Wearable monitoring systems can provide continuous physiological data, as well as better information regarding the general health of ind...

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is a growing technology, with the potential for reducing medical errors and improving the quality of healthcare in hospitals. The benefits include more secure and safe access in the healthcare environment (with the possibility, for example, to track patients, personnel, and equipment), as well as providing the...

Current wireless technologies, such as wireless body area networks and wireless personal area networks, provide promising applications in medical monitoring systems to measure specified physiological data and also provide location-based information, if required. With the increasing sophistication of wearable and implantable medical devices and thei...

Millimetric systems offer the dual advantages of small size and increased bandwidth but have limitations on paper-handling capabilities. Minimisation of loss in the system is therefore of critical importance. A low-loss air-spaced method developed at the University of Birmingham is investigated in this paper in two ways. A single-frequency millimet...

The 63¿64 GHz band has been set aside by CEPT for inter-vehicle and roadside to vehicle communications (IVC and RVC). Roadside beacons would be spaced along the road at regular intervals. This paper describes the development of antennas at Birmingham University for the Miltrans project, led by BAE Systems in collaboration with Qinetiq and Panorama...

The paper describes two printed ultra wideband fixed-beam dual polarised arrays. The first consists of plain diamond dipoles, each with an integrated unbalanced-to-balanced transformer (balun), formed by a tapered microstrip line. The second array modifies the first by introducing a shorted Minkowski fractal pattern onto the diamond elements formin...

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This paper introduces the microprocessor, communicating and sensing technologies relevant to wearable computing. It reviews the trends and challenges that form part of the evolution of computer technology, from a computer filling a room to a room full of invisible computers. Not all wearable computing systems require the same level of computing per...

A dipole with an integrated wideband balanced-to-unbalanced transformer (balun) has been investigated and is described. It is formed by a pair of 'diamond' elements in a dipole configuration, fed with a tapered impedance microstrip balun. The antenna performs well over a 3 to 1 frequency range with low cross polarisation. The design of the balun an...