Highly flexible strain sensor based on pop up dipole antenna for on-body applications

Soft electronic systems are intensively desirable due to their similar mechanical properties to human skin. Technological advances in flexible skin-attachable strain sensors over the last decade have made them attractive for medical applications, in particular, out-of-the-clinic health monitoring. Here we report a novel highly stretchable strain sensor based on a compressive buckling technique for on-body applications. Our suggested sensor is able to measure 0 to 60% strain with the frequency shift in the range of 2.4 GHz to 5 GHz while keeping the on-skin antenna gain greater than −11 dBi. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) using COMSOL Multiphysics® 5.3a was adopted to analyse the buckling behaviour of the 2D metallic precursor as well as the antenna performance. Numerical results are in good agreement with the experimental data.