Removable Finger Nail Antenna

An antenna on a removable fingernail for on-body communication applications is proposed. The antenna consist of patch design that is shaped around the curvature of an artificial nail. Two fabrication procedures are tested. The first uses copper layers that are attached to the nail. The second is a more realistic scenario where the patch is painted by hand onto the inexpensive polymer material. The antennas operate at the 10 GHz band and are intended for future on-body wireless communications systems. Tests were conducted on the antenna, first in free space and then on human body. The tests results from the brush-painted antenna compare well with those of the design on copper and the simulations. The antennas performance in terms of reflection coefficient and radiation pattern are satisfactory. CST Microwave StudioTM was used for the simulations. This work aims to demonstrate a new concept for low-cost body-attached antennas using finger nails.