Skrivervik Anja

Wearable Antennas for Sensing Applications

Wearable sensing technologies have emerged as a groundbreaking method for non-invasive, real-time monitoring of physiological and biochemical markers, offering a new level of insight into human health. Different applications, these technologies can also aid wearers in detecting obstacles, such as in low-light environments. This talk demonstrates how integrating beam-steerable antennas or meta-antennas can significantly improve the sensitivity of wearable sensors, making them more effective for a range of applications. We highlight two specific use cases:

1. Sweat Analyte Detection: The first application focuses on a meta-antenna with enhanced symmetry, which improves the detection of variations in sweat analyte concentrations. The sensor features a multilayered structure with inter-layer gaps that trap sweat, allowing for dynamic monitoring of changes in analyte density and permittivity.

2. Obstacle Detection: The second example involves a 3D radar system based on a leaky-wave antenna, which enables wearers to detect obstacles in their environment.

Together, these examples showcase the potential of beam-steerable and meta-antenna technologies to advance the capabilities of wearable sensors in both health monitoring and environmental awareness.

Anja Skrivervik obtained her master's degree in electrical engineering from Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in 1986, and her PhD from the same institution in 1992, for which she received the Latsis award. After a stay at the University of Rennes as an invited Research Fellow and two years in the industry, she returned to EPFL as an Assistant Professor in 1996, and is now a Professeur Titulaire at this institution. In addition, she was a visiting professor at the University of Lund from 2021 to 2024. Her teaching activities include courses on microwaves and antennas. Her research activities include electrically small antennas, implantable and wearable antennas, multifrequency and ultra wideband antennas, and numerical techniques for electromagnetics. She is author or co-author of more than 250 peer reviewed scientific publications. She is very active in European collaboration and European projects. She was the chairperson of the Swiss URSI from 2006 to 2012, is the Swiss URSI commission B representative since 2012, is a Board member of the European School on Antennas and is frequently requested to review research programs and centers in Europe. She was member of the board of directors of the European Association on Antennas and Propagation (EurAAP) from 2017 to 2022.