RFID Reader and Wearable Tags for Smart Health Applications

This work presents an RFID system working in the 2.4 GHz band able to track and tridimensional locate people moving in indoor environments equipped with active tags realized on wearable and flexible textile materials. Thanks to the beam steering capabilities of the custom-designed reader both in the azimuth and in the elevation plane, it is also possible to detect potential falls that could happen to elderly or impaired people living alone and send an alarm to the family, the caregivers, or the medical team to point out the problem. Moreover, a series of antennas on denim substrates has been realized and exploited in combination with the circuitry of the tag to enhance the comfort and psychological acceptability of the technology for the users. For what concerns 2-D localization capabilities, an average error of about 20 cm has been detected in a room larger than 30 m2, whereas an error of only 8.5 cm has been noticed along the vertical axis, widely sufficient to correctly detect the upright status of tagged people.