UC Irvine

Over recent years, the sensor development has seen remarkable progress, resulting in highly refined analog and/or digital sensors that leave little room for substantial improvements in their core functionalities. In this context, the focus of the wearable electronic community has shifted towards addressing critical challenges, such as minimizing power consumption, optimizing user comfort, and establishing seamless data flow between organic media or living bodies to computer cloud systems. This dissertation contributes significantly to this ongoing paradigm shift. We extend the capabilities of some of the most prevalent wireless power transfer and communication protocols beyond their traditional scope. This body area network (BAN) has been enabled via mechanically flexible magnetic metamaterials that are integrated into user clothing or synthesized as skin patches. These structures possess highly engineered characteristics that allow seamless user experience while monitoring a wide array of chemo-electro-mechanical stimuli in extreme conditions. Our approach delivers uninterrupted, self-powered communication vital for monitoring human status within challenging environments where conventional wireless solutions, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or cellular networks falter. Notably, this research elaborates extending the scope of these local area networks to encompass the surrounding environment and peripheral devices beyond the human body, allowing for the smooth wireless data and power transmission across multiple human bodies and untethered smart devices.