oa Towards Efficient And Comprehensive Healthcare/Medical Monitoring System: Nano-Scale Body-Centric Networks (Nano-Health)

A gradual shift from GHz to THz range in the past few years has celebrated the invention of many new technologies in the field of communications, computers, electronics and medicine. Nano-networks are the new era technologies defined as electronic components and their interconnection within a single chip on a nano-scale [1]. The concept of Network on Chip (NoC) is exploited on a scale ranging from micrometers to nanometers. This term is also referred to as the network-like interconnection of nano-materials such as carbon nanotubes arrays [2,3]. The research done in the past has broadly explained the same concept of nano-networking with different terminologies and slightly varying definitions depending on the mechanisms of networking and communication. In this study, the main focus is on propagation investigation at THz frequencies in human tissues, such as blood, fat, and skin, which is conducted with the aim to fix the early paradigms for a pioneering investigation in this field. The path loss values obtained from numerical simulation have been compared to an analytical model in order to verify the feasibility of the numerical analysis which can be subsequently extended in order to take into account more realistic parameters such as the antenna, or inhomogeneity of the materials. The study also explores the methods and techniques to characterize biological medium necessary for Nano-network communication. Time Domain Spectroscopy has immensely contributed in the field of medical imaging, analysis of protein and other biomolecules, finger print analysis of chemicals and food quality control [4]. The aim is to utilise this technique to study the dielectric properties of various biological samples. Subsequent sections of the chapter will discuss various biological entities such as skin & its layers, blood, hydration shell and sweat ducts. As one begins to understand the human body anatomy from wireless communication perspective, one can realizes its overall complexity and random nature. The main objective of this work is the potentiality of nano-scale EM communication exploiting the THz regime of the electromagnetic spectrum. The nano-scale EM communication becomes an obvious choice due to the fact that molecular information for a human body is indeed sensitive in the THz regime. Additionally, this part of the spectrum is much safer to interact at a cellular scale that its counterparts in the microwave or gigahertz range. The proposed in-vivo body nano-networks ensures their stability without disturbing the harmony of in-built molecular structure of the body. Moreover, in most of the cases medicine fails to understand the root cause of the problem but once a monitoring network is established, one can extract various unknowns and treat them effectively.