Single-wire radio frequency transmission lines in biological tissue

We present an approach for implanting radio frequency transmission lines in biological tissue, using a single insulated wire surrounded by tissue as a variant of the Goubau single-wire transmission line (SWTL) in air. We extend the Goubau SWTL model to include SWTLs surrounded by lossy dielectrics such as tissue by assuming a propagating mode component in the tissue. We show that a thin wire of radius $63.5 μm$⁠, coated with biocompatible fluorinated ethylene propylene dielectric, exhibits a measured loss of only 1 dB/cm at a frequency of 915 MHz. The model fit to the measured insertion loss is within ±0.3 dB/cm across the 100 MHz to 3 GHz band. This SWTL presents excellent impedance matching to $50 Ω$ as evidenced by a measured median return loss better than 10 dB across the 100 MHz to 3 GHz range. This approach represents an alternative to near-field magnetic coupling for implanted systems where tissue displacement by a single, thin wire can be tolerated.