near field communication research papers

Near-Field Communications: Research Advances, Potential, and Challenges

Ieee account.

• Change Username/Password
• Update Address

Purchase Details

• Payment Options
• Order History
• View Purchased Documents

Profile Information

• Communications Preferences
• Profession and Education
• Technical Interests
• US & Canada: +1 800 678 4333
• Worldwide: +1 732 981 0060
• Contact & Support
• About IEEE Xplore
• Accessibility
• Terms of Use
• Nondiscrimination Policy
• Privacy & Opting Out of Cookies

A not-for-profit organization, IEEE is the world's largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. © Copyright 2024 IEEE - All rights reserved. Use of this web site signifies your agreement to the terms and conditions.

Help | Advanced Search

Electrical Engineering and Systems Science > Signal Processing

Title: near-field communications: a comprehensive survey.

Abstract: Multiple-antenna technologies are evolving towards larger aperture sizes, extremely high frequencies, and innovative antenna types. This evolution is fostering the emergence of near-field communications (NFC) in future wireless systems. Considerable attention has been directed towards this cutting-edge technology due to its potential to enhance the capacity of wireless networks by introducing increased spatial degrees of freedom (DoFs) in the range domain. Within this context, a comprehensive review of the state of the art on NFC is presented, with a specific focus on its 1) fundamental operating principles, 2) channel modeling, 3) performance analysis, 4) signal processing techniques, and 5) integration with other emerging applications. Specifically, 1) the basic principles of NFC are characterized from both physics and communications perspectives, unveiling its unique properties in contrast to far-field communications. 2) Building on these principles, deterministic and stochastic near-field channel models are explored for spatially-discrete (SPD) and continuous-aperture (CAP) arrays. 3) Based on these models, existing contributions to near-field performance analysis are reviewed in terms of DoFs/effective DoFs (EDoFs), the power scaling law, and transmission rate. 4) Existing signal processing techniques for NFC are systematically surveyed, which include channel estimation, beamforming design, and low-complexity beam training. 5) Major issues and research opportunities in incorporating near-field models into other promising technologies are identified to advance NFC's deployment in next-generation networks. Throughout this paper, promising directions are highlighted to inspire future research endeavors in the realm of NFC, underscoring its significance in the advancement of wireless communication technologies.

Submission history

Access paper:.

• HTML (experimental)
• Other Formats

References & Citations

• Google Scholar
• Semantic Scholar

BibTeX formatted citation

Bibliographic and Citation Tools

Code, data and media associated with this article, recommenders and search tools.

• Institution

arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators

arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website.

Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them.

Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs .

Recent Developments in Near Field Communication: A Study

• Published: 26 September 2020
• Volume 116 , pages 2913–2932, ( 2021 )

Cite this article

• P. Chandrasekar   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-8482-3503 1 &
• Ashudeb Dutta 2  

1178 Accesses

10 Citations

Explore all metrics

Near field communication, development in radio frequency detection has put its foot in today’s life of individuals through sophisticated mobile phones. NFC technology has become very popular due to its transparent and simple integration with a number of applications such as health care, consumer electronics, public transport payment methods, etc. A few new approaches have been attempted to make NFC progressively competent in routine day-to-day applications. This paper discusses the latest development in the use of NFC’s in a few implementations and the potential outcomes of the hustle-free implementation of these applications. A systematic analysis of recent research deployment in different areas of use has been clarified and explored.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Subscribe and save.

• Get 10 units per month
• Download Article/Chapter or eBook
• 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
• Cancel anytime

Price includes VAT (Russian Federation)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Rent this article via DeepDyve

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Near Field Communication

Interactions Patterns in NFC Interfaces for Applications and Services

A Bird’s Eye View of Near Field Communication Technology: Applications, Global Adoption, and Impact in Africa

Ahson, S. A., & Ilyas, M. (2011). Near field communications handbook . Boca Raton: CRC Press.

Google Scholar  

Aziza, H. (2010). NFC technology in mobile phone next-generation services. In 2010 second international workshop on near field communication (pp. 21–26). https://doi.org/10.1109/NFC.2010.18 .

Bevan, J., & Plimmer, J. (2013). The international market for brand protection solutions—A techno-economic market review (3rd ed.). Mid-Glamorgan: Vandagraf International Limited.

Bluetooth secure simple pairing using NFC. (2019). https://members.nfc-forum.org/resources/AppDocs/NFCForum_AD_BTSSP_1_0.pdf . Accessed 26 Sept 2019.

Boada, M., Lázaro, A., Villarino, R., & Girbau, D. (2018). Battery-less soil moisture measurement system based on a NFC device with energy harvesting capability. IEEE Sensors Journal , 18 (13), 5541–5549. https://doi.org/10.1109/JSEN.2018.2837388 .

Article   Google Scholar  

Boada, M., Lazaro, A., Villarino, R., & Girbau, D. (2019). Battery-less NFC sensor for pH monitoring. IEEE Access , 7 , 33226–33239. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2904109 .

Bright, M., Baucke, M., Duska, M., Deibert, D., Furst, R., Kaiser-Kershaw, S., et al. (2018). Bridging digital and physical retail with NFC. https://nfc-forum.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/NFC-Retail-White-Paper-v07.pdf . Accessed 26 Sept 2019.

Ceipidor, U. B., Medaglia, C. M., Volpi, V., Moroni, A., Sposato, S., Carboni, M., Caridi, A., et al. (2013). NFC technology applied to touristic-cultural field: A case study on an italian museum. In 2013 5th international workshop on near field communication (NFC) (pp. 1–6). https://doi.org/10.1109/NFC.2013.6482445 .

Chandrakar, N., Kaul, S., Mohan, M., Sai Vamsi, C., Prabhu, K. R., et al. (2015). NFC based profiling of smart home lighting system. In 2015 international conference on industrial instrumentation and control (ICIC) (pp. 338–341). https://doi.org/10.1109/IIC.2015.7150764 .

Chang, H. h. (2018). Everyday NFC: Near field communication explained . Coach Seattle Incorporated.

Chen, C. H., Lin, I. C., Yang, C. C., et al. (2014). NFC attacks analysis and survey. In 2014 eighth international conference on innovative mobile and internet services in ubiquitous computing (pp 458–462). IEEE.

Cheng, R. S., Hong, W. J., Wang, J. S., & Lin, K. W. (2016). Seamless guidance system combining GPS, BLE beacon, and NFC technologies. Mobile Information Systems .

Coskun, V. (2015). The survey on near field communication. Sensors , 15 , 13348–13405. https://doi.org/10.3390/s150613348 .

Coşkun, V., Ok, K., & Özdenizci Köse, B. (2011). Near field communication: From theory to practice . New York: Wiley.

Coskun, V., Ozdenizci, B., & Ok, K. (2013). A survey on near field communication (NFC) technology. Wireless Personal Communications , 71 (3), 2259–2294.

Coulton, P., Rashid, O., Edwards, R., et al. (2017). RFID and NFC on mobile phones. In: Ahson SA, Ilyas M (eds) RFID handbook: Applications, technology, security, and privacy, chap 21 (pp. 375–390). ‎Boca Raton: CRC Press.

Dang, F., Zhai, E., Li, Z., Zhou, P., Mohaisen, A., Bian, K., et al. (2019). Pricing data tampering in automated fare collection with NFC-equipped smartphones. IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing , 18 (5), 1159–1173. https://doi.org/10.1109/TMC.2018.2853114 .

Demir Alan, U., & Birant, D. (2018). Server-based intelligent public transportation system with NFC. IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Magazine , 10 (1), 30–46. https://doi.org/10.1109/MITS.2017.2776102 .

Ghosh, S., Goswami, J., Kumar, A., & Majumder, A. (2015). Issues in NFC as a form of contactless communication: A comprehensive survey. In 2015 international conference on smart technologies and management for computing (pp. 245–252). Controls, Energy and Materials (ICSTM): Communication.

Ghosh, S., Majumder, A., Goswami, J., Kumar, A., Mohanty, S. P., & Bhattacharyya, B. K. (2017). Swing-pay: One card meets all user payment and identity needs: A digital card module using nfc and biometric authentication for peer-to-peer payment. IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine , 6 (1), 82–93. https://doi.org/10.1109/MCE.2016.2614522 .

Hossein, H.R., & Shaikh, S.S. (2016). Sphpms: Smart personnel m-healthcare patient monitoring system. In 2016 international conference on electrical, electronics, and optimization techniques (ICEEOT) (pp. 1750–1753). https://doi.org/10.1109/ICEEOT.2016.7754986 .

Hughes, R. (2017). NFC-enabled e-ticketing in public transport: Clearing the route to interoperability NFCW knowledge centre. https://members.nfcw.com/2211/nfc-enabled-e-ticketing-in-public-transport-clearing-the-route-to-interoperability . Accessed 26 Sept 2019.

Igoe, T., Coleman, D., Jepson, B., et al. (2014). Beginning NFC: Near field communication with Arduino, Android, and Phonegap . Newton: O’Reilly Media Inc.

Imhontu, E. E., & Kumah, O. Y. (2010). A survey on near field communication in mobile phones & PDAs.

info, T., & Compatibility, N. (2020). NFC compatibility—Shop NFC. https://www.shopnfc.com/en/content/7-nfc-compatibility . Accessed 28 June 2020.

Jiang, Y., Xu, L., Pan, K., Leng, T., Li, Y., Danoon, L., et al. (2019). e-textile embroidered wearable near-field communication rfid antennas. IET Microwaves, Antennas Propagation , 13 (1), 99–104. https://doi.org/10.1049/iet-map.2018.5435 .

Karmazín, J., & Očenášek, P. (2016). The state of near-field communication (NFC) on the android platform. In International conference on human aspects of information security, privacy, and trust (pp. 247–254). Springer.

Lazaro, A., Boada, M., Villarino, R., & Girbau, D. (2019). Battery-less smart diaper based on NFC technology. IEEE Sensors Journal , 19 (22), 10848–10858. https://doi.org/10.1109/JSEN.2019.2933289 .

Madlmayr, G., Kantner, C., & Grechenig, T. (2014). Near field communication. Secure smart embedded devices, platforms and applications (pp. 351–367). New York: Springer.

Chapter   Google Scholar  

Marcus, A., Davidzon, G., Law, D., Verma, N., Fletcher, R., Khan, A., Sarmenta, L., et al. (2009). Using NFC-enabled mobile phones for public health in developing countries. In 2009 first international workshop on near field communication (pp. 30–35). https://doi.org/10.1109/NFC.2009.25 .

Minihold, R. (2011). Near field communication (NFC) technology and measurements . White Paper 6.

Mk, J. J., & Candelario, A. P. (2017). Ble pairing with the NTAG I2C plus kit for arduino pinout . https://community.nxp.com/docs/DOC-335241 . Accessed 11 Nov 2019.

Mohandes, M. A. (2017). Class attendance management system using NFC mobile devices. Intelligent Automation & Soft Computing , 23 (2), 251–259. https://doi.org/10.1080/10798587.2016.1204749 .

Morak, J., Kumpusch, H., Hayn, D., Modre-Osprian, R., & Schreier, G. (2012). Design and evaluation of a telemonitoring concept based on NFC-enabled mobile phones and sensor devices. IEEE Transactions on Information Technology in Biomedicine , 16 (1), 17–23. https://doi.org/10.1109/TITB.2011.2176498 .

Moudgil, K., Maheshwari, R., Parekh, H. B., Devadkar, K., et al. (2017). Cloud-based secure smartcard healthcare monitoring and tracking system. In 2017 second international conference on electrical, computer and communication technologies (ICECCT) (pp. 1–8). https://doi.org/10.1109/ICECCT.2017.8117869 .

Near field communication in medical devices (2013). https://www.hcltech.com/sites/default/files/near_field_communication_in_medical_devices.pdf . Accessed 13 Nov 2019.

NFC din rail demo—How to do parametrization with NFC (2017). https://community.nxp.com/docs/DOC-333834 . Accessed 14 Nov 2019.

NTAG I2C plus: NFC forum type 2 tag with I2C interface (2019). https://www.nxp.com/products/rfid-nfc/nfc-hf/ntag/nfc-tags-for-electronics/ntag-ic-iplus-i-nfc-forum-type-2-tag-with-ic-interface:NTAG_I2C . Accessed 15 Nov 2019.

Ondrus, J., & Pigneur, Y. (2009). Near field communication: An assessment for future payment systems. Information Systems and E-Business Management , 7 (3), 347–361.

Ozdenizci, B., Coskun, V., & Ok, K. (2015). NFC internal: An indoor navigation system. Sensors , 15 (4), 7571–7595.

Pampattiwar, S. (2012). Literature survey on NFC, applications and controller. International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research , 3 (2), 1.

Patil, V., Varma, N., Vinchurkar, S., Patil, B., et al. (2014). NFC based health monitoring and controlling system. In 2014 IEEE global conference on wireless computing networking (GCWCN) (pp. 133–137). https://doi.org/10.1109/GCWCN.2014.7030864 .

Praxis. (2017). NFC healthcare applications for clinical studies . https://www.gopraxis.com/imagine-possibilities-near-field-communication-healthcare-applications-clinical-studies/ . Accessed 13 Nov 2019.

Rabie, A., & Handmann, U. (2014). NFC-based person-specific assisting system in home environment. In Proceeding of the 11th world congress on intelligent control and automation (pp. 5404–5409). https://doi.org/10.1109/WCICA.2014.7053637 .

Rahimi, R., Brener, U., Ochoa, M., Ziaie, B., et al. (2017). Flexible and transparent pH monitoring system with NFC communication for wound monitoring applications. In 2017 IEEE 30th international conference on micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) (pp. 125–128). https://doi.org/10.1109/MEMSYS.2017.7863356 .

Reisenhofer, E., Bright, M., Mangione, J., Mosch, P., Neafsey, J., Polak, P., et al. (2016). Simplifying IoT: Connecting, commissioning, and controlling with near field communication (NFC) . http://nfc-forum.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/NFC_Forum_IoT_White_Paper_-v05.pdf . Accessed 26 Sept 2019.

SN, A. U. N., Prabhakar, T., Jamadagni, H., Ganapathi, K., Pramod, B., Rakesh, C., et al. (2012). Near field communication—Applications and performance studies. In International conference on information processing (pp. 1–10). Springer.

Sainathan, P. (2020). Supply chain visibility evolution: Barcodes, RFID, NFC, BLE beacons . https://blog.roambee.com/supply-chain-technology/evolution-in-supply-chain-visibility-barcodes-to-rfid-to-ble-beacons . Accessed 28 Oct 2019.

Sethia, D., Gupta, D., Mittal, T., Arora, U., Saran, H., et al. (2014). NFC based secure mobile healthcare system. In 2014 sixth international conference on communication systems and networks (COMSNETS) (pp. 1–6). https://doi.org/10.1109/COMSNETS.2014.6734919 .

Shaikh, F. K., Zeadally, S., & Exposito, E. (2017). Enabling technologies for green internet of things. IEEE Systems Journal , 11 (2), 983–994. https://doi.org/10.1109/JSYST.2015.2415194 .

Sterling, G. (2015). Survey: 90 percent of retail shoppers use smartphones in stores. Marketing Land 20.

Supriya, A., Ramgopal, S., & George, S. M. (2017). Near field communication based system for health monitoring. In 2017 2nd IEEE international conference on recent trends in electronics, information communication technology (RTEICT) (pp. 653–657). https://doi.org/10.1109/RTEICT.2017.8256678 .

Tait, D. (2015). NFC-enabled handset shipments to reach three-quarters of a billion in 2015 . https://technology.ihs.com/533599/nfc-enabled-handset-shipments-to-reach-three-quarters-of-a-billion-in-2015 . Accessed 26 Sept 2019.

Teh, P. L., Ahmed, P. K., Chan, A. H., Cheong, S. N., & Yap, W. J. (2015). Useful or easy-to-use? Knowing what older people like about near field communication technology. In International conference on human aspects of IT for the aged population (pp. 273–281). Springer.

Ukalkar, G. V., & Halgaonkar, P. S. (2017). Cloud based NFC health card system. In 2017 international conference on intelligent computing and control systems (ICICCS) (pp. 436–441). https://doi.org/10.1109/ICCONS.2017.8250760 .

Ultimate guide to industrial NFC use cases with demos (2018). https://www.element14.com/community/community/businessofengineering/blog/2018/09/27/ultimate-guide-to-industrial-nfc-use-cases-with-demos . Accessed 6 Dec 2019.

Ulz, T., Pieber, T., Höller, A., Haas, S., & Steger, C. (2017). Secured and easy-to-use NFC-based device configuration for the internet of things. IEEE Journal of Radio Frequency Identification , 1 (1), 75–84. https://doi.org/10.1109/JRFID.2017.2745510 .

Urien, P. (2014). A secure cloud of electronic keys for NFC locks securely controlled by NFC smartphones. In 2014 IEEE 11th consumer communications and networking conference (CCNC) (pp .1120–1121). https://doi.org/10.1109/CCNC.2014.6994415 .

Vagdevi, P., Nagaraj, D., Prasad, G. V., et al. (2017). Home: Iot based home automation using NFC. In 2017 international conference on I-SMAC (IoT in social, mobile, analytics and cloud) (I-SMAC) (pp. 861–865). https://doi.org/10.1109/I-SMAC.2017.8058301 .

Wikipedia contributors. (2019). List of smart cards—Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia . https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_smart_cards&oldid=928886423 . Online; accessed December 18, 2019.

Wikipedia contributors. (2020a). List of NFC-enabled mobile devices—Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia . https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_NFC-enabled_mobile_devices&oldid=935447702 . Online; accessed January 21, 2020.

Wikipedia contributors. (2020b). Near-field communication—Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia . https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Near-field_communication&oldid=935471857 . Online; accessed January 18, 2020.

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

IcafiTech(FST), ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education, Hyderabad, Telagana, India

P. Chandrasekar

IIT Hyderabad, Hyderabad, 502285, India

Ashudeb Dutta

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to P. Chandrasekar .

Additional information

Publisher's note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Chandrasekar, P., Dutta, A. Recent Developments in Near Field Communication: A Study. Wireless Pers Commun 116 , 2913–2932 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11277-020-07827-9

Download citation

Published : 26 September 2020

Issue Date : February 2021

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11277-020-07827-9

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Near field communication (NFC)
• Health care
• Consumer electronics
• Public transportation (PT)
• Internet of things (IoT)
• Contactless payments
• Find a journal
• Publish with us
• Track your research

Subscribe to the PwC Newsletter

Join the community, edit social preview.

Add a new code entry for this paper

Remove a code repository from this paper, mark the official implementation from paper authors, add a new evaluation result row, remove a task, add a method, remove a method, edit datasets, near-field communications: a comprehensive survey.

11 Jan 2024  ·  Yuanwei Liu , Chongjun Ouyang , Zhaolin Wang , Jiaqi Xu , Xidong Mu , A. Lee Swindlehurst · Edit social preview

Multiple-antenna technologies are evolving towards larger aperture sizes, extremely high frequencies, and innovative antenna types. This evolution is fostering the emergence of near-field communications (NFC) in future wireless systems. Considerable attention has been directed towards this cutting-edge technology due to its potential to enhance the capacity of wireless networks by introducing increased spatial degrees of freedom (DoFs) in the range domain. Within this context, a comprehensive review of the state of the art on NFC is presented, with a specific focus on its 1) fundamental operating principles, 2) channel modeling, 3) performance analysis, 4) signal processing techniques, and 5) integration with other emerging applications. Specifically, 1) the basic principles of NFC are characterized from both physics and communications perspectives, unveiling its unique properties in contrast to far-field communications. 2) Building on these principles, deterministic and stochastic near-field channel models are explored for spatially-discrete (SPD) and continuous-aperture (CAP) arrays. 3) Based on these models, existing contributions to near-field performance analysis are reviewed in terms of DoFs/effective DoFs (EDoFs), the power scaling law, and transmission rate. 4) Existing signal processing techniques for NFC are systematically surveyed, which include channel estimation, beamforming design, and low-complexity beam training. 5) Major issues and research opportunities in incorporating near-field models into other promising technologies are identified to advance NFC's deployment in next-generation networks. Throughout this paper, promising directions are highlighted to inspire future research endeavors in the realm of NFC, underscoring its significance in the advancement of wireless communication technologies.

Code Edit Add Remove Mark official

Tasks edit add remove, datasets edit, results from the paper edit, methods edit add remove.

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

• View all journals
• My Account Login
• Explore content
• About the journal
• Publish with us
• Sign up for alerts
• Open access
• Published: 24 October 2024

Dynamic control and manipulation of near-fields using direct feedback

• Jacob Kher-Aldeen 1 ,
• Kobi Cohen   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0707-8885 1 ,
• Stav Lotan 1 ,
• Kobi Frischwasser 1 ,
• Bergin Gjonaj 2 , 3 ,
• Shai Tsesses   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0167-3402 1 , 4 &
• Guy Bartal   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0554-4192 1  

Light: Science & Applications volume  13 , Article number:  298 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

2 Altmetric

Metrics details

• Nanophotonics and plasmonics
• Nonlinear optics
• Sub-wavelength optics

Shaping and controlling electromagnetic fields at the nanoscale is vital for advancing efficient and compact devices used in optical communications, sensing and metrology, as well as for the exploration of fundamental properties of light-matter interaction and optical nonlinearity. Real-time feedback for active control over light can provide a significant advantage in these endeavors, compensating for ever-changing experimental conditions and inherent or accumulated device flaws. Scanning nearfield microscopy, being slow in essence, cannot provide such a real-time feedback that was thus far possible only by scattering-based microscopy. Here, we present active control over nanophotonic near-fields with direct feedback facilitated by real-time near-field imaging. We use far-field wavefront shaping to control nanophotonic patterns in surface waves, demonstrating translation and splitting of near-field focal spots at nanometer-scale precision, active toggling of different near-field angular momenta and correction of patterns damaged by structural defects using feedback enabled by the real-time operation. The ability to simultaneously shape and observe nanophotonic fields can significantly impact various applications such as nanoscale optical manipulation, optical addressing of integrated quantum emitters and near-field adaptive optics.

Introduction

The ability to shape and control light is of fundamental importance in a wide range of fields, including imaging and spectroscopy 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , optical trapping 6 , 7 , 8 , quantum photonics 9 , optical communication 10 , nonlinear optics 11 and more. While the early stage of light shaping was within the framework of adaptive optics 12 , 13 , contemporary methods to control light include the spatial light modulator (SLM) 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 capable of controlling the phase and amplitude of optical waves at high spatial resolution and with a large dynamic range.

The importance of optical wave-front shaping is evident in many fields, such as trapping and manipulation of nanoparticles via holographic optical tweezers, which finds widespread applications in biology, biomedical and physical sciences 6 . It has also been instrumental in demonstrating the ability to focus light through opaque media 14 , 15 , 16 , thereby opening up new possibilities for non-invasive imaging 2 , 3 , 18 .

The potential use of wavefront shaping in nanophotonics can provide the control of light at subwavelength scales, making a profound impact in numerous applications; it can divide power among nano-scale focal spots in controlled manner to improve super-resolution imaging and metrology 19 , 20 ; as well as enhance light-matter interactions by accurately addressing nano-emitters or rotate particles 21 , 22 .

Such shaping, however, becomes limited at the absence of direct feedback as the coupling mechanism to nanophotonic modes, utilizing e.g. a grating, does not preserve the wavefront of the incident beam. Near-field imaging approaches which are based on raster scanning, post processing or large integration times 23 , 24 , 25 are able to monitor near-fields shaped either by the polarization of the incident beam 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 or by SLM 33 but cannot provide real-time monitoring for, e.g. tracking changes in the near-fields or fix broken or distorted wavefronts. A direct feedback could only be provided by scatterers that perturb the field 19 , 20 , 34 , 35 , limiting the applicability of nano-scale wavefront shaping in dynamic processes.

A recent advance, capable of direct imaging of nanophotonic fields 36 can provide instantaneous and non-perturbating attributes, thereby enabling the desired real-time feedback.

Here, we demonstrate active control over nanophotonic fields with real-time feedback. Our methodology involves the generation of shaped surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs), actively controlled by an SLM and monitored in real-time. This dynamic control encompasses various capabilities, including translating and splitting a plasmonic focal spot over several microns with 30 nm precision and dynamic switching of the angular momentum of near-field modes. We further demonstrate how this capability allows to fix and correct nanophotonic patterns corrupted by structural defects. Our real-time mapping technique, providing the real-time feedback mechanism, exploits the 3rd-order nonlinearity of metal using surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs). However, it is inherently present in metals, semiconductors and interfaces in general and was already proven successful in Silicon Photonics 37 and phonon-polariton in Silicon Carbide 38 .

The experimental apparatus is described in Fig. 1a . We generate the nanophotonic patterns on the gold-air interface using 140 fs pulsed, circularly polarized laser at a wavelength of 1030 nm. The laser beam is shaped using a phase-only SLM, positioned in the Fourier plane of the metallic layer. The SLM imprints a radially-ascending phase on the light reflected off of it, as illustrated in Fig. 1b . This phase modulation results in the creation of a ring-shaped beam which impinges the coupling grating, carved in the metallic layer, as shown in Fig. 1c . The diameter of this ring-shaped beam can be precisely adjusted to match the size of the grating (Fig. 1d ), which improves the coupling efficiency and reduces heating of the metallic layer. A second pulsed laser beam (‘pump’), operating at a wavelength of 800 nm and phase-locked with the first beam generates the nonlinear beam, at 667 nm wavelength, which contains the information on the near-field signal 36 . The pump beam is focused to a 4 μm diameter focal spot and is circularly polarized such that the nonlinear interaction produces the spatial information encoded within the field component of the SPP mode that rotates at the same direction 27 , 36 . We use 100 mW average power corresponding to power density of 16 mWatt/μm 2 . we find experimentally that the damage threshold intensity is ~30 mWatt/μm 2 . Figure 1e depicts the resultant near-field pattern as recorded on the CCD camera using the aforementioned nonlinear process.

a Illustration of the Nonlinear Nearfield Optical Microscope (NNOM) used for mapping wavefront-controlled near-field patterns. SLM – Spatial light modulator. OPO – Optical parametric oscillator. DM – dichroic mirror. QWP – Quarter waveplate. The objective used to focus the OPO signal on the sample has NA of 0.42 and magnification of x 20, while the objective used for imaging has NA of 0.9 and magnification of x 100. b Linearly-ascending radially symmetric phase mask stored on the SLM for producing a ring-shape beam. c SEM image of the sample: a circularly symmetric grating carved in a 180 nm thick gold layer. d Optical image showing the grating illuminated by the equal-phase ring at 1030 nm wavelength. e Real-time mapping of the excited near-field pattern at 667 nm using NNOM. The inset shows a zoom-in on the resultant 0 th order Bessel mode

The SPP pattern is generated by illuminating a phase-encoded ring generated in the Fourier plane of the SLM. A radially-symmetric, radially-ascending phase is stored on the SLM, such that the electric field of a Gaussian beam reflected from the SLM is \(E\left(r,\theta \right)={e}^{-\pi {(\frac{r}{{r}_{0}})}^{2}}{e}^{{jar}}\) , where \({r}_{0}\) represents the size of the Gaussian beam and \(a\) is the radial rate of the phase advance.

The field on the grating is, therefore, the Fourier transform of the beam reflected from the SLM,

Where the ring diameter is determined by \(a\) . The surface wave generated by the ring-shaped beam incident on a circular grating coupler can be calculated using a Huygens-principle simulation 39 (see supplementary for more details). The field components can be represented as two rotating in-plane components and one out-of-plane component 36 :

Where the in-plane field is expressed via its rotating field components \({E}_{{\sigma }_{+}}^{{SPP}}={E}_{x}^{{SPP}}+j{E}_{y}^{{SPP}}\) and \({E}_{{\sigma }_{-}}^{{SPP}}={E}_{x}^{{SPP}}-j{E}_{y}^{{SPP}}\) 36 . By applying a radially-ascending phase with no azimuthal twist, this SPP field component takes the form of a 0th order Bessel mode. Illuminating the sample with a \({\hat{\sigma }}_{+}\) polarized pump recovers the shape of the \({\hat{\sigma }}_{+}\) component of the plasmonic vector field at the interface, i.e., \({J}_{0}\left({k}_{{SPP}}\rho \right)\) , as shown in Fig. 1e , constituting a plasmonic focal spot.

A prominent implication of the new ability shown herein is a swift control over the focal spot that can be achieved by merely shifting the phase pattern on the SLM. Such a shift results in a linear phase gradient imprinted on the ring incident on the sample which, in turn, generates a constructive interference of SPPs at a location corresponding to the shift of the pattern on the SLM. Figure 2 portrays the full control over the position of the nanoscale SPP focal spot within an area spanning several square microns. Five different locations of the SPP focal spot, each separated by a distance of 1.5 µm, are shown with little to no degradation. The supplementary movie S 1 shows the real-time observation of such translation, where the plasmonic focal spot is translated over different positions along a square trajectory, more details and simulations are provided in the supplementary section. The precision on the focal spot location is dictated by the number of pixels used in the SLM. In the current optical setup, a translation of the focal spot by a distance of 1.5 µm requires a shift of 50 pixels on the SLM. Furthermore, the real-time mapping of the near-field allows to monitor and record a pixel-by-pixel translation of a single SPP focal spot in real-time, as shown in supplementary movie S 2 . While the spot size is limited by the plasmon wavelength, the translation precision is restricted by the optical system and the SLM pixel density, making it 30 nm in this system. The detection resolution, however, is limited by the magnification of the optical system and the pixel density of the camera which makes it 60 nm as can be observed in movie S 2 .

Different positions of the plasmonic focus inside an area of 1.5 µm x 1.5 µm. The plasmonic focus is moving from the center ( a ) to (-0.75,0.75) µm ( b ) and continue to the other side points in ( c – e ). f – j The SLM phase masks desired for the measurements ( a – e ) respectively

The spot size itself can also be decreased by increasing its spatial frequencies range. This was achieved through various methods, such as utilizing short-range plasmonic modes 28 , 40 , 41 or periodic nanostructure 42 . The combination of this tight focusing ability with precision tuning could impact various fields related to nanophotonics such as near-field adaptive optics and plasmonic microscopy 20 , trapping and manipulation of nanoparticles in plasmonic tweezers 43 , 44 and many others.

Notwithstanding the importance of controlling the position of a single nanophotonic focal spot, some applications benefit control and manipulation of multiple foci on a surface. Dynamic optical trapping of multiple particles simultaneously, for example, is often used for DNA unfolding 6 , 43 , 44 , 45 and performing it on-chip at nanoscale control can open new avenues for these applications. We show here a major step towards this goal, achieved by superimposing translated phase patterns on the SLM, resulting in creation of pairs of focal spots that can be individually manipulated and rotated. Figure 3 and supplementary movie S 3 depict the generation of such a pair of focal spots and their manipulation in terms of separation and rotation.

a A pair of plasmonic foci can be achieved via splitting a plasmonic focal spot by adding together two shifted radial phases on the SLM, each corresponding to a shifted plasmonic focus. b - c the two emerging plasmonic foci can be manipulated and rotated simultaneously by varying the locations and relative phases of the shifted radial patterns. d – f The SLM phase masks desired for the measurements ( a – c ) respectively

The ability to simultaneously shape and map the near-field opens new degrees of freedom such as toggling between multiple angular momenta of the near-field. Controlling the orbital angular momentum (OAM) of the near-field can be done by imprinting an azimuthally-ascending phase gradient on the SLM, resulting in a winding number \(q\) , corresponding to the number of times the azimuthal phase completes integer cycles of 2π (see supplementary for more details). The resultant wavefront takes on a spiral form such that the near-field pattern acquires a topological charge of the same order, manifesting as an m th order near-field Bessel mode.

Figure 4 shows the real-time mapping of the in-plane near-field patterns carrying higher angular momenta, generated solely by applying additional azimuthal phase gradients with the SLM. We demonstrate seamless switching between these distinct modes, ranging up to m  = 6, shown in Fig. 4a–f and in the supplementary movie S 4 . To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time such switching has been performed via an SLM, without constraints from the grating geometry (see examples in refs. 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 ).

a – f Near-field Bessel modes of order 1–6, respectively, all obtained using similar experimental conditions, i.e., the same coupling grating and polarization state. Insets show the corresponding phase patterns on the SLM, imprinted onto the illuminating beam at a wavelength of 1030 nm. The images show the clockwise-rotating in-plane component of the plasmonic vector field, obtained in real-time by NNOM with a left-handed circularly polarized pump beam (clockwise-rotating field)

Finally, we demonstrate how the combination of wave-front shaping and real-time near-field imaging can be used to correct a nanophotonic pattern that was corrupted either by misalignment of the generating beam or structural defects in the coupler or in the surface. To increase the flexibility in the wave-front shaping, we used a conical lens to generate the ring shape, encoded the azimuthal phase information on that ring and measured plasmonic Bessel modes generated via coupling by a non-perfect grating. The damaged plasmonic system is shown in Fig. 5a and the modified setup is given in the supplementary.

a Au film patterned with coupling grating containing random structural defects. b calculated plasmonic pattern expected from the experimental conditions with no phase correction—2nd order plasmonic Bessel beam. c The measured pattern is severely distorted owing to the structural defects. The inset shows the uniform phase imprinted on the SLM, i.e., no phase correction. d The corrected plasmonic pattern after the phase closed-loop phase correction achieved using the real-time acquisition of the near-field pattern. The inset shows the phase pattern imprinted on the SLM

Figure 5b depicts the distorted pattern caused by the structural defects in the coupling grating. Showing near-field measurement of the counter clockwise-rotating in-plane component that should correspond to 2nd-order Bessel beam without any phase encoding. Evidently, without any phase correction the pattern is severely distorted. Since the exact influence of the structural defects on the pattern distortion are unknown, the correction of the beam by wavefront shaping requires a real-time feedback that allows an iterative process to compensate for the distortion. By using a feedback loop involving the real-time monitoring of the near-field, we are able to correct the beam distortion and retrieve the 2nd-order Bessel shape (Fig. 5d ). We show similar correction of 3rd order Bessel beam in Fig. S 5 in the supplementary. The iterative process is elaborated in the supplementary section and in supplementary movies S 5 and S 6 .

In summary, we demonstrated active shaping of nanophotonic fields, monitored and controlled by a direct feedback mechanism, opening the door to a wide range of new applications. This technology can now facilitate, for example, trapping and manipulation of nanoparticles as in optical tweezers, with order of magnitude improvement in its resolution and degree of control. Similarly, it can find various uses for integrated-circuits communication and computation such as homogenizing inputs to different waveguides and controlled excitation of emitters integrated in the photonic circuits.

This approach not only has the capability to create unique near-field patterns but also has the potential to correct and compensate for flaws and phase disorders caused e.g., during fabrication or by scatterers in the beam path, ultimately enabling the precise generation of complex wave functions, e.g., higher-order angular momentum near-field modes for future quantum computation and communication applications.

Furthermore, the implementation of advanced algorithms will facilitate the creation of even more intricate near-field wavefronts. This will promote the utilization of systems with several spatial and/or frequency modes 46 , allowing for even greater versatility in applications and further expanding the capabilities of nanophotonics. The development of more complex and adaptable near-field wavefronts holds the potential to revolutionize various scientific and technological domains, making our research a pivotal advancement in this exciting field.

Materials and methods

Experimental setup details.

The pulsed laser utilized in our experiments is a mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser, specifically the Chameleon Ultra II, which delivers 140 fs pulses at a repetition rate of 80 MHz and a total output power of 3.7 Watts.

The laser beam is divided into two paths using a polarizing beam splitter in conjunction with a half-wave plate. The primary path, referred to as the pump beam, carries an average power of ~300 mW and is directed towards the sample. The secondary path, known as the OPO beam, is converted using an optical parametric oscillator (Chameleon OPO) to a wavelength of 1030 nm, with an average power of around 100 mW. This OPO beam is subsequently directed to a phase-only spatial light modulator (SLM, Holoeye PLUTO-2.1-NIR-015) before reaching the sample, where it is employed for surface plasmon excitation.

To optimize the beam profile on the sample, the pump beam is passed through a Variable Beam Expander (Broadband NIR, 750–1100 nm, 2X - 8X), which reduces the beam diameter before the objective. Consequently, the beam diameter on the sample is increased. The objective used for focusing the pump beam and imaging the nonlinear pattern is a 100 × Nikon LU Plan Fluor, with a numerical aperture (NA) of 0.9 and a working distance of 1 mm.

The OPO beam, after being reflected from the SLM, is directed to the objective (Mitutoyo, Infinity Corrected Objective, X20, NA 0.28) and then onto the sample. In the latter part of our work, involving wavefront shaping and feedback correction, we utilized double axicons (AX2510-B with a physical angle of 10°) and an imaging lens (THORLABS LB1409-B with a focal length of 1000 mm), as detailed in the experimental setup schematic (Fig. S. 3 ).

Additionally, both the pump and OPO beams pass through λ/2, polarizer, and λ/4 plates to achieve the desired polarization.

The nonlinear signal measurements, depicted in the images, were captured using the iXon Ultra 888 EMCCD camera from Andor-Oxford Instruments.

Sample preparation and fabrication

The sample consists of a gold layer with a thickness of 180 nm, deposited on a 1 mm thick glass coverslip using electron gun evaporation (Evatec). A 3 nm titanium adhesion layer was interposed between the gold and the glass. The coupling gratings’ geometries were fabricated using a Focused Ion Beam (FEI Helios NanoLab DualBeam G3 UC).

Horstmeyer, R., Ruan, H. W. & Yang, C. Guidestar-assisted wavefront-shaping methods for focusing light into biological tissue. Nat. Photon. 9 , 563–571 (2015).

Article   ADS   Google Scholar  

Kanngiesser, J. & Roth, B. Wavefront shaping concepts for application in optical coherence tomography—a review. Sensors 20 , 7044 (2020).

Yu, Z. P., Li, H. H. & Lai, P. X. Wavefront shaping and its application to enhance photoacoustic imaging. Appl. Sci. 7 , 1320 (2017).

Article   Google Scholar  

Sinjab, F., Liao, Z. Y. & Notingher, I. Applications of spatial light modulators in raman spectroscopy. Appl. Spectroscopy 73 , 727–746 (2019).

Yoon, S. et al. Deep optical imaging within complex scattering media. Nat. Rev. Phys. 2 , 141–158 (2020).

Grier, D. G. A revolution in optical manipulation. Nature 424 , 810–816 (2003).

Maragò, O. M. et al. Optical trapping and manipulation of nanostructures. Nat. Nanotechnol. 8 , 807–819 (2013).

Juan, M. L., Righini, M. & Quidant, R. Plasmon nano-optical tweezers. Nat. Photon. 5 , 349–356 (2011).

Lodahl, P. et al. Chiral quantum optics. Nature 541 , 473–480 (2017).

Agrell, E. et al. Roadmap of optical communications. J. Opt. 18 , 063002 (2016).

Buono, W. T. & Forbes, A. Nonlinear optics with structured light. Opto Electron. Adv. 5 , 210174 (2022).

Babcock, H. W. The possibility of compensating astronomical seeing. Publ. Astron. Soc. Pac. 65 , 229 (1953).

Hardy, J. W. Active optics: a new technology for the control of light. Proc. IEEE 66 , 651–697 (1978).

Vellekoop, I. M. & Mosk, A. P. Focusing coherent light through opaque strongly scattering media. Opt. Lett. 32 , 2309–2311 (2007).

Vellekoop, I. M. Feedback-based wavefront shaping. Opt. Express 23 , 12189–12206 (2015).

Mosk, A. P. et al. Controlling waves in space and time for imaging and focusing in complex media. Nat. Photon. 6 , 283–292 (2012).

Jang, M. et al. Wavefront shaping with disorder-engineered metasurfaces. Nat. Photon. 12 , 84–90 (2018).

Zhao, L. L. et al. Spatial light modulator based active wide-field illumination for ex vivo and in vivo quantitative NIR FRET imaging. Biomed. Opt. Express 5 , 944–960 (2014).

Gjonaj, B. et al. Active spatial control of plasmonic fields. Nat. Photon. 5 , 360–363 (2011).

Gjonaj, B. et al. Focusing and scanning microscopy with propagating surface plasmons. Phys. Rev. Lett. 110 , 266804 (2013).

Roubaud, G. et al. Far-field wavefront control of nonlinear luminescence in disordered gold metasurfaces. Nano Letters 20 , 3291–3298 (2020).

Liu, M. et al. Light-driven nanoscale plasmonic motors. Nat. Nanotechnol. 5 , 570–573 (2010).

Barwick, B., Flannigan, D. J. & Zewail, A. H. Photon-induced near-field electron microscopy. Nature 462 , 902–906 (2009).

Aeschlimann, M. et al. Adaptive subwavelength control of nano-optical fields. Nature 446 , 301–304 (2007).

Keilmann, F. & Hillenbrand, R. Near-field microscopy by elastic light scattering from a tip. Philosophica Transact. A: Math. Phys. Eng. Sci. 362 , 787–805 (2004).

ADS   Google Scholar  

Gorodetski, Y. et al. Observation of the spin-based plasmonic effect in nanoscale structures. Phys. Rev. Lett. 101 , 043903 (2008).

Spektor, G. et al. Revealing the subfemtosecond dynamics of orbital angular momentum in nanoplasmonic vortices. Science 355 , 1187–1191 (2017).

David, A. et al. Nanoscale shaping and focusing of visible light in planar metal-oxide-silicon waveguides. Optica 2 , 1045–1048 https://doi.org/10.1364/OPTICA.2.001045 (2015).

David, A., Gjonaj, B. & Bartal, G. Two-dimensional optical nanovortices at visible light. Phys. Rev. B 93 , 121302 (2016).

Ostrovsky, E. et al. Nanoscale control over optical singularities. Optica 5 , 283–288 (2018).

Tsesses, S. et al. Spin-orbit interaction of light in plasmonic lattices. Nano Lett. 19 , 4010–4016 (2019).

Tsesses, S. et al. Tunable photon-induced spatial modulation of free electrons. Nat. Mater. 22 , 345–352 (2023).

Wei, S. B. et al. Toward broadband, dynamic structuring of a complex plasmonic field. Sci. Adv. 4 , eaao0533 (2018).

Hu, J. T. et al. Subwavelength imaging using a solid-immersion diffractive optical processor. eLight 4 , 8 (2024).

Yan, H. C. et al. Real-time imaging of standing-wave patterns in microresonators. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 121 , e2313981121 (2024).

Frischwasser, K. et al. Real-time sub-wavelength imaging of surface waves with nonlinear near-field optical microscopy. Nat. Photon. 15 , 442–448 (2021).

Iluz, M. et al. Unveiling the evolution of light within photonic integrated circuits. Optica 11 , 42–47 (2024).

Niemann, R. et al. Spectroscopic and interferometric sum-frequency imaging of strongly coupled phonon polaritons in SiC metasurfaces. Adv. Mater. 36 , 2312507 https://doi.org/10.1002/ADMA.202312507 (2024).

Teperik, T. V. et al. Huygens-fresnel principle for surface plasmons. Opt. Express 17 , 17483–17490 (2009).

Frank, B. et al. Short-range surface plasmonics: localized electron emission dynamics from a 60-nm spot on an atomically flat single-crystalline gold surface. Sci. Adv. 3 , e1700721 (2017).

Gjonaj, B. et al. Sub-100 nm focusing of short wavelength plasmons in homogeneous 2D space. Nano Lett. 14 , 5598–5602 (2014).

Gjonaj, B. et al. Optical control of plasmonic bloch modes on periodic nanostructures. Nano Lett. 12 , 546–550 (2012).

Huft, P. R. et al. Holographic plasmonic nanotweezers for dynamic trapping and manipulation. Nano Lett. 17 , 7920–7925 (2017).

Tsai, W. Y., Huang, J. S. & Huang, C. B. Selective trapping or rotation of isotropic dielectric microparticles by optical near field in a plasmonic archimedes spiral. Nano Lett. 14 , 547–552 (2014).

Bustamante, C. J. et al. Optical tweezers in single-molecule biophysics. Nat. Rev. Methods Primers 1 , 25 (2021).

Shechtman, Y. et al. Multicolour localization microscopy by point-spread-function engineering. Nat. Photon. 10 , 590–594 (2016).

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Russel Berrie Nanotechnology Institute (RBNI) at the Technion, and the Israel Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, grant number 2033419. We acknowledge help provided in sample fabrication by the photovoltaic laboratory and the Micro-Nano Fabrication unit (MNFU) at the Technion. S.T. acknowledges generous support from the Adams fellowship of the Israeli Academy of Science and Humanities; the Yad Hanadiv foundation through the Rothschild fellowship; the VATAT-Quantum fellowship by the Israel Council for Higher Education; the Helen Diller Quantum Center post-doctoral fellowship; and the Viterbi fellowship of the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. J.K. acknowledges support by the Israeli Council for Higher Education scholarship programme.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

The Andrew & Erna Viterbi Faculty of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 3200003, Israel

Jacob Kher-Aldeen, Kobi Cohen, Stav Lotan, Kobi Frischwasser, Shai Tsesses & Guy Bartal

Department of Physical Engineering, Polytechnic University of Tirana—Faculty of Physical & Math Engineering, Tirana, 1000, Albania

Bergin Gjonaj

Faculty of Medical Sciences, Albanian University, Durrës Street, Tirana, 1000, Albania

Department of Physics, MIT—Harvard Center for Ultracold Atoms and Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

Shai Tsesses

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Contributions

J.K. and G.B. conceived the project. J.K., K.F. and G.B. designed the experiments. J.K. performed the experiments. J.K., S.L. and B.G. wrote the WFS algorithm. J.K. and K.C. fabricated the samples. J.K., S.T. and G.B. analysed the experimental data and wrote the manuscript, with input from the other authors.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Guy Bartal .

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest.

The authors declare no competing interests.

Supplementary information

Movie s1 - translation of nanophotonic focal point, movie s2 - fine tuning of nanophotonic focal point, movie s3 - focus rotating, movie s4 - oam switching, movie s5 - correction of bessel 2, movie s6 - correction of bessel 3, supplementary, rights and permissions.

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ .

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Kher-Aldeen, J., Cohen, K., Lotan, S. et al. Dynamic control and manipulation of near-fields using direct feedback. Light Sci Appl 13 , 298 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-024-01610-2

Download citation

Received : 21 February 2024

Revised : 27 July 2024

Accepted : 27 August 2024

Published : 24 October 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-024-01610-2

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

Quick links

• Explore articles by subject
• Guide to authors
• Editorial policies

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock Locked padlock icon ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

• Publications
• Account settings
• Advanced Search
• Journal List

Near-Field Communication in Biomedical Applications

Sung-gu kang, min-su song, joon-woo kim, jung woo lee, jeonghyun kim.

• Author information
• Article notes
• Copyright and License information

Correspondence: [email protected] (J.W.L.); [email protected] (J.K.); Tel.: +82-2-940-5554 (J.K.)

Received 2020 Dec 21; Accepted 2021 Jan 19; Collection date 2021 Feb.

Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ).

Near-field communication (NFC) is a low-power wireless communication technology used in contemporary daily life. This technology contributes not only to user identification and payment methods, but also to various biomedical fields such as healthcare and disease monitoring. This paper focuses on biomedical applications among the diverse applications of NFC. It addresses the benefits of combining traditional and new sensors (temperature, pressure, electrophysiology, blood flow, sweat, etc.) with NFC technology. Specifically, this report describes how NFC technology, which is simply applied in everyday life, can be combined with sensors to present vision and opportunities to modern people.

Keywords: near-field communication (NFC), biomedical, applications, sensors, battery-free

1. Introduction

Near-field communication (NFC) is a type of radio frequency identification (RFID), which is a contactless communication technology that operates in a frequency range centered on 13.56 MHz. This technology allows users to send identification information wirelessly to the receiver for tracking and security purposes. NFC technology is only usable within a limited distance; therefore, it is relatively secure and is used in various areas, such as industry [ 1 , 2 , 3 ], medicine [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ], and banking and finance [ 14 , 15 , 16 ]. Most electronics, such as modern smartphones and credit cards, are equipped with basic NFC technology, and are naturally used in everyday life [ 17 , 18 ]. In addition, modern NFC technology has been combined with the internet of things (IoT) to control products [ 19 ] and identify various objects (clothes, textile, fruits, etc.) with tags [ 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ].

Public interest in biomedical applications with NFC technology has increased significantly [ 24 , 25 ]. There have been attempts to continue to increase the distance over which NFC technology can be used to exchange data and transmit and receive power [ 26 , 27 ]. By increasing the usable distance, the spatial limitations of conventional NFC can be dramatically expanded. Accordingly, the potential application of NFC technology in the biomedical field is emerging as a topic of interest [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ]. In this field, the focus is on the advantages of the integrated application of NFC technology and sensors supporting battery-free usage. The advantage of a battery-free power supply method is that parameters such as the device weight, volume, and thickness can be dramatically reduced. Due to its ease of miniaturization, NFC technology has been optimized for integration with wearable sensors. NFC technology has a critical advantage, in that it enables real-time biosignal monitoring in a “non-cognitive” state anywhere in the daily life of the user. Bluetooth and WiFi require batteries for communication, whereas NFC technology does not require complex processes such as pairing and transmission control protocol connections [ 28 , 29 ].

This review introduces the history of NFC technology, including the design, materials, and fabrication techniques of NFC antennas which determine the performance of NFC devices. It further describes the existing application methods, self-customized health monitoring, and applications for drug identification and disease diagnosis in hospitals, and lists the purposes and characteristics of such devices. Then, it discusses the standards integrated with the NFC operating mode and proposes the parameters and design logic of a loop coil antenna for data communication and power transmission and reception. In NFC, an analog voltage output is provided by the reader from the magnetic field of the receiver, created by the inductive coupling between antennas, and powers the various sensors and integrated circuits. Parameters such as the quality factor (Q) and read range of an electronic device that determine the performance of an NFC device depend on the antenna material, design, and manufacturing technology [ 30 , 31 ].

The rest of this paper is organized as follows. Section 2 introduces the existing research on systems that combine NFC and biosignal sensors in biomedical applications. Section 3 presents the trends, applications, and development possibilities for temperature and pressure sensors, electrophysiology sensors, blood flow sensors, and sweat sensors combined with NFC technology. It describes systematic and theoretical studies conducted using radio frequency (RF) readers that generate data and power transmission through resonant inductive coupling using the NFC protocol to support stable device operation under various practical conditions. Furthermore, it discusses the use of the previously mentioned sensors in experimental studies to accurately measure the parameters of subjects with healthy skin and various skin pathologies. These sensors using NFC will have implications for various aspects of human life, including skincare, clinical health, and athletic performance. Finally, Section 4 provides the conclusions regarding the benefits of this technology and its application scope.

2. Near-Field Communication

2.1. history of nfc.

NFC technology was developed by Thomas Edison in a radio frequency experiment conducted in the late 1800s. NFC, first patented by Charles Walton in 1983, is rooted in RFID. In 2002, Sony and NXP Semiconductors collaborated to develop a new type of NFC technology. In 2004, an official NFC forum was formed, and Sony, Philips, and Nokia focused on combining NFC with production. In 2006, the first phone with NFC was launched by Nokia, representing the use of NFC as a way to share information rather than simply as a payment method. In 2009, the NFC Forum established peer-to-peer (P2P) standards to enable data transmission and reception between phones with NFC. From 2010 to 2016, various applications such as Android phones with NFC, smart tags, secure transactions, and Felica cards were developed. By 2020, NFC was being utilized in various sensors as well as in IoT, medical, and home applications [ 32 ].

In traditional applications, NFC enables users to pay by smartphone without a credit card, smart card, or cash [ 17 , 18 ]. NFC is also used as an authentication method to control access rights by storing the biometric information of users [ 6 , 7 , 33 ]. In addition, it is used to check the attendance of students and office workers, store coupons, and mobile ticketing. As such, traditional NFC has been utilized for payment, personal authentication, and commercial convenience. This paper describes how the applications of NFC can be expanded to everyday life.

In daily life today, an NFC reader can simply be connected to an NFC tag device to identify the family members stored in the back-end system and monitor individual health information [ 7 , 34 , 35 ]. For many years, healthcare and wellness information systems have attracted research interest. In particular, many studies on personalized healthcare for individuals at home have been conducted. Most home health monitoring systems track health or lifestyle information, some of which send health information to the hospital. Biosignals are among the most important indicators needed for disease prevention, especially in infants and seniors [ 36 , 37 ].

All patients in hospitals have different diseases and symptoms. When a doctor operates on a patient, there is a possibility of confusion about the disease and treatment of the patient, which can be detrimental to the treatment or even lead to death. Using NFC to create powerful medical systems can protect patients from fatal medical mistakes. To reduce diagnostic errors, the NFC tag is used to identify a given drug [ 38 , 39 ]. Various NFC sensors such as heart monitors, temperature sensors, and blood pressure sensors not only collect real-time biosignal data from patients, but also send them to homes and hospitals to help track patient information. In addition, contemporary technological developments have helped support people with visual impairments in their daily work and enabled them to overcome various problems in their daily lives. In many countries, NFC tagging technology is used to develop assistive tools for people with visual impairments in various low-cost applications to overcome the problem of assistive tools [ 40 , 41 ].

2.2. NFC Circuit and Design

NFC offers three different operation modes: reader/writer mode, P2P mode, and card emulation mode. Reader/writer mode supports one-way communication. In this mode, data are transferred from the NFC tag to the NFC device or from the NFC device to the NFC tag. P2P mode supports two-way communication, thus data are transferred between two NFC devices. In card emulation mode, data are transferred from the NFC device to the reader. NFC enables both convenient and intuitive interaction. A master device with information can be read by other passive mode devices, whereas a passive mode device, conversely, cannot transmit information to the master device. Devices in active mode can collect or change information from tags in passive mode [ 32 ].

NFC is defined in the standards ECMA-340 and ISO/IEC 18092. NFC incorporates various existing standards, such as ISO/IEC 14443 Type A and Type B and Felica. Among the NFC standards, ISO/IEC 14493 Type B and 15693 support active–passive communication by supporting passive mode. On the other hand, ISO/IEC 18092 supports active–active communication with the addition of P2P technology [ 32 ].

The optimal size of the loop coil used as the antenna is determined by its inductance, Q factor, and read range. In an NFC system, the resonant frequency of the device should be close to 13.56 MHz. The antenna input inductance is calculated based on the parameters of the loop coil [ 30 , 31 , 32 ]. For example, an antenna based on planar square coils was reported which consisted of three turns of 30 mm × 30 mm, with an access line of 5 mm to connect the inner and outer paths of the square coil. The simulated antenna input impedance indicated a reactance of j40 Ω and a very low-input resistance at the operation frequency [ 42 ]. Another report described research on a stretchable coil that had overall dimensions of 74 mm × 50 mm with six turns, a ribbon width of 400 μm, a ribbon gap of 400 μm, and a ribbon thickness of 18 μm. In this work, the inductance was estimated to be about 4.5 μH. To tune the resonance frequency further, an external capacitor was placed in parallel to the internal resonance capacitor [ 43 ].

Figure 1 is an equivalent circuit model of an NFC system, consisting of a transmitter and a receiver. The reader integrated circuit (IC) and matching network parts have been simplified for easy viewing of the RF front-end. The total input impedance, denoted by R 1 and C 1 , is an important parameter of the matching network that determines whether or not to transmit maximum power. The tag antenna consists of an inductance L 2 , an equivalent resistance R3 considering the power loss of the antenna, a parasitic capacitance C 2 for interconnection with the antenna, and a tuning capacitance C 3 for regulating the resonant frequency.

Wireless power transfer circuitry between the reader antenna and tag antenna including reader integrated circuit (IC), matching network, and near field communication (NFC) IC [ 44 ].

The loaded Q factor of the tag ( Q 2 L ) is given by the hyperbolic average of the Q factor of the tag’s antenna ( Q 2 ) and the loaded Q factor of the IC ( Q L ):

A tuning capacitance is added to the internal capacitance of the NFC IC (20–50 pF) to adjust the resonance at 13.56 MHz [ 44 ]:

3. Biomedical Applications

3.1. temperature and pressure sensors.

In biomedical applications, the most commonly accessed types of information are temperature and pressure. The epidermal sensor in Figure 2 a,b proposed in this paper is a preliminary study before it is combined with NFC technology [ 43 , 45 ]. The device completed by developing the previous research is advantageous in introducing the ultra-thin form because it is powered by a wireless power supply method and does not require a battery. Ultra-thin and ultra-soft epidermal biometric temperature sensors combined with NFC technology will be introduced here. These sensors can be layered on any part of human skin like temporary tattoos. They can also fully comply with the microscopic shape of human skin, resulting in a low electrode-to-skin interface impedance and high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Wireless power supply through inductive antennas has been presented using commercially available ultra-low power NFC chips that can transmit power and data wirelessly. Therefore, an e-tattoo with an integrated NFC chip and antenna enables wireless biometric identification without a battery. Using wireless communication techniques means addressing the shortcomings of high power consumption. In this device, the power consumption of the NFC chip (RF430FRL152H, Texas Instruments Inc., Dallas, TX, USA) in standby mode is very small, about 24 μW. This NFC power supply system provides 1.5 mW of rectified output power to operate an external thermistor (NTCG164KF104F, TDK Corp., Tokyo, Japan) and a phototransistor (TEMT6200FX0l, Vishay Intertechnology Inc., Malvern, PA, USA). When the thermistor is activated, it has a low reference impedance, allowing a low current of 2.4 μA to flow, and the device’s self-heating is minimized [ 43 ]. Figure 2 a proposes an integrated device in which impedance sensors, electrodes, and stretchable coil are combined. Figure 2 b depicts the photos of the device attached to the forearm, and the body temperature data compared to the commercial product. Simultaneous measurement with a commercial thermometer (TMD-56, Amprobe Instrument Corp., Everett, WA, USA) proved the performance of a soft and flexible device.

Examples of NFC applications for temperature and pressure sensing. ( a ) Construction of a multifunctional epidermal NFC sensor. FS, filamentary serpentine; EP, electrophysiological; RTD, resistance temperature detector [ 45 ]. ( b ) Temperature sensing results [ 45 ]. ( c ) Photographs of a NFC temperature sensor on a neck [ 46 ]. ( d ) The result of converting the voltage measured wirelessly to temperature through calibration of the infrared (IR) camera [ 46 ].

The thermal sensor can be attached to almost any part of the body, including the nails, and comes with a sensor that measures the body temperature through the blood flow. The skin-like thermal sensor combined with the optimized platform is battery-free and can be used with smartphones. In this platform, data and power transfer occurs via a resonant inductive coupling to the RF reader and NFC protocol. The signal amplified by the circuit consisting of analog drivers and amplifiers is received by a 10-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC) with a full range of 300 mV (300–600 mV) of the NFC chip (SL13A, ams AG, Unterpremstätten, Styria, Austria). As a result, the measurement accuracy of around 80 mK was obtained due to software limitations, but the designed analog circuit could achieve a measurement accuracy of around 20 mK. The skin-like thermal sensor can decompose the thermal conductivity of 0.02 Wm −1 K −1 , and has a measurement uncertainty of 5 to 10%. The persistence and stability tests of the NFC temperature sensor conducted on human subjects under various conditions ensure the reliability of the operation of the device [ 46 ]. Figure 2 c shows an optical image of an epidermal wireless thermal sensor attached to the skin of the neck. The platform consists of two mechanically distinct components. The first component is assembled on a flexible printed circuit board (flex-PCB; flexural rigidity, EI ≈ 3000 Pa m 3 ) by integrating an induction coil for wireless power harvesting and an integrated circuit for NFC-based data transmission and analog signal conditioning. The second component is a pattern designed by the photolithography of Cr/Au (10/100 nm) encapsulated with a thin (3 µm) polyimide layer on an elastomeric substrate (80 µm, EI ≈ 0.3 Pa m 3 ). Figure 2 d depicts the result of converting the voltage change measured wirelessly to temperature.

The epidermal NFC temperature and pressure sensors have been proposed that can be used throughout the body. These sensors map the skin temperature and pressure in specific areas of the body to easily identify human health and provide predictive information for disease prevention. Here, the helical structure, consisting of a thin single-crystal film of silicon, acts like a pressure-sensitive element through its piezoresistive properties, and its resistance changes with mechanical deformation. The spiral shape improves the uniformity of the strain distribution under pressure, compared to a simple linear design, which promotes stable operation on the skin surface. The temperature and pressure sensors used in the study consume relatively low power for operation. It draws a low current of 2 μA at 1.5 V (~3 μW) in standby mode and 150 μA at 1.5 V (~225 μW) in operating mode. The NFC chip (SL13A, ams AG, Unterpremstätten, Styria, Austria) with 10-bit ADC, mentioned in the previous paragraph, minimizes signal interference due to noise and electromagnetic interference by the external environment through the sequential data acquisition method of multiple sensors. The researchers checked full-body coverage by installing two reader antennas on the bed to determine the sensor’s operating range. They completed communication and powering tasks for 65 individual sensors in a time-sequential manner and achieved a reading time of less than three seconds [ 47 ]. Figure 3 a provides a top view of an NFC microchip, temperature sensor, and silicon membrane pressure sensor coated with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Figure 3 b shows an optical image of the device in conformal contact with the skin. Figure 3 c illustrates the pressure fluctuations recorded wirelessly while applying various forces with the tip of a finger. A 6 Hz sampling rate and pressure fluctuation results for poking (green), touching (blue), and holding (red) were obtained.

Examples of NFC applications for temperature and pressure sensing. ( a ) Temperature and pressure sensor integrated with an NFC chip [ 47 ]. ( b ) Photograph of an NFC sensor pressed with the fingertip [ 47 ]. ( c ) Pressure measured by a device on the left forearm [ 47 ]. ( d – g ) Photographs of NFC-enabled clothing [ 48 ].

As a further application, near-field-enabled clothing, which requires no battery, is close to functional fiber patterns, and allows wireless power and data transmission from the sensor has been reported. Fabric-based pattern and near-field-enabled clothing integration systems using inexpensive conductive threads and computer-controlled embroidery are free of fragile silicone components. Although current clinical monitoring systems require sensors to be wired to a central hub for power supply and data collection, this form limits physical movement and has limited use outside clinical settings. This system overcomes the limitations of conventional wired monitoring by integrating a near-field-responsive inductor pattern that can wirelessly connect multiple skin-mountable sensors to a reader up to 1 m away. The researchers proposed a textile design and wireless spinal posture monitoring compatible with NFC-enabled smartphones and devices, as well as a way to measure temperature and gait continuously during exercise. They calculated the minimum efficiency required for energy and data transmission as about 2%, considering the power consumption of the sensor node of 4 mW and the reader’s output power of 200 mW. The sampling rate for a single sensor was 8 Hz, and the sampling rate for six multiple sensors was reduced to 1.3 Hz, but the total power consumption of the reader was not affected by this because the antenna output power was constant. In a node based on an NFC tag with an integrated negative temperature coefficient of resistance (NTC) thermistor (ERTJ1VS104A, Panasonic Corp., Kadoma, Osaka), the power consumption of the front-end circuit for the temperature sensor was 1.15 μW and the total power consumption was less than 4 mW [ 48 ]. Figure 3 d,e demonstrate that a time-varying magnetic field (13.56 MHz) induces current throughout the relay to generate magnetism through the close proximity of the wireless reader to the inductor pattern (hub). Figure 3 f shows the method of maintaining a connection between the sensor node and reader through near-field relays embroidered on the pants. Figure 3 g depicts a wireless power supply at both ends of the terminal and a connection with a sensor outside the NFC range.

There are points to be aware of when combining the temperature sensor and NFC technology. When researchers use the onboard temperature sensor built into the NFC IC tag (SL13A, RF430CL330H, etc.), there is a possibility that self-heating may occur due to the limiter inside the tag. The device’s self-heating due to external power supply affects the accuracy of the temperature measurement, interfering with body temperature data collection. In the stage of designing the reader and tag antenna circuits, post-processing and calibration steps can be eliminated by inserting a structure that dynamically controls the transmit power.

3.2. Electrophysiology Sensors

Traditional heart rate monitoring devices use optical and electrode-based sensors to measure biosignals over a wire. However, these form factors are not suitable for use in external or home environments. This section describes flexible electrocardiogram (ECG) sensors that can be attached to the epidermis. Furthermore, a highly flexible epidermal ECG and heart rate wearable sensor that emphasizes low cost, lightweight (1.2 g) energy harvesting has been proposed. The sensor’s onboard hardware utilizes instrumentation amplifiers and filters to regulate potentials and signals and reduce common-mode signals. The microcontroller has been designed to coordinate the switching between battery and NFC energy harvesting and to control the surge current when the system is activated, optimizing power consumption [ 49 ]. Figure 4 a illustrates the main structure of the highly flexible wearable cardiac sensor design, as well as the multilayer conformal mechanism leading to tight skin bonds and strong cardiac signals. This device consisting of multiple polymeric, electronic, adhesive, and hydrogel layers uses two filter settings tailored for ECG and heart rate signal capture. ECG filters can be used to visualize P- and T-waveforms, whereas heartbeat filters that operate in low passbands can eliminate P- and T-waveforms, as well as most motion and muscle activation artifacts. Figure 4 b depicts the device in a mechanical twist. Figure 4 c shows the results of recorded heart rate data compared to a commercially available device for healthy subjects. Comparison with commercially available products confirmed a 95.4% correlation, and demonstrated that the device (the ultra-low-power biosensing platform introduced in this study) can easily be applied to subjects such as athletes and heart patients.

Examples of NFC applications for electrophysiology sensing. ( a ) Construction of a soft flexible cardiac sensor [ 49 ]. ( b ) The device twisted and bent [ 49 ]. ( c ) Results of comparing the heart rate measured by the sensor with commercial products [ 49 ].

Previous research has offered NFC-enabled flexible ECG patches implemented on foil using self-aligned indium–gallium–zinc oxide thin film transistors (IGZO TFTs). The device amplifies the collected ECG signal and converts it into a sequence signal, which highlights the advantage of a state-of-the-art wearable biosignal monitoring ECG sensor based solely on flexible electronics and utilizing TFT-based circuitry. The sensor has no solid active components; therefore, the system is suitable for the human body and convenient to use. In addition, because the entire system is implemented with flexible TFTs, additional processing steps and integration costs are reduced, enabling solutions that are compatible with single use [ 50 ]. Figure 5 a presents a representative application direction. Figure 5 b shows a biopotential acquisition system consisting of an analog front-end (AFE) block and a typical ADC block consisting of a comparator, digital-to-analog converter (DAC), and logic. It is difficult to create a voltage reference because the main components used in the amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) cannot be employed in the a-IGZO process with the latest technology. Consequently, the input data are digitized in the time domain in this paper. Figure 5 c depicts a simple biopotential acquisition system implemented with a-IGZO, and Figure 5 d shows the detailed architecture of the presented system.

Examples of NFC applications for electrophysiology sensing. ( a – d ) Schematics and architecture of an NFC sensor system [ 50 ].

3.3. Blood Flow Sensors

This section discusses the materials and device concepts for flexible platforms. Based on an optoelectric measurement method, this ultra-thin blood flow sensor performs photoplethysmogram (PPG) data measurement and transmission. The authors previously presented quantitative results on blood oxygenation, heart rate, and heart rate variability. Here, a thin and flexible micro-functional system capable of attaching to almost any part of the body, including fingernails and toenails, is presented. The electronic system, built around a double-layer loop antenna and a microcontroller to improve inductance and Q factor, makes contact with the user comfortable. As a result, Q ≈ 16 and a relatively low input impedance was achieved by utilizing a double-layer coil and thick, low-resistance Cu trace [ 51 ]. As shown in Figure 6 a, a multilayer layout using a bilayer loop antenna maximizes the energy harvesting efficiency and wireless data communication distances, and provides compact electrical routing between closely spaced components. In addition, the PDMS encapsulation with black dye directs conformal contact with the toenails or other parts of the body and protects against mechanical damage. Figure 6 b provides a photograph of a device that works while attached to a fingernail. Figure 6 c presents the experimental results of respiratory discontinuation and breathing through a device attached to the fingertip. By providing a vision for achieving a level of convenience inaccessible to conventional systems, the system can easily be adapted by adding an NFC reader to everyday items. Furthermore, blood oxygenation information can easily be monitored wirelessly without interruption during daily activities, and the millimeter-scale, thin, and lightweight device offers greater freedom of choice in terms of attachment locations.

Examples of NFC applications for blood flow sensing. ( a ) Construction of an NFC-enabled pulse oximeter device. PD, photodetector [ 51 ]. ( b ) Photograph of an NFC device on a fingernail [ 51 ]. ( c ) Results of SpO 2 during a breath-hold test [ 51 ]. ( d ) Top view of an NFC heart rate sensor [ 52 ]. ( e ) Photograph of an NFC device on skin [ 52 ]. ( f ) Biosignal data measured by the device [ 52 ]. ( g – i ) Construction of an NFC heart valve monitoring device [ 53 ].

On the other hand, the heartbeat and time dynamics monitoring of arterial blood flow, tissue oxygenation, ultraviolet (UV) dose measurement, and four-color spectral evaluation of the skin can be performed as follows, using a battery-free, flexible optoelectronic system for wireless optical characterization of the skin. This system utilizes multicolor luminescence and detection to diagnose the optical properties of the skin and peripheral vascular disease. Time-multiplexed amplified and digitized signals monitor the heart rate, tissue oxygenation, pressure pulse dynamics, UV exposure, and skin color through an integrated collection of small light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and photodetectors. AC voltage is applied to the SL13A (ams AG, Unterpremstätten, Styria, Austria) bare die chip supporting 10-bit ADC with rectification and single analog input capability. It has a maximum power of about 12 mW depending on the coupling efficiency [ 52 ]. Figure 6 d shows an image of a device consisting of an IR LED, a photodetector, an amplifier, a resistor, and an induction coil. Figure 6 e shows an image of the device attached to the forearm. A single LED obtains the systolic peak and relaxation notch data, and Figure 6 f illustrates the three harmonics obtained through Fourier transform.

Finally, we introduce the characteristics of an implantable magnetic blood flow sensor optimized for small size and low power consumption for battery-free operation. The sensor enables wireless and battery-free blood flow recording using magnetic flow meter technology, and the sensor system monitors the characteristic flow downstream of the valve, facilitating the remote management of patients undergoing bioprosthetic heart procedures. To predict the rate of deterioration and valve endurance of the prosthetic heart valve (BHV), this system can monitor the BHV function with minimal overhead and can be used to automate the data collection process The device operated through inductive coupling with the smartphone’s internal antenna consumed 380 μA of current at a rectified supply voltage of 3.4 V. The current consumed by the NFC chip (SL13A) was 150 μA and the current consumed by the circuit for sensing was 230 μA; therefore, the resulting device’s final power consumption was 1.3 mW. The device with an effective sampling rate of 60.2 Hz presents a form factor optimized for miniaturization of the magnetic ring structure [ 53 ]. Figure 6 g provides a schematic diagram of an implantable magnetic flow sensor attached to the ascending aorta. It receives measurement data with a smartphone and supplies inductive power to the equipment. Figure 6 h,i depict a prototype of a Halbach ring designed using neodymium magnets and 3D printed titanium rings. By bringing the implant antenna near the transmitting coil antenna, the voltage is induced and rectified, providing a rectified voltage of 3.4 V and current of up to 4 mA to operate the integrated circuit.

3.4. Sweat Sensors

As a sweat sensor, a flexible microfluidic device that sticks to human skin is proposed. It incorporates wireless communications electronics that can tightly and firmly bond to the skin surface without chemical and mechanical irritation. This soft, flexible, and stretchable system allows sweat to initiate routing spontaneously through a set of microfluidic networks and reservoirs. The device can be mounted on multiple parts of the body without chemical and mechanical irritation, including biocompatible adhesives and flexible, stretchable materials, and waterproof interfaces. Colorimetric detection measures the total sweat loss, pH, lactic acid, and chloride and glucose concentrations, and the data are transmitted wirelessly based on an NFC system [ 54 ]. Figure 7 a shows the integrated system structure diagram divided into the top, middle, and back sides. On the top side, the reference color markers are integrated with the NFC electrode. The middle side consists of an integrated system of microfluidic channels for colorimetric detection. The back side has a uniform layer of adhesive and openings that define sweat access and openings to channels.

Examples of NFC applications for sweat sensing. ( a ) Construction of an NFC sweat monitoring device [ 54 ]. ( b ) Photograph of the sweat monitoring device [ 54 ]. ( c ) Construction of a integrated NFC sweat sensor [ 55 ]. ( d , e ) Photograph of the device attached to the forearm during sweating [ 55 ]. ( f ) Results of reading distance between the device and reader antenna [ 55 ].

One study also proposed a hybrid, battery-free skin mounting system for sweat detection. This completely non-invasive sweat sensor is non-irritating and is designed to replace disposable microfluidic systems by reusing only detachable electronic modules. Modules based on simplified miniaturization and low-cost NFC technology are combined with a disposable microfluidic form factor containing colorimetric reagents. The platform includes an RF system-on-chip consisting of an ISO 15693 compliant 14-bit ADC and an integrated RF front end with a microcontroller. The 1 MΩ load resistor limits the overall voltage error of colorimetric detection experiments to only 2 mV [ 55 ]. Figure 7 c shows a schematic of a fully hybrid battery-free system. This system includes a silicone elastomer patterned with soft lithography technology, a separate set of chambers for colorimetric and electrochemical sensing, a ratchet channel for quantifying sweat rate and loss, and microchannels of passive capillary burst valves for routing sweat. Figure 7 d,e depict a battery-free NFC electronic device attached to an arm.

This effective integrated system comes with a fully integrated sensor for analyzing sweat metabolites and a sensor array with NFC technology. Research has been published regarding a sensor array that integrates wireless power harvesting, field signal processing, and wireless data transmission to provide wireless power to patches with NFC-enabled smartphones and to obtain analysis through inductive coupling between antennas. Capable of real-time detection of calcium and chloride ions in various biological fluids, the ion-selective electrodes (ISE) of the sensor are designed to be flexible to accommodate skin modifications [ 56 ]. Figure 8 a is a block diagram of a smartphone-based sensing system that includes an electrochemical patch and NFC-enabled reader. Inductive coupling for power and data transmission connects the reader and patch. Functionally, the patch consists of an NFC antenna, an NFC chip (NT3H2113N, NXP Semiconductors N.V., Eindhoven, Netherlands), a microcontroller (MCU, MSP430FR2632, Texas Instruments Inc., Dallas, TX, USA), an analog front end (AFEs, based on TLV2401, Texas Instruments Inc., Dallas, TX, USA), and electrodes and is divided into five parts. Figure 8 b shows a photorealistic image of the patch attached to an arm. The patch offers the possibility of wireless power and data transmission using NFC technology, overcoming the miniaturization and flexibility limitations of the existing system. Although there are limitations such as short operating distance and power supply constraints, this system is more convenient than the existing system.

Examples of NFC applications for sweat sensing. ( a ) Block diagram of an electrochemical patch. MCU, microcontroller; EEPROM, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory [ 56 ]. ( b ) Photograph of the patch on the arm [ 56 ]. ( c ) Construction of a sweat sensor [ 57 ]. ( d ) Photograph of the device on the arm [ 57 ].

Here, a battery-free wireless and epidermal chemistry system is described that employs NFC and printing technology in the design. Without wired connections to conventional batteries or external stations and attaching comfortably to the skin, the system detects glucose, sodium, potassium, and the pH in sweat. The voltage output (≈2.75 V) refined through the power management of the NFC chip enables the operation of the entire circuit of the MCU and AFE [ 57 ]. Figure 8 c provides a schematic of a four-channel electrode array for detecting glucose, H + , Na + , and K + . By modifying the electrodes with specific surface chemistries, the system performs multiple detections of sweat analytes. Figure 8 d depicts a smartphone placed close to the device to power and transfer data to the device when attached to the arm of the user. The multiplexed electrical sensor shows a negligible response to the interfering material and a sensitive response to the target analyte.

3.5. Hospital Applications

This section presents examples of biomedical applications for millimeter-scale wireless and battery-free NFC platforms with various operating systems. UV radiation from the sun can seriously affect human health, but controlled amounts of electromagnetic radiation can be used positively. Optical metrology, optoelectronic design, and wireless operating mode platforms have been proposed that serve as the basis for miniaturization, low cost, and battery-free devices for precise dose measurements at multiple wavelengths. By utilizing NFC technology, an appropriate antenna layout, and a manufacturing approach for flexible electronics and electronic circuit design, the system enables UVA, UVB, visible, and IR radiation monitoring. The dosimeter for blue light therapy implements continuous wireless data acquisition with a long range reader RF antenna (30 cm × 30 cm, reading range 10–30 cm) placed under the bed [ 36 ]. Figure 9 a depicts a dosimeter/photometer designed to monitor blue light exposure in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), and Figure 9 b shows a device attached to the chest of a jaundiced infant receiving phototherapy. The device performs cumulative and instantaneous sensing through ADC1 and ADC2, respectively, on a single NFC chip. The cumulative sensing circuit follows reset detection of the UVA dosimeter and the blue light photodetector (PD) using Reset, MOSFET, and GPIO. The instantaneous sensing circuit couples an amplifier driven by the antenna-rectified voltage (VDDH) to the blue light PD. By powering the sensor with a reader antenna, the digital output signal of the ADC can be transmitted wirelessly over an NFC link. Figure 9 c presents instantaneous intensity and dose measurements over time for blue light therapy in jaundiced infants admitted to an NICU.

NFC application in hospitals. ( a ) Photograph of a blue light dosimeter/photometer for hospital application. SoC, system on chip; SC, supercapacitor [ 36 ]. ( b ) Photograph of the NFC device on the chest of a jaundiced infant [ 36 ]. ( c ) Results from the NFC device on the chest of a jaundiced infant [ 36 ].

An ultra-thin skin-like wireless module for complete biosignal monitoring in NICUs also exists. The wireless battery-free module, presented in Section 3.2 as an epithelial electronic system (EES) for biosignal monitoring, performs ECG and PPG data and skin temperature recording. They proposed a solution incorporating a magnetic loop antenna that allows simultaneous wireless data transmission and wireless power supply. It targets the newborn’s biosignals (heart rate, heart rate variability, respiratory rate, SpO 2 , and systolic blood pressure). The power is wirelessly supplied through a large RF loop antenna transponder that allows a working distance of up to 25 cm, and real-time bio-signal data are transmitted to the user’s electronic device through BLE communication [ 37 ]. Figure 10 a is a schematic of this module, where one EES mounted on the chest records the ECG data through a skin interface electrode composed of a fractal-shaped filament metal mesh microstructure, and the other attaches to the sole to record the PPG data. Figure 10 b shows a schematic diagram of a device designed to perform the same function as a conventional wired device, powered by an antenna surrounding a user. Figure 10 c compares the various biosignals measured by the ECG EES system and by the gold standard, which are almost identical.

NFC application in hospitals. ( a ) Construction of an NFC electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor. EES, epidermal electronic system; PPGs, photoplethysmograms [ 37 ]. ( b ) Photograph of the ECG sensor on the chest and foot of an infant [ 37 ]. ( c ) Biosignal results compared to gold-standard monitoring equipment [ 37 ].

As shown in previous studies, platforms that improve the discomfort of the existing system using the NFC method have practical applications in disease diagnosis and biosignal monitoring for patients sensitive to the external environment in hospitals. Research into NFC-enabled devices continues to target NICU infants as well as patients whose use of wired batteries or power supplies is limited due to severe skin trauma.

4. Conclusions

Conventional NFC technology has mainly been employed for user information identification and payment. However, research has been focused on wireless wearable devices that can non-invasively measure biosignals while making “skin-like” contact. The sensors that combine NFC and sensing technology presented herein measure various biosignals and have the objectives of system miniaturization and achieving wireless power supply and signal transmission. Optimized wireless power transmission efficiency is secured with a Q factor satisfied by ideal matching conditions through inductance control of the NFC coil antenna combined with individual sensor circuits. Furthermore, the low power consumption of the NFC chip ensures compatibility with single and multiple sensors, and circuit integration.

In this field of biosignals, the application of NFC technology is an excellent option to compensate for the shortcomings of conventional cumbersome and inconvenient wired devices. The systems for real-time monitoring of body temperature, pressure, electrophysiology, blood flow, sweating, etc., studied so far guarantee user convenience and respond immediately to biosignal abnormalities. Therefore, ultra-compact wireless wearable sensors combined with NFC technology are expected to become essential for biosignal analysis.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, S.-G.K.; validation, J.W.L. and J.K.; investigation, S.-G.K., M.-S.S., and J.-W.K.; writing—original draft preparation, S.-G.K.; writing—review and editing, S.-G.K.; visualization, S.-G.K.; supervision, J.W.L. and J.K.; project administration, J.W.L. and J.K.; funding acquisition, J.K. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Korean government (MSIT) (NRF-2018R1C1B5045524, NRF-2020R1C1C1013900), the Competency Development Program for Industry Specialists of the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy (MOTIE), operated by the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT) (No. P0002397, HRD program for Industrial Convergence of Wearable Smart Devices), and the Research Grant of Kwangwoon University in 2019.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Conflicts of interest.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

• 1. Ceipidor U.B., Medaglia C., Volpi V., Moroni A., Sposato S., Carboni M., Caridi A. NFC technology applied to touristic-cultural field: A case study on an Italian museum; Proceedings of the 2013 5th International Workshop on Near Field Communication (NFC); Zurich, Switzerland. 5 February 2013; pp. 1–6. [ Google Scholar ]
• 2. Sallinen M., Strömmer E., Ylisaukko-oja A. Application scenario for NFC: Mobile tool for industrial worker; Proceedings of the 2008 Second International Conference on Sensor Technologies and Applications (Sensorcomm 2008); Cap Esterel, France. 25–31 August 2008; pp. 586–591. [ Google Scholar ]
• 3. Ramanathan R., Imtiaz J. NFC in industrial applications for monitoring plant information; Proceedings of the 2013 Fourth International Conference on Computing, Communications and Networking Technologies (ICCCNT); Tiruchengode, India. 4–6 July 2013; pp. 1–4. [ Google Scholar ]
• 4. Zhang H., Li J. NFC in medical applications with wireless sensors; Proceedings of the 2011 International Conference on Electrical and Control Engineering; Yichang, China. 16–18 September 2011; pp. 718–721. [ Google Scholar ]
• 5. Morak J., Kumpusch H., Hayn D., Modre-Osprian R., Schreier G. Design and evaluation of a telemonitoring concept based on NFC-enabled mobile phones and sensor devices. IEEE Trans. Inf. Technol. Biomed. 2011;16:17–23. doi: 10.1109/TITB.2011.2176498. [ DOI ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 6. Jara A.J., Zamora M.A., Skarmeta A.F. Secure use of NFC in medical environments; Proceedings of the 5th European Workshop on RFID Systems and Technologies; Bremen, Germany. 16–17 June 2009; pp. 1–8. [ Google Scholar ]
• 7. Sethia D., Gupta D., Mittal T., Arora U., Saran H. NFC based secure mobile healthcare system; Proceedings of the 2014 Sixth International Conference on Communication Systems and Networks (COMSNETS); Bangalore, India. 6–10 January 2014; pp. 1–6. [ Google Scholar ]
• 8. Kwak J.W., Han M., Xie Z., Chung H.U., Lee J.Y., Avila R., Yohay J., Chen X., Liang C., Patel M. Wireless sensors for continuous, multimodal measurements at the skin interface with lower limb prostheses. Sci. Transl. Med. 2020;12:eabc4327. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abc4327. [ DOI ] [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 9. Madhvapathy S.R., Wang H., Kong J., Zhang M., Lee J.Y., Park J.B., Jang H., Xie Z., Cao J., Avila R. Reliable, low-cost, fully integrated hydration sensors for monitoring and diagnosis of inflammatory skin diseases in any environment. Sci. Adv. 2020;6:eabd7146. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abd7146. [ DOI ] [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 10. Gutruf P., Yin R.T., Lee K.B., Ausra J., Brennan J.A., Qiao Y., Xie Z., Peralta R., Talarico O., Murillo A. Wireless, battery-free, fully implantable multimodal and multisite pacemakers for applications in small animal models. Nat. Commun. 2019;10:1–10. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-13637-w. [ DOI ] [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 11. Zhang Y., Castro D.C., Han Y., Wu Y., Guo H., Weng Z., Xue Y., Ausra J., Wang X., Li R. Battery-free, lightweight, injectable microsystem for in vivo wireless pharmacology and optogenetics. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 2019;116:21427–21437. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1909850116. [ DOI ] [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 12. Burton A., Obaid S.N., Vázquez-Guardado A., Schmit M.B., Stuart T., Cai L., Chen Z., Kandela I., Haney C.R., Waters E.A. Wireless, battery-free subdermally implantable photometry systems for chronic recording of neural dynamics. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 2020;117:2835–2845. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1920073117. [ DOI ] [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 13. Chung H.U., Rwei A.Y., Hourlier-Fargette A., Xu S., Lee K., Dunne E.C., Xie Z., Liu C., Carlini A., Kim D.H. Skin-interfaced biosensors for advanced wireless physiological monitoring in neonatal and pediatric intensive-care units. Nat. Med. 2020;26:418–429. doi: 10.1038/s41591-020-0792-9. [ DOI ] [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 14. Shobha N.S.S., Aruna K.S.P., Bhagyashree M.D.P., Sarita K.S.J. NFC and NFC payments: A review; Proceedings of the 2016 International Conference on ICT in Business Industry & Government (ICTBIG); Indore, India. 18–19 November 2016; pp. 1–7. [ Google Scholar ]
• 15. Putra E.P., Juwitasary H. Trend of NFC Technology for payment transaction. Telkomnika. 2018;16:795–802. doi: 10.12928/telkomnika.v16i2.8441. [ DOI ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 16. Pourghomi P., Ghinea G. A proposed NFC payment application. arXiv. 2013 doi: 10.14569/IJACSA.2013.040824.1312.2828 [ DOI ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 17. Timalsina S.K., Bhusal R., Moh S. NFC and its application to mobile payment: Overview and comparison; Proceedings of the 2012 8th International Conference on Information Science and Digital Content Technology (ICIDT2012); Seogwipo-si, Korea. 26–28 June 2012; pp. 203–206. [ Google Scholar ]
• 18. Monteiro D.M., Rodrigues J.J., Lloret J. A secure NFC application for credit transfer among mobile phones; Proceedings of the 2012 International Conference on Computer, Information and Telecommunication Systems (CITS); Amman, Jordan. 14–16 May 2012; pp. 1–5. [ Google Scholar ]
• 19. Lazaro A., Villarino R., Girbau D. A survey of NFC sensors based on energy harvesting for IoT applications. Sensors. 2018;18:3746. doi: 10.3390/s18113746. [ DOI ] [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 20. Jiang Y., Pan K., Leng T., Hu Z. Smart textile integrated wireless powered near field communication (NFC) body temperature and sweat sensing system. IEEE J. Electromagn. RF Microw. Med. Biol. 2019;4:164–170. doi: 10.1109/JERM.2019.2929676. [ DOI ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 21. Jiang Y., Xu L., Pan K., Leng T., Li Y., Danoon L., Hu Z. e-Textile embroidered wearable near-field communication RFID antennas. IET Microw. Antennas Propag. 2018;13:99–104. doi: 10.1049/iet-map.2018.5435. [ DOI ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 22. Lazaro A., Boada M., Villarino R., Girbau D. Color measurement and analysis of fruit with a battery-less NFC sensor. Sensors. 2019;19:1741. doi: 10.3390/s19071741. [ DOI ] [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 23. Boada M., Lázaro A., Villarino R., Girbau D. NFC battery-less colour sensor and its applications; Proceedings of the 2020 Global Congress on Electrical Engineering (GC-ElecEng); Valencia, Spain. 4–6 September 2020; pp. 46–50. [ Google Scholar ]
• 24. Borgia E. The Internet of Things vision: Key features, applications and open issues. Comput. Commun. 2014;54:1–31. doi: 10.1016/j.comcom.2014.09.008. [ DOI ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 25. Kassal P., Steinberg M.D., Steinberg I.M. Wireless chemical sensors and biosensors: A review. Sens. Actuators B Chem. 2018;266:228–245. doi: 10.1016/j.snb.2018.03.074. [ DOI ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 26. Saghlatoon H., Boroujeni R.M., Honari M.M., Mousavi P. Low-cost inkjet printed passive booster for increasing the magnetic coupling in proximity of metal object for NFC systems. IEEE Microw. Wirel. Compon. Lett. 2016;26:996–998. doi: 10.1109/LMWC.2016.2623243. [ DOI ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 27. Lee B., Kim B., Harackiewicz F.J., Mun B., Lee H. NFC antenna design for low-permeability ferromagnetic material. IEEE Antennas Wirel. Propag. Lett. 2014;13:59–62. [ Google Scholar ]
• 28. Dementyev A., Hodges S., Taylor S., Smith J. Power consumption analysis of bluetooth low energy, ZigBee and ANT sensor nodes in a cyclic sleep scenario; Proceedings of the 2013 IEEE International Wireless Symposium (IWS); Beijing, China. 14–18 April 2013; pp. 1–4. [ Google Scholar ]
• 29. Shahzad K., Oelmann B. A comparative study of in-sensor processing vs. raw data transmission using ZigBee, BLE and Wi-Fi for data intensive monitoring applications; Proceedings of the 2014 11th International Symposium on Wireless Communications Systems (ISWCS); Barcelona, Spain. 26–29 August 2014; pp. 519–524. [ Google Scholar ]
• 30. Moraru A., Ursachi C., Helerea E. A new washable UHF RFID tag: Design, fabrication, and assessment. Sensors. 2020;20:3451. doi: 10.3390/s20123451. [ DOI ] [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 31. Miao Z., Liu D., Gong C. An adaptive impedance matching network with closed loop control algorithm for inductive wireless power transfer. Sensors. 2017;17:1759. doi: 10.3390/s17081759. [ DOI ] [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 32. NFC Forum. [(accessed on 17 October 2019)]; Available online: http://www.nfc-forum.org .
• 33. Chen C.-J., Chen L.-Y. Mobile Device and NFC Service Protection Method of the Mobile Device. 8,903,359. U.S. Patent. 2014 Dec 2;
• 34. Strommer E., Kaartinen J., Parkka J., Ylisaukko-oja A., Korhonen I. Application of near field communication for health monitoring in daily life; Proceedings of the 2006 International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society; New York, NY, USA. 30 August–3 September 2006; pp. 3246–3249. [ DOI ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 35. Patil V., Varma N., Vinchurkar S., Patil B. NFC based health monitoring and controlling system; Proceedings of the 2014 IEEE Global Conference on Wireless Computing & Networking (GCWCN); Lonavala, India. 22–24 December 2014; pp. 133–137. [ Google Scholar ]
• 36. Heo S.Y., Kim J., Gutruf P., Banks A., Wei P., Pielak R., Balooch G., Shi Y., Araki H., Rollo D. Wireless, battery-free, flexible, miniaturized dosimeters monitor exposure to solar radiation and to light for phototherapy. Sci. Transl. Med. 2018;10:eaau1643. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aau1643. [ DOI ] [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 37. Chung H.U., Kim B.H., Lee J.Y., Lee J., Xie Z., Ibler E.M., Lee K., Banks A., Jeong J.Y., Kim J., et al. Binodal, wireless epidermal electronic systems with in-sensor analytics for neonatal intensive care. Science. 2019;363 doi: 10.1126/science.aau0780. [ DOI ] [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 38. Alabdulhafith M., Sampangi R.V., Sampalli S. NFC-enabled smartphone application for drug interaction and drug allergy detection; Proceedings of the 2013 5th International Workshop on Near Field Communication (NFC); Zurich, Switzerland. 5 February 2013; pp. 1–6. [ Google Scholar ]
• 39. Puma J.P., Huerta M., Alvizu R., Clotet R. Mobile identification: Nfc in the healthcare sector; Proceedings of the 2012 VI Andean Region International Conference; Cuenca, Ecuador. 7–9 November 2012; pp. 39–42. [ Google Scholar ]
• 40. AlZuhair M.S., Najjar A.B., Kanjo E. NFC based applications for visually impaired people—A review; Proceedings of the 2014 IEEE International Conference on Multimedia and Expo Workshops (ICMEW); Chengdu, China. 14–18 July 2014; pp. 1–6. [ Google Scholar ]
• 41. Du H. NFC technology: Today and tomorrow. Int. J. Future Comput. Commun. 2013;2:351. doi: 10.7763/IJFCC.2013.V2.183. [ DOI ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 42. Paredes F., Cairó I., Zuffanelli S., Zamora G., Bonache J., Martin F. Compact design of UHF RFID and NFC antennas for mobile phones. IET Microw. Antennas Propag. 2017;11:1016–1019. doi: 10.1049/iet-map.2016.0794. [ DOI ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 43. Jeong H., Ha T., Kuang I., Shen L., Dai Z., Sun N., Lu N. NFC-enabled, tattoo-like stretchable biosensor manufactured by “cut-and-paste” method; Proceedings of the 2017 39th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC); Seogwipo, Jeju Island, Korea. 11–15 July 2017; pp. 4094–4097. [ DOI ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 44. Lazaro A., Boada M., Villarino R., Girbau D. Recent Wireless Power Transfer Technologies. IntechOpen; London, UK: Oct 2, 2019. NFC Sensors based on energy harvesting for IoT applications. [ Google Scholar ]
• 45. Yang S., Chen Y.C., Nicolini L., Pasupathy P., Sacks J., Su B., Yang R., Sanchez D., Chang Y.F., Wang P. “Cut-and-paste” manufacture of multiparametric epidermal sensor systems. Adv. Mater. 2015;27:6423–6430. doi: 10.1002/adma.201502386. [ DOI ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 46. Krishnan S.R., Su C.J., Xie Z., Patel M., Madhvapathy S.R., Xu Y., Freudman J., Ng B., Heo S.Y., Wang H., et al. Wireless, battery-free epidermal electronics for continuous, quantitative, multimodal thermal characterization of skin. Small. 2018;14:e1803192. doi: 10.1002/smll.201803192. [ DOI ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 47. Han S., Kim J., Won S.M., Ma Y., Kang D., Xie Z., Lee K.-T., Chung H.U., Banks A., Min S. Battery-free, wireless sensors for full-body pressure and temperature mapping. Sci. Transl. Med. 2018;10:eaan4950. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aan4950. [ DOI ] [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 48. Lin R., Kim H.J., Achavananthadith S., Kurt S.A., Tan S.C.C., Yao H., Tee B.C.K., Lee J.K.W., Ho J.S. Wireless battery-free body sensor networks using near-field-enabled clothing. Nat. Commun. 2020;11:444. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-14311-2. [ DOI ] [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 49. Lee S.P., Ha G., Wright D.E., Ma Y., Sen-Gupta E., Haubrich N.R., Branche P.C., Li W., Huppert G.L., Johnson M., et al. Highly flexible, wearable, and disposable cardiac biosensors for remote and ambulatory monitoring. NPJ Digit Med. 2018;1:2. doi: 10.1038/s41746-017-0009-x. [ DOI ] [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 50. Zulqarnain M., Stanzione S., Rathinavel G., Smout S., Willegems M., Myny K., Cantatore E. A flexible ECG patch compatible with NFC RF communication. NPJ Flex. Electron. 2020;4:1–8. doi: 10.1038/s41528-020-0077-x. [ DOI ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 51. Kim J., Gutruf P., Chiarelli A.M., Heo S.Y., Cho K., Xie Z., Banks A., Han S., Jang K.I., Lee J.W., et al. Miniaturized battery-free wireless systems for wearable pulse oximetry. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2017:27. doi: 10.1002/adfm.201604373. [ DOI ] [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 52. Kim J., Salvatore G.A., Araki H., Chiarelli A.M., Xie Z., Banks A., Sheng X., Liu Y., Lee J.W., Jang K.-I. Battery-free, stretchable optoelectronic systems for wireless optical characterization of the skin. Sci. Adv. 2016;2:e1600418. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1600418. [ DOI ] [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 53. Vennemann B., Obrist D., Rösgen T. A smartphone-enabled wireless and batteryless implantable blood flow sensor for remote monitoring of prosthetic heart valve function. PLoS ONE. 2020;15:e0227372. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0227372. [ DOI ] [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 54. Koh A., Kang D., Xue Y., Lee S., Pielak R.M., Kim J., Hwang T., Min S., Banks A., Bastien P. A soft, wearable microfluidic device for the capture, storage, and colorimetric sensing of sweat. Sci. Transl. Med. 2016;8:366ra165. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aaf2593. [ DOI ] [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 55. Bandodkar A.J., Gutruf P., Choi J., Lee K., Sekine Y., Reeder J.T., Jeang W.J., Aranyosi A.J., Lee S.P., Model J.B. Battery-free, skin-interfaced microfluidic/electronic systems for simultaneous electrochemical, colorimetric, and volumetric analysis of sweat. Sci. Adv. 2019;5:eaav3294. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aav3294. [ DOI ] [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 56. Xu G., Cheng C., Yuan W., Liu Z., Zhu L., Li X., Lu Y., Chen Z., Liu J., Cui Z., et al. Smartphone-based battery-free and flexible electrochemical patch for calcium and chloride ions detections in biofluids. Sens. Actuators B Chem. 2019;297:126743. doi: 10.1016/j.snb.2019.126743. [ DOI ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 57. Xu G., Cheng C., Liu Z., Yuan W., Wu X., Lu Y., Low S.S., Liu J., Zhu L., Ji D., et al. Battery-free and wireless epidermal electrochemical system with all-printed stretchable electrode array for multiplexed in situ sweat analysis. Adv. Mater. Technol. 2019;4:1800658. doi: 10.1002/admt.201800658. [ DOI ] [ Google Scholar ]
• View on publisher site
• PDF (7.7 MB)
• Collections

Similar articles

Cited by other articles, links to ncbi databases.

• Download .nbib .nbib
• Format: AMA APA MLA NLM

Add to Collections