Achieving sub-mm Accuracy with a Novel Indoor UWB Positioning System in Dense Multipath Environments for Medical Applications

University Of Tennessee Knoxville, Knoxville TN

Investigators

Abstract

The objective of this research is to investigate, develop, and demonstrate fundamentally novel approaches for precise wireless location systems reaching submillimeter accuracy in indoor environments. The research program is focused in three areas: (1) system-level design concerns and quantifying their effects on system accuracy; (2) realization of novel system architectures through development of integrated microwave hardware; (3) quantifiable testing of system performance in realistic hospital environments using novel, real-time testing platforms. Intellectual Merit: The research will address the central difficulties in developing wireless location systems with sub-mm accuracy including reflections of wireless signals from metallic surfaces, electronics limitations including noise and sampling rates, and location errors caused by antennas. The research has the potential to fundamentally change the achievable accuracy of indoor wireless location systems into millimeter and sub-millimeter accuracy for new location-aware clinical applications including smart medical instruments, surgical navigation, and wireless body-area-networks. It has the potential to be transformative by overcoming inherent limitations of current real-time location systems. Broader Impacts: The impact of this research will be felt not only by engineers working towards wireless location systems for surgical navigation and location-aware smart sensing medical instruments, but for scientists working in fundamental areas including microwave-based biological sensors and characterization of biological tissues at microwave frequencies. Graduate and undergraduate students involved in this research will gain expertise in design, fabrication, and testing of state-of-the-art radio frequency integrated circuits. Outreach activities include mentoring of high-school students and participation in the Tennessee Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation.