Methods, apparatuses, and systems for radio-frequency imaging sensors for advanced fingerprint biometrics and medical imaging

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10839189-B2
Application number	US-201716309188-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 14, 2017
Priority date	Jun 14, 2016
Publication date	Nov 17, 2020
Grant date	Nov 17, 2020

Abstract

Methods, apparatuses, systems, and implementations of an ultra-compact RF (30 GHz-10 THz) imaging sensor topology that provides a new insight into the human skin are disclosed. The skin tissue is the largest organ in the body—both in weight and surface area—and stores valuable information that can revolutionize security biometrics and mobile health monitoring. The proposed compact sensor enables, for the first time, portable and wearable devices to perform superior biometric authentication compared to current fingerprint methods. Additionally, these devices could probe into the skin to monitor vital signs in real-time and enable mobile health monitoring.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A radio-frequency (RF) imaging apparatus comprising:
a substrate;
at least one RF source;
at least one RF detector;
at least one linear imaging array comprising:
at least one transmission line; and
one or more antennas; and

one or more RF switches, each of the one or more RF switches being coupled to at least one of the one or more antennas and comprising:
a plurality of electrically tunable impedance sheets;
a metal layer; and
at least one insulating layer disposed between the plurality of electrically tunable impedance sheets;

where the at least one RF source, the at least one RF detector, and the at least one linear imaging array are monolithically integrated on the substrate, and
where the RF imaging apparatus is configured to operate in a frequency range of 30 GHz-10 THz.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , where the one or more RF switches comprise one or more of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) switches, photoconductive switches, or switches comprising one or more electrically tunable materials.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , where the electrically tunable material is graphene.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , where the at least one RF source is configured to propagate RF signals into skin tissue, the at least one linear imaging array is configured to receive RF signals reflected from the skin tissue, and the at least one RF detector is configured to record detected RF signals.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , where a distance between the one or more antennas comprises a width of less than 300 μm.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , where the one or more antennas are connected in parallel via the at least one transmission line.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , where the one or more antennas are one or more of slot dipole antennas and bowtie antennas.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , where the one or more antennas each have a separate RF source and a separate RF detector.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a polarization selective surface.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more antennas comprise a traveling wave antenna.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , where the at least one RF detector comprises at least one detector antenna configured to support a same polarization as the travelling wave antenna.

12. A radio-frequency (RF) imaging apparatus comprising:
a substrate;
at least one RF source;
a plurality of RF detectors;
a single traveling wave antenna; and
a polarization selective surface,
where the at least one RF source, the at least one RF detector, and the single traveling wave antenna are monolithically integrated on the substrate, and
where the RF imaging apparatus is configured to operate in a frequency range of 30 GHz -10 THz.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , where the plurality of RF detectors each comprise at least one detector antenna configured to support a same polarization as the travelling wave antenna.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , where the at least one detector antenna is orthogonally oriented to the travelling wave antenna.

15. The apparatus of claim 12 , further comprising one or more RF switches, each of the one or more RF switches being coupled to at least one of the single traveling wave antenna or one or more detector antennas.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , where the one or more RF switches each comprise:
a plurality of electrically tunable impedance sheets;
a metal layer; and
at least one insulating layer disposed between the plurality of electrically tunable impedance sheets.

17. A computing system configured to perform radio-frequency (RF) imaging of skin tissue, the computing system comprising:
at least one memory device;
at least one processor; and
at least one physical computer readable medium coupled to the at least one memory device, the at least one physical computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions that when executed by the at least one processor are configured to:
propagate one or more RF signals into the skin tissue, where the one or more RF signals are configured to penetrate multiple layers of the skin tissue and are in a frequency range of 30 GHz-10 THz;
receive one or more reflected RF signals from the multiple layers of the skin tissue;
record a digital state of each of the one or more reflected RF signals;
construct a digital image of the skin tissue based on the digital state of each of the one or more reflected RF signals; and
determine an authentication state based on a comparison of the digital image and a prerecorded digital image of the skin tissue.

18. The computing system of claim 17 , further comprising a traveling wave antenna through which the one or more RF signals are propagated into the skin tissue using the traveling wave antenna.

19. The computing system of claim 18 , further comprising a plurality of RF detectors through which the one or more reflected RF signals are received.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 , where the plurality of RF detectors each comprise at least one detector antenna configured to support a same polarization as the traveling wave antenna.

Assignees

• Trichopoulos Georgios
• Theofanopoulos Panagiotis
• Univ Arizona State

Inventors

• Trichopoulos Georgios
• Theofanopoulos Panagiotis

Classifications

• G06V40/1365

  Matching; Classification · CPC title

• G06V40/1306 Primary

  non-optical, e.g. ultrasonic or capacitive sensing · CPC title

• G06T7/0014

  using an image reference approach · CPC title

• A61B2562/028

  Microscale sensors, e.g. electromechanical sensors [MEMS] · CPC title

• H01Q15/24

  Polarising devices; Polarisation filters  (H01Q15/12, H01Q15/22 take precedence) · CPC title