This paper presents the design and development of a quad-port smart textile antenna for bio-healthcare applications. The antenna is designed to operate in the ultra-wideband (UWB) spectrum (3.1−12 GHz) with an impedance bandwidth of 8.9 GHz. The size of the unit cell and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna are 0.25λ0 × 0.2λ0 × 0.015λ0 and 0.52λ0 × 0.52λ0 × 0.015λ0, respectively. The antenna has a maximum efficiency of 93% and a peak gain of 4.62 dBi. The investigation of diversity metrics is performed and the results obtained are found to be ECC < 0.08 and DG < 9.99 dB. The computed CCL and TARC values are <0.13 bits/s/Hz and <−12 dB, respectively. The SAR analysis of the antenna shows a value of 0.471 Watt/Kg at 4 GHz, 0.39 Watt/Kg at 7 GHz, and 0.22 Watt/Kg at 10 GHz.
Keywords: MIMO antenna; UWB; flexible; smart apparel; smart textile; wearable.