Recent Advances in Body Area NanoNetworks: Electromagnetic, Materials and Communications

In recent years, nanotechnology has emerged as a novel evolution in technology enabling the design of miniaturized devices (i.e., nanodevices). At this scale, the behaviors and characteristics of nanodevices require a deep understanding and a revision of well-known features of devices at the macroscale level. Indeed, due to their specific nanoscale features, a fundamental requirement is to enable nanodevices to collaborate collectively to achieve a common objective. As a result, a set of nanodevices, sharing the same medium and collaborating for the same task, through communication and networking at the nanoscale, forms a nanonetwork. Nanonetworks are expected expanding the capabilities of single nanodevice and enabling new nanotechnology applications including healthcare, biomedical, environmental, military, as well as industrial fields. In particular, through a nanoscale communication paradigm,as well a network of nanodevices can constitute a Body Area NanoNetwork (BANN), and new and revolutionary complex applications can be envisaged. This new context requires a deep analysis of the innovative technological solutions suitable for the specific features under consideration. In this paper we aim to report the last advancements of the BANNs in a 360 ◦ vision, from three different perspectives, such as (i) electromagnetics, (ii) materials, and (iii) communications. We will also give a global vision of the three perspectives, by showing the glue elements of each other.