This letter investigates the phase velocity of an electromagnetic wave propagating between two sensors located on the human body surface by using the formulation of a creeping wave around a circular cylinder. The study is performed for both horizontal and vertical polarizations. The velocity is studied over the V-band. It is theoretically shown that the variation of the phase velocity is negligible over the bandwidth.
Measurements are conducted on a metallic circular cylinder to assess the validity of these formulations. Then, an experimental validation of the circular cylinder assumption for the human body is performed. Deviation between the measurements and the theoretical circular model is between 2% and 3.5%.