Ultra-Low-Power Electronics for Non-Invasive Medical Monitoring

Citation

L. Turicchia et al., “Ultra-low-power electronics for non-invasive medical monitoring,” 2009 IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits Conference, 2009, pp. 85-92, doi: 10.1109/CICC.2009.5280892.

Abstract

New electronics for non-invasive medical monitoring promise low-cost, maintenance-free, and lightweight devices. These devices are critical in long-term medical measurements and in home-based tele-monitoring services, which are extremely important for the reduction of health care costs. Here, we present several methods for reducing power consumption while retaining precision. In particular, we focus on the monitoring of the heart-because of its importance-and we describe a micropower electrocardiograph, an ultra-low-power pulse oximeter, an ultra-low-power phonocardiograph, an integrated-circuit switched-capacitor model of the heart, and a low-power RF-antenna-powered CMOS rectifier for energy harvesting. We also introduce an ultra-low-power platform for medical monitoring that enables the integration of monitoring circuitry in a wireless, low-cost, and battery-free device, and describe a method for audio localization of the device in case of a medical alarm.

Keywords: Biomedical monitoring, Medical services, Costs, Energy consumption, Semiconductor device modeling, Heart, Rectifiers, Circuits


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