Digitally-assisted, ultra-low power circuits and systems for medical applications

In recent years, trends in the medical industry have created a growing demand for a variety of implantable medical devices. At the same time, advances in integrated circuits techniques, particularly in CMOS, have opened possibilities for advanced implantable systems that are very small and consume minimal energy. Minimizing the volume of medical implants is important as it allows for less invasive procedures and greater comfort to patients. Minimizing energy consumption is imperative as batteries must last at least a decade without replacement. Two primary functions that consume energy in medical implants are sensor interfaces that collect information from biomedical signals, and radios that allow the implant to communicate with a base-station outside of the body. The general focus of this work was the development of circuits and systems that minimize the size and energy required to carry out these two functions. The first part of this work focuses on laying down the theoretical framework for an ultra-low power radio, including advances to the literature in the area of super-regeneration. The second part includes the design of a transceiver optimized for medical implants, and its implementation in a CMOS process. The final part describes the design of a sensor interface that leverages novel analog and digital techniques to reduce the system's size and improve its functionality. This final part was developed in conjunction with Marcus Yip.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2010

Author dc:creator

• Bohorquez, Jose L

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Joel L. Dawson and Anantha P. Chandrakasan.

• Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/58074

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/58074