A programmable microsystem using system-on-chip for real-time biotelemetry

Wang, L., Johannessen, E.A., Hammond, P.A., Cui, L., Reid, S.W.J., Cooper, J.M. and Cumming, D.R.S. (2005) A programmable microsystem using system-on-chip for real-time biotelemetry. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 52(7), pp. 1251-1260. (doi: 10.1109/TBME.2005.847562)

Abstract

A telemetry microsystem, including multiple sensors, integrated instrumentation and a wireless interface has been implemented. We have employed a methodology akin to that for System-on-Chip microelectronics to design an integrated circuit instrument containing several "intellectual property" blocks that will enable convenient reuse of modules in future projects. The present system was optimized for low-power and included mixed-signal sensor circuits, a programmable digital system, a feedback clock control loop and RF circuits integrated on a 5 mm × 5 mm silicon chip using a 0.6 μm, 3.3 V CMOS process. Undesirable signal coupling between circuit components has been investigated and current injection into sensitive instrumentation nodes was minimized by careful floor-planning. The chip, the sensors, a magnetic induction-based transmitter and two silver oxide cells were packaged into a 36 mm × 12 mm capsule format. A base station was built in order to retrieve the data from the microsystem in real-time. The base station was designed to be adaptive and timing tolerant since the microsystem design was simplified to reduce power consumption and size. The telemetry system was found to have a packet error rate of 10^-³ using an asynchronous simplex link. Trials in animal carcasses were carried out to show that the transmitter was as effective as a conventional RF device whilst consuming less power.

• Item Type: Articles
• Keywords: Biomedical telemetry, laboratory-in-a-pill, microsystems, system-on-chip, very-large-scale integration.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Cumming, Professor David and Reid, Professor Stuart
• Authors: Wang, L., Johannessen, E.A., Hammond, P.A., Cui, L., Reid, S.W.J., Cooper, J.M., and Cumming, D.R.S.
• Subjects: R Medicine > R Medicine (General); Q Science > QC Physics; T Technology > T Technology (General)
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine; College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Electronics and Nanoscale Engineering
• Journal Name: IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering
• Publisher: IEEE
• ISSN: 0018-9294
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2005 IEEE
• First Published: First published in IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering 52(7):1251-1260
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher.