title: Low-power analog integrated circuits for wireless ECG acquisition systems.
abstract: This paper presents low-power analog ICs for wireless ECG acquisition systems. Considering the power-efficient communication in the body sensor network, the required low-power analog ICs are developed for a healthcare system through miniaturization and system integration. To acquire the ECG signal, a low-power analog front-end system, including an ECG signal acquisition board, an on-chip low-pass filter, and an on-chip successive-approximation analog-to-digital converter for portable ECG detection devices is presented. A quadrature CMOS voltage-controlled oscillator and a 2.4 GHz direct-conversion transmitter with a power amplifier and upconversion mixer are also developed to transmit the ECG signal through wireless communication. In the receiver, a 2.4 GHz fully integrated CMOS RF front end with a low-noise amplifier, differential power splitter, and quadrature mixer based on current-reused folded architecture is proposed. The circuits have been implemented to meet the specifications of the IEEE 802.15.4 2.4 GHz standard. The low-power ICs of the wireless ECG acquisition systems have been fabricated using a  0.18 μm Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) CMOS standard process. The measured results on the human body reveal that ECG signals can be acquired effectively by the proposed low-power analog front-end ICs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, National Chung Cheng University, Chia-Yi 62102, Taiwan. ieetht@ccu.edu.tw
authors.forename: Tsung-Heng
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Jia-Hua
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Liang-Hung
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shuenn-Yuh
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D055615:Electrical Equipment and Supplies; D004562:Electrocardiography / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory / Q000295:instrumentation; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D059015:Wireless Technology / Q000295:instrumentation*