Universal application-specific integrated circuit for bioelectric data acquisition

Use of highly integrated application specific circuits (ASICs) in bioelectric data acquisition systems promise important new insights into the origin of a large variety of health problems by providing light-weight, low-power, low-cost medical measurement devices that allow long-term studies. They also promise significant cost reduction in medical care, as patients in principle become mobile and do not have to be hospitalized for observation. We report on the development and successful implementation of a universal ASIC, designed to meet key characteristics of a broad variety of bioelectric signals in terms of their dynamic range, sampling rate and input referred noise; e.g. electrocardiogram (ECG), electroencephalogram (EEG) and, most constringently, evoked potentials (EPs). Our approach for the first time makes cost-effective use of state-of-the-art microelectronics in medical measurement equipment, thus offering to replace discrete, single application devices used at present.