Implementation of a wireless ECG acquisition SoC for IEEE 802.15.4 (ZigBee) applications

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Wireless Communication Systems

Background:

• Continuous electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring is crucial for diagnosing cardiac conditions.
• Existing wireless ECG systems often face challenges with integration, power consumption, and portability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a highly integrated, low-power wireless biosignal acquisition system-on-a-chip (WBSA-SoC) specifically for ECG monitoring.
• To demonstrate the system's effectiveness in acquiring accurate ECG data wirelessly.

Main Methods:

• Design and implementation of a WBSA-SoC comprising an ECG acquisition node, IEEE 802.15.4 ZigBee protocol, and RF transmitter circuits.
• Utilization of a fully integrated CMOS RF front end with a quadrature voltage-controlled oscillator and a 2.4-GHz low-IF transmitter.
• Development of an ARM-based displayer with FPGA demodulation and an RF receiver for system verification.

Main Results:

• The WBSA-SoC was successfully fabricated using a TSMC 0.18-μm standard CMOS process.
• Experimental measurements on human subjects confirmed the system's capability to effectively acquire ECG signals.
• The system demonstrated high integration, applicability, and portability due to the ZigBee protocol adoption.

Conclusions:

• The proposed WBSA-SoC offers a viable solution for portable and effective wireless ECG monitoring.
• The integrated design and low-power implementation make it suitable for long-term patient monitoring applications.
• This technology advances the field of remote cardiac health assessment through wireless biosignal acquisition.