ISSCC2014ShortCourse

BiomedicalandSensorInterfaceCircuits

WillySansen,KULeuven,Belgium

Abstract:
Anincreasingnumberofcircuitsinterfacewiththehumanbodyandotherbiosensors.Theyhavetointerfacewith
livingtissues,whichchangeinimpedance,withtemperature,andwithtime.Veryhighinputcircuitimpedancesare
requiredtoavoidtheextractionofcurrent,causingdriftandinfection.Highsensitivityandlownoisearerequired
aswell.

Thisshortcourseaimstodescribethedifficultiesandtechnicalsolutionsforsuchbiointerfacecircuits.Successful
realizationsarepresentedfordifferentkindsofmedicalapplications.

TheBiomedicalElectrodeTissueInterface:ASimpleExplanationofaComplexSubject
EricMcAdams,INAS,Lyon,France

Abstract:
Biomedicalelectrodesareusedinvariousformsinawiderangeofbiomedicalapplications.Goodelectrodedesign
isnotassimpleasisoftenassumed,andallelectrodedesignsarenotequalinperformance.Onemustnotsimply
chooseanelectrodewithasconductiveasensingelementaspossible,whichunfortunately,wasandstillisthe
caseinmanydesigns,especiallyintheemergingareaofwearablesensing.

Monitoringbioelectrodes,iftheyarenotchosen/designedcorrectly,giverisetosignificantproblemsthatmake
biosignalanalysisdifficult,ifnotimpossible.Boththeelectrodeelectrolyteinterfaceandtheskinunderthe
electrode(collectivelyknownasthecontact)giverisetopotentialsandimpedancesthatcandistortthemeasured
biosignal.Thepotentialsandimpedancesoftheelectrodeelectrolyteinterfaceandoftheskinwillthereforebe
studiedinsomedepthusingasimpleyeteffectivemodeltogiveasoundworkingknowledgeofbiomedical
electrodetechnologyanddesign.

Aboutthepresenter:
Prof.EricMcAdamsisHeadoftheMedicalSensorsGroupwithinINLandworksandteachesatINSALyon.Before
thathewasHeadoftheMedicalSensorsGroupatNIBEC,UniversityofUlster,andhecofoundedandwasa
directorofasuccessfulspinoffcompany,Intelesens.Intelesensresearches,designs,develops,andmanufactures
innovative,devicesinpioneeringareassuchaswirelessVitalSignsMonitoring.Heiswidelyrecognizedasaleading
specialistinthestudyandmodelingoftheelectricalpropertiesofmaterialsandinterfaces.Hehassuccessfully
designed,developed,patentedandcommercializedawiderangeofBiomedicalSensorsandElectrodes.

LowPowerInterfaceCircuitsforBioPotentialandPhysiologicalSignalAcquisition

FiratYazicioglu,IMEC,Leuven,Belgium

Abstract:
Withanincreasingnumberofapplications,smarterandsmallerwearable/implantablebiomedicaldeviceshave

beenoneofthemaindriversbehindlowpoweranalogICdesignforsensorinterfaces.Inrecentyears,the
adoptionofwearabledevicesforwellnessapplicationshasboostedtheneedforsuchsensorinterfacesmaking
themevenmoreinterestingfortheresearchcommunityandindustry.

Thispresentationfocusesontheinstrumentationamplifiersandreadoutcircuitsforthereadoutofdifferent
biomedicalsignalmodalities.Thecoursestartswithminimumsafetyandperformancerequirementsfordifferent
applications.Later,signalintegrityproblemsarediscussedandcircuitandenvironmentalnoisesourcesare
introduced.Alargepartofcourseisonthedesignofsensorinterfacecircuitsandinstrumentationamplifiersfor
differentsignalmodalitiesthatarerelevantforbothwearableandimplantableapplicationssuchasbiopotential,
bioimpedance,andopticalmeasurements.Finally,commerciallyavailableICsinthefieldareintroducedand
futuredirectionsarediscussed.

Aboutthepresenter:
FiratYazicioglureceivedthePh.D.degreeinElectricalEng.fromKatholiekeUniversiteitLeuvenin2008.Heis
currentlyatIMEC,BelgiumwhereheleadstheBiomedicalIntegratedCircuitsteamfocusingonMixedSignal
IntegratedCircuitdesignforwearableandimplantablebiomedicalapplications.Hehas(co)authoredover70
publicationsandseveralpatentsinthefieldofICdesignforbiomedicalapplications.Hehascontributed/leadthe
developmentofseveralgenerationsofintegratedcircuitsforwearableandimplantablehealthcareapplications,
someofwhichareabsorbedbytheindustryforcommercialization.Dr.Yaziciogluservesonthetechnicalprogram
committeesofESSCIRCandISSCC.HeisthecochairofBioCAS2013.

DesignStrategiesforWearableSensorInterfaceCircuitsfromElectrodestoSignalProcessing
JeraldYoo,MasdarInstituteofScienceandTechnology,AbuDhabi,UnitedArabEmirates
Abstract:
Wearablehealthcaresensorsprovideattractiveopportunitiesforthesemiconductorsector.Thetargetisto
mitigatetheimpactofchronicdiseasesbyprovidingcontinuousyetadequatelownoisemonitoringandanalysisof
physiologicalsignals.Thewearableenvironmentischallengingforcircuitdesignersduetoitsunstableskin
electrodeinterface.Wetanddryelectrodeshaveverydifferentelectricalcharacteristicsthatneedtobeaddressed.
Also,inawearableenvironment,atradeoffbetweenavailableresourcesandcomponentperformance(analog
frontendanddigitalbackend)iscrucial.
Thisshortcoursecoversthedesignstrategiesforbiointerfacecircuitsforsuchwearablesensors.Wefirstexplore
thedifficulties,limitationsandpotentialpitfallsinwearableinterfaces,andstrategiestoovercomethem.After
that,systemlevelconsiderationsforbetterkeymetricssuchasenergyefficiencyareintroduced.Severalstateof
theartinstrumentationamplifiersthatemphasizedifferentparametersarealsodiscussed.Wethenseehowthe
signalanalysispartimpactstheanaloginterfacecircuitdesign.Thetalkconcludeswithinterestingaspectsand
opportunitiesthatlieahead.

Aboutthepresenter:
JeraldYooreceivedthePh.D.degreeinElectricalEngineeringfromtheKoreaAdvancedInstituteofScienceand
Technology(KAIST),Daejeon,Korea,in2010.InMay2010,hejoinedtheFacultyofMicrosystemsEngineering,
MasdarInstitute,AbuDhabi,UnitedArabEmirates,whereheisanAssistantProfessor.Dr.Yoodevelopedlow

energyBodyAreaNetwork(BAN)transceiversandwearablebodysensornetworksusingPlanarFashionable
CircuitBoard(PFCB)forcontinuoushealthmonitoring.Hisresearchfocusesonlowenergycircuittechnologyfor
wearablebiosignalsensors,wirelesspowertransmission,SoCdesigntosystemrealizationforwearablehealthcare
applications,andenergyefficientbiomedicalcircuittechniques.HeisanauthorofabookchapterinBiomedical
CMOSICs(Springer,2010).Dr.YooisacorecipientoftheAsianSolidStateCircuitsConference(ASSCC)
OutstandingDesignAwardsin2005.

SystemArchitecturesandStrategiesforBidirectionalInterfacingofCircuitswithPhysiologicalSystems
TimDenison,Medtronic,Minneapolis,MN
Thistalkpresentsstateoftheartcircuittechniquesforbidirectionallyinterfacingtophysiologicalsystemswith
thegoalofrestoringfunction.Toprovidecontextforthedesigndiscussion,ageneralframeworkofsensors,
classifiers,controlpoliciesandactuatorsisfirstcovered.Thecircuitdesignconstraintsandimplementationsfor
eachofthesesubblocksisthendiscussed,alongwiththerelevantphysiologicalprinciplesthatguidetheoverall
design.Examplesofhowthesubsystemsareintegratedtogetherwithphysiologyarethendrawnfromcardiac,
neural,andprostheticsystemapplications.Toclosethediscussion,acommentaryonpotentialfuturetrendsis
given.

Aboutthepresenter:
TimDenisonisaTechnicalFellowatMedtronicandDirectorofCoreTechnologyintheNeuromodulationdivision,
wherehehelpsoverseethedesignofnextgenerationneuralinterfaceandalgorithmtechnologiesforthe
treatmentofchronicneurologicdisease.In2012,hewasawardedmembershiptotheBakkenSociety,Medtronics
highesttechnicalandscientifichonor.Tensofthousandsofpatientsreceiveimplantablecircuitseachyearfrom
systemsTimhelpeddesign.HereceivedaPh.D.inElectricalEngineeringfromMIT.HeisalsoagraduateofHarvard
BusinessSchoolsProgramforLeadershipDevelopment.Timsextracurricularpursuitsincludeservingasan
AdjunctAssistantProfessoratBrownUniversity,teachingsmartmedicalsensordesignshortcoursesatTUDelft,
andchairingtheIEEEEMBSsocietyTwinCitieschapter.