Self-powered SoC platform for wearable health care

This chapter presents a top-level design of the first self-powered SoC platform that can predict, with high accuracy, ventricular arrhythmia before it occurs. The system provides a very high level of integration in a single chip of mainstream modules that are typically needed to build biomedical devices. Hence, the platform could help in reducing the cost in designing not only for ECG monitoring systems, but for generic low-power health care devices. The platform consists of a graphene-based sensors to acquire ECG signals, an analog front-end to amplify and digitize the ECG, a custom processor to perform feature extraction and classification, a wireless transmitter to send the data to a point of care, and an energy harvesting unit to power the whole system. The platform consumes very low power that can be completely powered by the thermal energy generated from the human body. The system is imagined to be integrated within a necklace which can be worn by a patient comfortably. Hence, it can provide a continuous monitoring of the patient’s condition and connect him directly to his doctor for immediate attention if necessary.