ABSTRACT
Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is a widely used technique in biomedical and chemical analysis. A novel 10-bit impedance-to-digital converter (IDC), which can measure and directly convert the magnitude and phase of impedance to digital codes, is proposed for the EIS measurement system. The proposed IDC is composed of a magnitude-to-digital converter (MDC) and a phase-to-digital converter (PDC). The proposed IDC was designed and fabricated using a 0.35 [Formula: see text] 2P4M mixed-signal polycide process, and the core area is only 0.07 mm2. Moreover, it can work over a very wide frequency range (0.1 mHz-100 kHz), and has excellent accuracy. According to the measured results, the DNL of the MDC is within -0.3/+0.3 LSB, and the INL is around -3/+1 LSB. Moreover, an EIS measurement system, which is composed of the proposed IDC chip and some other commercial chips, is built to measure ZoBell's and melatonin solutions for validating the function of the proposed IDC.
Subject(s)
Dielectric Spectroscopy , Electric Impedance , Signal Processing, Computer-AssistedABSTRACT
Electrical properties of a Cr/V2O5/Cr structure are investigated and switching of the device due to electrochemical reactions is observed at low bias (<1 V). Depending on the polarity of the first applied bias, the switched device can behave like a diode (forward sweep first) or a resistor (reverse sweep first). The switching is irreversible and persistent, lasting for more than one month. By performing environmental tests, we prove that water molecules in the atmosphere and intercalated in the xerogel film are involved in the electrochemical reactions. It is proposed that an interfacial layer with reduced oxidation state forms at the Cr/V2O5 interface, and creates a higher Schottky barrier due to rise of electron affinity. Different interfacial layer thicknesses in forward and reverse first sweeps are responsible for different I-V characteristics in subsequent sweeps. The results suggest future applications of these V2O5 thin films in low-power read-only memory devices and diode-resistor networks.
ABSTRACT
A novel, unobtrusive and wearable, multiparameter ambulatory physiologic monitoring system for space and terrestrial applications, termed LifeGuard, is presented. The core element is a wearable monitor, the crew physiologic observation device (CPOD), that provides the capability to continuously record two standard electrocardiogram leads, respiration rate via impedance plethysmography, heart rate, hemoglobin oxygen saturation, ambient or body temperature, three axes of acceleration, and blood pressure. These parameters can be digitally recorded with high fidelity over a 9-h period with precise time stamps and user-defined event markers. Data can be continuously streamed to a base station using a built-in Bluetooth RF link or stored in 32 MB of on-board flash memory and downloaded to a personal computer using a serial port. The device is powered by two AAA batteries. The design, laboratory, and field testing of the wearable monitors are described.
Subject(s)
Aerospace Medicine/instrumentation , Clothing , Information Storage and Retrieval/methods , Monitoring, Ambulatory/instrumentation , Telecommunications/instrumentation , Telemedicine/instrumentation , Transducers , Aerospace Medicine/methods , Equipment Design , Equipment Failure Analysis , Monitoring, Ambulatory/methods , Pilot Projects , Telemedicine/methodsABSTRACT
A smart pixel optical sensor based on positive optical feedback is described and demonstrated. The scheme uses the reflectance of an external scene as part of the positive feedback loop and uses the nonlinear characteristics of a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser to obtain bistability and hysteresis. As a result, the continuous reflectance variation of the scene is mapped to a digital output with increased noise immunity for each pixel of the array.
