We are developing a mm-square low-power wireless ADC that will detect and transmit microvolt signals, which is promising for precision measurements in biomedical applications, automotive, and mobiles. This project specifically aims to be used for a concurrent TMS-EEG-fMRI system, a highly desirable temporal and spatial imaging method to unveil the mystery of brain circuits. The precision ADC will make it possible to acquire EEG signals down to 10µV while wireless transmission will avoid safety heating issues by current induced in wired-loop under time-varying magnetic field in MRI. So far, we have built a crystal-free single-chip micro mote 3C (SCµM-3C) with a standard compliant BLE and 802.15.4 mesh communication radio in BSAC project BPN803. Integrated with an off-shelf ADC (ADS1299) via serial peripheral interface (SPI), we demonstrated that SCµM-3C can acquire and transmit signals from ADS1299. Currently, we are designing our own analog front end and ADC to integrate with the next SCµM generation, SCµM-V. SCµM-V, to be fabricated in Intel 16 nm FinFET process, will include this versatile ADC, which can be applied to different microvolt signal sources and transmit wirelessly with low power consumption.
Project currently funded by: Federal