IC–MEMS Co-Fabrication: Enabling smart–seamless microsystem integration for emerging biomedical technologies

The development of personalized healthcare solutions is a complex and multifaceted challenge that requires synergistic collaboration and cross-fertilization between multiple disciplines, including microelectronics, nanotechnology, materials science, and biotechnology. As numerous biomedical applications necessitate the precise regulation and...

Wide-Input-Range Power Conversion for RF Energy Harvesting and Wireless Power Transfer

This thesis presents the design and measurement of an RF energy harvesting and power management unit that operates across a wide range of available input power. The system comprises an adaptive impedance matching network, a single-stage cross-coupled differential-drive rectifier, a start-up charge pump, an adaptive buck-boost converter, a...

Analysis, Design and Implementation of Power-Efficient DC-DC Converters for Biomedical and IoT Applications

This thesis focus on improving the power efficiency of DC-DC converters for two different applications. In the field of implantable medical devices, electrical stimulation has been used as an established treatment for several diseases. It aims to deliver a well-defined amount of charge to the tissue in order to build up a specific electric field...

Out-of-band Interference Immunity of Negative-Feedback Amplifiers

A study of the out-of-band interference of negative-feedback amplifiers is carried out in this thesis. Several design methods to reduce the susceptibility to interference are identified and developed. The proposed techniques are based on robust circuits and topologies that are suitable for monolithic integration.

Analysis and Design of Low-Power Receivers: Exploiting Non-50 Ω Antenna Impedance and Phase-Only Quantization

Reducing the power consumption of low-power short-range receivers is of critical importance for biomedical and Internet-of-Things applications. Two interesting degrees of freedom (or properties) that have not been fully exploited in the pursuit of low power consumption are the antenna impedance and the phase-only modulation property of FSK/PSK...

Radio frequency energy harvesting and low power data transmission for autonomous wireless sensor nodes

Since the Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to be the new technology to drive the semiconductor industry, significant research efforts have been made to develop new circuit and system techniques for autonomous/very low-power operation of wireless sensor nodes. Very low-power consumption of sensors is key to increase battery lifetime or allow...

Circuit Design for Highly Sensitive RF-Powered Wireless Sensor Nodes

Emerging applications such as Internet of Things (IoT), smart buildings and warehouse inventory management are important driving forces behind the development of Wireless Sensor Nodes (WSNs). With future advancements made in the semiconductor industry, these WSNs are expected to become smaller, cheaper, more reliable and with improved...

Analog Integrated Circuit and System Design for a Compact, Low-Power Cochlear Implant

Cochlear Implants (CIs) are prosthetic devices that restore hearing in profoundly deaf patients by bypassing the damaged parts of the inner ear and directly stimulating the remaining auditory nerve fibers in the cochlea with electrical pulses. This thesis describs the electronic circuit design of various modules for application in CIs in order...

Level-Crossing ADCs and Their Applications in Biomedical Readout Systems

This thesis describes the theory, design and implementation of levelcrossing ADCs and their system integration. The goal of this work is to explore methods at both the circuit level and the system level to improve the energy efficiency of LC-ADCs and integrate LC-ADCs in biomedical readout systems. Two single-bit capacitive LC-ADCs and an ECG...

Design of efficient and safe neural stimulators: A multidisciplinary approach

Neural stimulation is an established treatment methodology for an increasing number of diseases. Electrical Stimulation injects a stimulation signal through electrodes that are implanted in the target area of the central or peripheral nervous system in order to evoke a specific neuronal response that suppresses or treats pathological activity....

Analog IC Design Techniques for Nanopower Biomedical Signal Processing