MSc thesis project proposal

[2022] Low Power Analog Front-End Resilient to Large Electrode Impedance for ExG Applications

ExG systems record electrical signals correlated to e.g. brain activity (EEG), muscle activity (EMG), heart activity (ECG), etc. Recent advances are allowing for wearable ExG devices for a variety of applications such as continuous monitoring of vitals, and clinical- and consumer-oriented brain-computer interfaces. However, there is still a need to make these devices low power such that they can be battery operated for long periods of time, as well as robust to process, voltage and temperature (PVT) variations, electrode impedance changes, motion artifacts, and other sources of interference. Specifically, dry electrodes are more user-friendly than wet electrodes and are becoming more popular. This results in higher electrode impedances that affect the analog front-end performance and require more complex circuitry. At the same time, current applications require always more channels which poses a trade-off on the complexity of each channel.

Assignment

The idea is to design a low-power analog front-end for recording ExG signals in multi-channel architectures for wearables that is insensitive to the electrode impedance. The design will be implemented in CMOS technology and verified with post-layout simulations. There is a possibility to tapeout and measure the chip. 

Requirements

MSc EE-ME student.

You should be comfortable with analog IC design and the Cadence analog environment. Curiosity, hard work, and creativity are always needed. If you are interested, contact Dr. Dante Muratore via email with a motivation letter and attached CV (with taken courses and grades). 

Prerequisites: ET4252 Analog integrated circuit design, EE4520 Analog CMOS design I, ET4369 Nyquist-rate data converters.

Contact

dr. Dante Muratore

Bioelectronics Group

Department of Microelectronics

Last modified: 2022-07-05