IcyHeart: Highly integrated ultra-low-power SoC solution for unobtrusive and energy efficient wireless cardiac monitoring

The objective of the IcyHeart project is to investigate and demonstrate a highly integrated and power-efficient microelectronic solution for remote monitoring of a subject’s electrocardiogram (ECG) signals. A complete System-on-a-Chip (SoC) is being developed that embarks on a single chip an ultralow- power signal acquisition front-end with analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) for ECG, a low-power digital signal processor (DSP) and a low-energy radio frequency (RF) transceiver. These features, for the first time, coexist on a single die. Energy efficient signal processing algorithms targeting ECG, and expandable to other bio-signals, are embedded and run on the on-chip DSP. The final IcyHeart product will consist of a tiny PCB embarking IcyHeart SoC and all the necessary discrete components and powering circuit. The outcome of the project is expected to generate high market value for the European SMEs developing novel cardio monitoring products in home and professional environments, and to create high societal impact for several categories of European citizens requiring miniature, comfortable and easy-to-use wireless tele-healthcare solutions.