Ultra Low Power Integrated Circuits and Systems for Cardiac Pacemakers

描述（由申请人提供）：心血管疾病是所有人类死亡的主要原因之一。心律不齐是导致心血管疾病的众多原因之一。心律失常相关的人类心脏死亡率和发病率可以通过被称为人工起搏器的植入式装置来降低，这种装置被设计用来监测心脏状态并调节心脏的跳动。正常的心跳是由心脏特定区域产生的电脉冲产生的，电脉冲沿着特定的路径传播，刺激心肌收缩。如果这个自然的“起搏器”或传导系统的任何部分由于某种原因功能失调，正常的心跳可能会变得太慢（心动过缓）或太快（心动过速100bpm）。这些是不正常的心律，或心律失常。在某些情况下，医生会建议植入起搏器来纠正心律失常。在美国，每年有近20万个永久性心脏起搏器被植入。起搏器的电池可以使用7-8年，在小手术过程中就可以更换。使用超低功耗电路的下一代起搏器的开发将进一步延长电池寿命，并将减少更换起搏器电池的手术频率。延长起搏器的电池寿命不仅可以减少手术次数，还可以降低与手术相关的医疗成本。本提案的主要目标是为超低功耗心脏起搏器开发低功耗电路和系统，从而减少更换起搏器电池的外科手术频率。在本研究中，这一目标将首先通过优化心脏起搏器功能模块的架构、算法和系统来实现。然后，我们将系统地将特定的动态和减少泄漏的技术应用于建筑优化的功能块，以降低总能耗。为了验证我们的研究策略的合理性，并验证我们的功耗优化设计，我们将通过MOSIS制造超低功耗电路。将测试制造的集成电路的功能正确性和所需的电气特性。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Cardiovascular diseases are one of the major causes of all human deaths. Irregular heartbeat or arrhythmia is one among many reasons for cardiovascular diseases. Arrhythmia related human cardiac mortality and morbidity can be reduced by implantable devices known as artificial pacemakers that are designed to monitor the cardiac status and to regulate the beating of the heart. A normal heartbeat is created by electrical impulses that are generated within a specialized area of the heart and travel down specific pathways to stimulate the cardiac muscle to contract. If this natural "pacemaker" or any part of the conduction system is dysfunctional for some reason, the normal heartbeat may become too slow (bradycardia) or fast (tachycardia100bpm). These are abnormal heart rhythms, or arrhythmias. In some cases, physicians will recommend implantation of a pacemaker to correct an arrhythmia. Nearly 200,000 permanent pacemakers are implanted annually in the United States. The battery in a pacemaker can last 7-8 years and is replaced during a minor surgical procedure. The development of the next generation of pacemakers that utilizes ultralow power circuits will extend the battery life further and will reduce the frequencyof the surgical procedure to replace the battery in the pacemaker. Increased battery life of the pacemaker not only will reduce the number of surgical procedures but also will bring down the healthcare cost associated with the surgical procedure. The primary objective of this proposal is to develop low power circuits and systems for ultra-low power cardiac pacemakers which will in turn reduce the frequency of surgical procedures to replace the pacemaker battery. In this research this objective will be achieved first by optimizing the architectures, algorithms and systems of the functional blocks of the cardiac pacemaker. Then we will systematically apply specific dynamic and leakage reductions techniques to the architecturally optimized functional blocks to reduce total energy consumption. In order to verify the soundness of our research strategies, and to validate our power optimized design, the developed ultra low power circuits will be fabricated through MOSIS. The fabricated integrated circuits will be tested for functional correctness and for the desired electrical characteristics. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: More than 200,000 permanent pacemakers are implanted annually in the United States and the battery in those pacemakers can last 7-8 years and the device is replaced during a minor surgical procedure. In this project we propose to develop ultra-low power circuits and systems for cardiac pacemakers. The next generation of pacemakers that utilizes ultra-low power circuits and systems will extend the battery life further and will reduce the frequency of the surgical procedure needed to replace the pacemaker.