Ultra Low Power Integrated Circuits and Systems for Cardiac Pacemakers

描述(申请人提供)：心血管疾病是导致所有人类死亡的主要原因之一。心率不齐或心律不齐是导致心血管疾病的众多原因之一。与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设备来减少，这些设备旨在监测心脏状态并调节心脏跳动。正常的心跳是由心脏特定区域产生的电脉冲产生的，并沿着特定的路径传播，以刺激心肌收缩。如果这种自然的“起搏器”或传导系统的任何部分由于某种原因而功能失调，正常的心跳可能会变得太慢(心动过缓)或太快(心率每分钟100次)。这些都是不正常的心率，或心律不齐。在某些情况下，医生会建议植入起搏器来纠正心律失常。美国每年植入近20万个永久性起搏器。起搏器中的电池可以使用7-8年，并在小手术过程中更换。使用超低功率电路的下一代起搏器的开发将进一步延长电池寿命，并将减少外科手术更换起搏器电池的频率。起搏器电池寿命的延长不仅将减少手术次数，还将降低与手术相关的医疗成本。这项提议的主要目标是为超低功率心脏起搏器开发低功率电路和系统，这反过来将减少更换起搏器电池的外科手术的频率。在本研究中，首先将通过优化心脏起搏器功能块的架构、算法和系统来实现这一目标。然后，我们将系统地将特定的动态和泄漏减少技术应用于架构优化的功能块，以降低总能耗。为了验证我们研究策略的合理性，以及验证我们的功耗优化设计，我们将利用MOSIS制作所开发的超低功耗电路。将对所制造的集成电路进行功能正确性和所需电气特性的测试。 与公共健康相关：美国每年植入20多万个永久性起搏器，这些起搏器中的电池可以持续7-8年，在进行小手术时需要更换设备。在这个项目中，我们计划开发用于心脏起搏器的超低功耗电路和系统。使用超低功率电路和系统的下一代起搏器将进一步延长电池寿命，并将减少更换起搏器所需的外科手术的频率。

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.