A Review on Direct Digital Conversion Techniques for Biomedical Signal Acquisition

Biomedical signals such as Electrocardiogram (ECG), Electroencephalogram (EEG) and photoplethysmography (PPG) are recorded routinely to provide helpful information for early diagnosis of disease. Low power consumption is very important to allow long-term ambulatory monitoring with battery-powered systems. A direct digital conversion (DDC) technique has been proposed in recent years, which employs preamplifier and data converters, reducing the complexity of the readout chain and thus its power consumption. This paper provides a review on DDC for biopotential signals and bio-optical signal acquisition. The state-of-the-art DDC-based readout architectures together with circuit implementations are provided.

Automated summary

Biomedical signals such as ECG, EEG, and PPG are important for early diagnosis of diseases. Low power consumption is crucial for long-term ambulatory monitoring. The direct digital conversion (DDC) technique reduces power consumption by simplifying the readout chain. This paper reviews DDC for biopotential and bio-optical signal acquisition, including state-of-the-art architectures and circuit implementations.