Biofeedback neuromuscular electrical stimulation front-end for dysphagia treatment

• A dedicated front-end for biofeedback neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NESM) system is proposed. For controllable dysphagia treatment, the integrated circuit (IC) provides a stimulator front-end with programmable stimulation parameters (2μA-1mA current amplitude, DC-2KHz frequency, and variable duty cycle) and an electromyogram/impedance (EMG/ETI) readout front-end with programmable gain and bandwidth (42-80dB, 0.1Hz-1.2KHz) for biofeedback. Area-efficient, low-power but high precision current controlling is achieved by inducing the sigma-delta modulator technique in the stimulation channel. The measured impedance and EMG signal are used to determine the stimulation parameters, enabling a closed loop optimized treatment. The proposed front-end is fabricated in a 0.18 μm standard CMOS process technology and dissipates a peak power of 2.3 mW at the supply voltage of 1.8 V. Measurement results on a live person are also provided to validate the system's effectiveness.

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Medicinteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Medical Engineering (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Biofeedback

EMG

Neuromuscular electrical stimulation

CMOS integrated circuits

Delta modulation

Delta sigma modulation

Electromyography

Modulators

Measured impedance

Programmable gain

Programmable stimulation

Sigma Delta modulator

Standard CMOS process

Stimulation parameters

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)