A Pressure sensor with 0.30 mmhg resolution incorporating a 4.19 pj/conv thyristor-based capacitance-To-Time converter for intra-corporeal Pressure Monitoring Applications

Abstract

This work presents a Capacitance-To-Digital Converter for in-vivo pressure monitoring in clinical scenarios. The developed system combines a Capacitance-To-Time Converter (CTC) and a Time-To-Digital Converter (TDC), of which the CTC presents a novel architecture based on CMOS Thyristor elements with a power consumption of only 2.99 μW. The interface was implemented in a 350 nm CMOS technology and tested in combination with a commercially available capacitive pressure transducer. The Capacitance-To-Time Converter unit achieves an average pressure resolution of 0.30 mmHg while consuming 4.19 pJ/conv.