A Self-Contained, Single-Chip Amperometric Measurement Platform for Biomedical Applications

A self-contained RFID electrochemical measurement platform consisting of a single System-on-Chip (SoC) with interface capabilities to electrochemical sensors and energy storage elements is presented. A 13.56 MHz RFID interface enables two-way wireless communication and wireless power transfer. An on-chip circuit allows the SoC to harvest energy from the RF field into external energy storage elements. This functionality makes the proposed SoC the first implementation among similar systems to enable self-contained operation without the need for pre-charged energy storage elements. A sensor interface consisting of a DAC, a multi-working-electrode potentiostat and an ADC enables bidirectional current sensing. During the electrochemical analysis, the SoC consumes less than 83 mu A from a 2.9-V supply. Experimental investigations on a prototype of the self-contained measurement platform suggest that the achieved accuracy is comparable to that of professional laboratory equipment, thus paving the way for the use of the platform in Point-of-Care (PoC) diagnostics.