ECG acquisition system with heart rate detection and energy harvesting for drivers

This paper proposes a combined heart rate detection and energy harvesting system operated on smart phones for vehicle drivers. The proposed system consists of four parts. The first part includes a high-resolution and low-power analog front-end chip to implement a biosignal sensing module (BSM). The second part comprises a digital signal processor with a high-recognition-rate QRS detection algorithm. The third part includes a power management circuit that harvests energy from a smart phone. This part provides a stable voltage supply to the BSM. The power conversion efficiency of the proposed rectifier exceeds 85%. The last part executes a data recording and heart rate variability analysis software based on the Android system. All chips are fabricated in a TSMC 0.18 μm standard CMOS process.