A 665 μW Silicon Photomultiplier-Based NIRS/EEG/EIT Monitoring ASIC for Wearable Functional Brain Imaging

Abstract

This paper presents a sub-mW ASIC for multimodal brain monitoring. The ASIC is co-integrated with electrode(s) and optodes (i.e., optical source and detector) as an active sensor to measure electroencephalography (EEG), bio-impedance (BioZ), and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) on scalp. The target is to build a wearable EEG-NIRS headset for low-cost functional brain imaging. The proposed NIRS readout utilizes the near-infrared light to measure the pulse oximetry and blood oxygen saturation (SpO₂). While traditional photodiodes are supported, the readout also allows the use of silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) as optical detectors. The SiPM improves optical sensitivity while significantly reducing the average power of two LEDs to 150 μW. On circuit level, a SAR-based calibration compensates maximum 40 μA current from ambient light, while digital DC-servo loops reduces the baseline static SiPM current up to 400 μA, leading to an overall dynamic range of 87 dB. The EEG readout exhibits 720 MΩ input impedance at 50 Hz. The BioZ readout has 3 mΩ/√(Hz) impedance sensitivity by employing dynamic circuit techniques. When EEG, BioZ, and NIRS are enabled at the same time, one ASIC consumes 665 μW including the power of LEDs.