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.