A very low-power consumption wireless ECG monitoring system using body as a signal transmission medium

A very low-power consumption wireless system for monitoring ECG (electrocardiogram) is proposed. It consists of an ECG detector/transmitter located on the chest and the relay transmitter placed at the wrist. Between the detector part and the relay transmitter, the signal is send as the AC micro current flows through the tissue of the body. Since this method achieves very low-power signal transmission of about 8 /spl mu/W (400 mV/sub RMS//spl times/20 /spl mu/A/sub RMS/), the system can be driven by a very small power source like a thin film battery. A similar wireless transmission method can be applied for other medical signal/data sensing micro systems sharing the same relay transmitter.