Integrated circuits in medical applications

The integration of electronic functions has made its entrance in the development of medical equipment for several reasons. On one side higher complexity can be implemented by use of LSI components. Medical equipment, as any other equipment, increases its number of functions and its level of intelligence. On the other hand, integration leads to miniaturisation, which is essential for implantable medical apparatus. In this text several aspects of the interaction between IC development and medical equipment are discussed. The design requirements are derived for integrated circuits to be used in implantable electronic components. A few IC realisations are discussed to illustrate this design philosophy.