A Low-power Sleep Apnea Monitoring IC with a Duty-Recovered Body Channel Communication Receiver

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is receiving increasingly more attention as it is not only related to the quality of daily life but also to various cardiovascular diseases [1]. Since self-awareness of OSA is difficult and calls for expensive in-hospital examination, a portable inhome sleep apnea monitoring system has been proposed [2]. To meet the requirement of a level-4 sleep test, the sleep monitoring system must acquire at least 3 basic parameters: airflow at the nostril, oxygen saturation (SpO
2
) and heart rate (HR) at the fingertip. The system must also have a small form factor for user’s comfort and consume low-power to minimize battery size.