Home // International Journal On Advances in Systems and Measurements, volume 7, numbers 1 and 2, 2014 // View article

Built-In Self-Testing Methodology and Infrastructure for an EMG Monitoring Sensor Module

Authors:
Antonio José Salazar Escobar
José Alberto Machado da Silva
Miguel Fernando Velhote Correia
Bruno José Mendes

Keywords: BIST; EMG; electrode-skin impedance; digital signatures; structural faults; I2C.

Abstract:
Wearable technologies provide a refinement to personal monitoring by permitting a long-term on-person approach for capturing physiological signals. Sensors, textile integration, electronics miniaturization and other technological developments are directly responsible for advancements in this domain. However, in spite of the present progress, there are still a number of obstacles to overcome for truly achieving seamless wearable monitoring technology. That concerns, namely, improvements on the reliability of the system at the design stage, including the adoption of built-in self-test and embedded test instruments, features able to detect functional and structural failures. Biopotential monitoring has been part of medicine and rehabilitation protocols for decades now, thus its integration within wearable systems is a natural progression; nonetheless, a number of factors can affect acquisition reliability such as electrode-skin impedance fluctuations and the malfunction of the data-acquisition circuits. This article presents a built-in self-testing approach for an electromyography data acquisition unit, part of a wearable gait monitoring system. The approach makes use of the inter-integrated circuit bus in a dual purpose role, as a communication bus and for stimuli and test response propagation. The targeted tests are electrode-skin impedance checking through a straightforward threshold strategy and detection of functional deviations of the signal conditioning circuit of the electromyography unit, through a digital signature based approach.

Pages: 68 to 79

Copyright: Copyright (c) to authors, 2014. Used with permission.

Publication date: June 30, 2014

Published in: journal

ISSN: 1942-261x