Low-voltage, low-power Vt independent voltage reference for bio-implants

Microelectronics has become a powerful tool of electronic systems for biomedical applications. In recent years, integrated circuits are being fabricated with large densities and endowed with intelligence. The reliability of these systems has been increasing and the costs have been reducing. The interaction between medicine and technology, as it is the case of microelectronics and biosensor materials, allows the development of diagnosing devices capable of monitoring pathogens and diseases. The design of sensors, signal conditioners and processing units aim to place the whole system in the patient or, even more desirable, implanted, where it becomes a Lab-on-Chip and/or a Point-of-Care device (ColomerFarrarons et al., 2009). Once an implanted device becomes part of a biological data acquisition system, it must meet important constraints, such as reduced size, low power consumption and the possibility of being powered by an RF link, thus operating as a passive RFID tag (Landt. J, 2005).