Implementation of Low Power and Area Efficient 2-Bit/Step Asynchronous SAR ADC using Successively Activated Comparators

A low power (0.4-09V) 2-Bit/Step successive approximation register (SAR) analog to digital converter (ADC) is conferred. A 2-Bit/Step operation technique is proposed which implementing a dynamic threshold configuring comparator instead of number of digital to analog converters (DACs). Area and power is reduced by successively activated comparators. Here the second comparator is activated reflecting the preceding comparator’s results. Because the second comparator threshold is configured dynamically for every cycle, only two comparators are required instead of three. By successively activating the comparators, the number of DAC settling is halved, so the power and area overhead is very small and the performance will be increased. The proposed ADC was implemented in a 90nm technology achieved a gain of 35.4 db, power of 0.89 ?w and the conversion time of 0.32ns with a supply voltage of 0.4v. The total core area of this ADC is 7.74 ?m2

A Low-Power and High-Speed Frequency Multiplier for DLL-Based Clock Generator

A low-power and high-speed frequency multiplier for a delay-locked loop-based clock generator is proposed to generate a multiplied clock with different range of frequencies. The modified edge combiner consumes low power and achieves a high-speed operation. The proposed frequency multiplier overcomes a deterministic jitter problem by reducing the delay difference between positive- and negative-edge generation paths. The proposed frequency multiplier is implemented in a 0.13-µm CMOS process technology achieved power consumption to a frequency ratio of 2.9 µW/MHz, and has the multiplication ratios of 16, and an output range of 100 MHz–3.3 GHz

Point-Of-Care Ultra-Sound (POCUS) for suspected surgical abdominal conditions in rural India–a mixed-method health needs assessment

Introduction Evidence has shown a trend towards rising mortality from surgical abdominal conditions with increasing distance from hospitals in Eastern India. It has been claimed that imaging modalities such as portable ultrasound are ideal for use in rural areas of developing countries for diagnosis and management of a variety of acute abdominal conditions. This mixed-methods study aimed to explore the need for increased access to POCUS in rural, hard-to-reach populations within India, and to identify barriers that may exist to increasing this access. Methods This mixed-methods study utilized a health needs assessment framework. Quantitative data was extracted from medical records within two outreach camp organisations supporting hard-to-reach populations in Uttarakhand and Jharkhand to provide contextual background statistics. Qualitative data was collected using semi-structured interviews taken from employees of each outreach camp. A framework analysis was employed to analyse the qualitative data. Both datasets were analysed in parallel. Results Twelve semi-structured interviews were undertaken, and 3 months of medical records were reviewed. Themes that presented themselves from the data included the use of camps for case-finding of conditions amenable to routine surgery, a need for POCUS to help with this diagnostic process, a perceived high disease burden from renal calculi, and complex cultural and legislative barriers to POCUS specific to this setting. Discussion POCUS was considered a useful tool in expanding access to surgery for these settings and finding ways of overcoming cultural and legislative barriers to its use should be of high priority. POCUS should be highly portable, robust, easily repairable, and battery operated. For telemedicine to be fully utilised, signal quality will have to be proven to be reliable

Gasless Laparoscopic Surgery for Minimally Invasive Surgery in Low-Resource Settings: Methods for Evaluating Surgical Field of View and Abdominal Wall Lift Force

Funder: Translate MedTec

What happens next? Review of patients referred for further surgical treatment from rural/mission hospitals

Few decades ago, the mission hospital surgeons felt that if they did not operate the patients had no other place to go, and hence attempted a wide variety of surgeries. Now, with the vast improvement in facilities available in urban areas and the improvement in travel capabilities should the mission hospital surgeons be prepared to do a wide variety of procedures? To answer the above question, we followed up the patients who were referred for surgical procedures elsewhere during the last 12 years. Only 24 out of the 128 patients could afford treatment elsewhere. Twenty of them came back to our hospital and had surgery at a much higher risk because they could not afford the treatment elsewhere. The others chose not to have treatment. Hence, is important then for the few surgeons working in rural areas to a "Jack of all trades" and learn a wide variety of surgical skills if they are to treat the poor patients in rural areas