1.2V Energy-Efficient Wireless CMOS Potentiostat for Amperometric Measurements

Wireless biosensors are playing a pivotal role in health monitoring, disease detection and management. The development of wireless biosensor nodes and networks strongly relies on the design of novel low-power, low-cost and flexible CMOS sensor readouts. This paper presents a CMOS potentiostat that integrates a control amplifier, a dual-slope ADC and a wireless unit on the same chip. It implements a novel time-based readout scheme, whereby the counter of the dual-slope ADC is moved to the receiver and the sensor current is encoded in the timing between two wireless pulses transmitted via pulse-harmonic modulation across an inductive link. Measured results show that the potentiostat chip can resolve a minimum input current of 10pA at a sampling frequency of 125 Hz and a power consumption of 12 μW

Unsuspected pulmonary alveolar proteinosis in a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Diffuse lung infiltrates are a common finding in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and causes range from infectious processes to malignancies or interstitial lung diseases. Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis is a rare pulmonary disorder rarely reported in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus. Secondary pulmonary alveolar proteinosis is associated with conditions involving functional impairment or reduced numbers of alveolar macrophages. It can be caused by hematologic malignancies, inhalation of toxic dust, fumes or gases, infectious or pharmacologic immunosuppression, or lysinuric protein intolerance.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 42-year-old African American man infected with human immunodeficiency virus was admitted with chronic respiratory symptoms and diffuse pulmonary infiltrates. Chest computed tomography revealed bilateral spontaneous pneumothoraces, for which he required bilateral chest tubes. Initial laboratory investigations did not reveal any contributory conditions. Histological examination of a lung biopsy taken during video-assisted thoracoscopy showed pulmonary alveolar proteinosis concurrent with cytomegalovirus pneumonitis. After ganciclovir treatment, our patient showed radiologic and clinical improvement.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The differential diagnosis for patients with immunosuppression and lung infiltrates requires extensive investigations. As pulmonary alveolar proteinosis is rare, the diagnosis can be easily missed. Our case highlights the importance of invasive investigations and histology in the management of patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus and pulmonary disease who do not respond to empiric therapy.</p